I’ve had to buy a new camera because my 5year old one bit the dust – no power!  And I am loving my new Canon 7D… I’ve just explored the slopes of Haleakala by driving along the Haleakala Highway and the Kula Highway and visited the Botanical Gardens in Kula to try out my 100mm Macro lens on the 7D..  I’ve had a great Photo day in  Maui. Spring has sprung, all the Jacaranda trees are in full bloom.

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This spotted dove was posing on a wall of one of the many single lane bridges on the road to Hana, on Maui’s North Shore. They are very common on Maui, along with the smaller zebra doves. Often seen feeding on the roads causing approaching traffic to slow down because they are pretty slow in flying off .

I’ve been experimenting with Photoshop and ended up with an image of my friends pussycat (no its not a panther) that I am very pleased with and want to share

Before Photoshopping

The blue bells are almost finished but some are still perfect. The wild pink Campions are blooming, and the Dandelions are reproducing in the breeze …

I’ve had fun with my Canon Macro lens, its a 100m IS USM, and a beautiful piece of kit when attached to my Canon EOS 40D digital camera. I used it with an extension tube, which enables me to get in even closer.  A tripod is a must, and the cable shutter release makes shooting low shots easier.

These closeup macro photographs were taken in Maui in the back garden, and I am very happy with my results. I think I am hooked. The weather has been very calm, with a slight cloud cover (which is perfect lighting) and ideally not a single breath of wind.

[View Maui Macro Images Gallery]

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I’ve seen many spectacular sunsets at Hookipa, but today was the first time I tried out some really long exposures at the manual settings.  I tried to focus on the lighting and long exposures, using manual focus and manual exposure settings which I needed to keep adjusting to cope with the rapid changes in light conditions. I tried to capture the movement of the water, but most photos came out just looking blurred, some worked though.

I used a tripod for a change, which was essential.  The first photo was the last photo taken in this series, it was taken at 15 seconds and showed up the lights of Kahului. That was the longest exposure I tried today

These photos were all taken in less than one hour, all from the same position.