Well, Kanaha Beach Park is still flooded from the Tsunami yesterday and probably wont be open for windsurfing again until Tuesday. So photographing the windsurfers at Hookipa was a pleasant enough alternative today.

View as a SLIDESHOW <- click here

(I’ll upload higher resolution files next time so the FULL SCREEN option in the slideshow displays a better quality)

     Sunset over the West Maui Mountains last night was very unusual in more ways than one. Firstly the mountains usually have a layer of cloud, but after the recent downpours and a very windy day (also a great windsurfing day) the West Maui Mountains cleared just before the sun set. Secondly the whispy clouds that did remain around changed formation the whole time and created an image I didn’t even notice until I got home and viewed these photos on my computer. Hence the title to this post …On the wings of a Dove.. ( PLAY ‘On the Wings of a Dove’  by Madness)

No PhotoShopping has been applied to any of these photos…;-)

And this was taken the day before during the rains, a very wet and very voggy day!

Check out the latest new 3D images – Visit the 3D Shop

I have finally worked out a successful  procedure that enables me to convert any single photograph to 3D for viewing online and for reproducing in print.  They look amazing when viewed through 3D Anaglyph glasses, they look blurry and discoloured without. If you have some 3D anaglyph glasses  then please do go check out my selection of converted  3D Photos

3D Analglyph glasses often come free in magazines and in books, and can be purchased online. I have just ordered a whole batch so I’ll have some freebies to give away when they arrive.

View larger 3D images and see my price list for having your OWN personal photographs converted to 3D

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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.

Yesterdays sunset at Hookipa, on Maui’s North shore was absolutely spectacular, BUT .. I didn’t have my camera. The West Maui Mountains were completely clear of cloud, visibility was great, and the sun went down right in the Iao Valley, which only happens for a few days in winter and then again just for a few days in summer.

I went back this afternoon for the sunset, but it wasn’t great. There was a lot of cloud over the West Maui’s which were cloudless last night. The sun did peep out through tiny gaps in the cloud, but only very briefly. This evenings lighting was pretty good though, and the waves were still big, so I experimented with taking photos using manual exposures so that I could take the speed right down and try and capture the movement of the waves and water as it cascaded over the rocks. Not easy with just a monopod. Must take a tripod next time.  Anything slower than 1/3 second didn’t come out so well.. Anyway, here’s what I got today, better luck tomorrow, but then again maybe not, as storms have been forecast for tomorrow.

It was a busy day at Hookipa on Wednesday.

Lots of photographers and spectators watched from the grassy cliffs and were wonderfully entertained by the bravest windsurfers riding really big waves.

The above sequence goes from right to left

See Windsurfers at Jaws last March  and More Wave photos <—click links

Windsurfing Hookipa  – 2nd February 2011

It was a beautiful day today, and there were no clouds on the West Maui Mountains all morning, which is quite unusual. The surf was big again, and lots of surfers were out surfing the waves in Hookipa Bay, and the birds were chirping all around me as I wandered around. Spring is definitely in the air.

Java Sparrows and their young in the Bamboo, waiting for me to get out the way so they fly across to the deck for their last feed of the day.

       View across Turtle Bay yesterday morning.

 [View More Maui Scenes]  /   [View More Maui Creatures]

And more Java Sparrows waiting very patiently for their last feed before flying of to roost somewhere on Maui’s North Shore..  [View More Maui Birds]

Boxing Day at Hookipa, and the waves were rather large. Even the Housefinch in the tree was being entertained.

See more of todays Surfing Photos (15th December 2010) on my MAUI BLOG

Everyone looked like they were having fun on the waves, even the kids came out in full force today, even the very little ones….  I had a good vantage point from the cliffs, and got some great shots of some of the action