Prairie Winter

Little Sunday morning photo-junket with my friend Cy and Ravi. We drove aimlessly between Cremona and Cochrane looking for some thick patches of fog. A couple of highlights on a drab cold melancholy morning in Alberta.

Lake O'hara

With a great little weekend planned, Ravi & I took a risk and headed up to the shuttle for lake O'hara sans reservation. I've been dying to shoot a sunrise up here but i had other fish to fry on this weekend.

The monring started with a hike past Yukness falls (left) and then on to Lake Oesa. On the right is Lake Victoria (just before Lake Oesa)... and yes it really is that color. Aqua/emerald blue lakes with waterfalls cascading from one to the next down the mountain, finally coming to rest in Lake O'hara. If i could imagine a heaven, it would look like this.


Next we arrived at Lake Oesa, ate some lunch and oh yea, got engaged too. I fumbled but proposed with a twist tie as she staggered in confusion. Photo left was about 20 seconds before I proposed (Note the hand in my pocket as I readied myself and grabbed the twist tie). On the right is just after the proposal.


Aahhh the ring. Ideal cut proprietary square hearts & arrows diamond from New York dressed up in a pre-production Tiffany Lucida platinum setting. Probably the only one of it's kind in Canada. Elegant perfection... and heirloom in the making. The chunks of light return will drop kick you in the face. Bling bling!


After all the excitement, we bunked at Emerald Lake Lodge for the night. Old school amazing. Our room overlooked the lake and had screens across the windows/doors so you could listen to the silence of the lake at night. I fell asleep listening to a loon and watching our own fire burn out.

The photo itch got me up before dawn of course, but after an hour of shooting, i headed back and lied in bed with the fire roaring all morning. The only moment in my life i felt comfortable just lying in bed doing nothing.

Maui Wowi

After a patient of mine offered me his timeshare in Maui, I realized Ravi and I were the only people on earth who haven't been here. However, we did some research and ended up turning down the offer. Instead we booked a condo in Kihei over looking the ocean that didn't look ransacked.

Near our condo, just off Kamaole II beach as the one of the brilliant Maui sunsets developed.


We visited Lahina many times as the town was fantastic and the weather was consistently better here than Kihei. The quintessential hawaii flower the plumeria was just about to bloom all over the island, except for this small bunch in Lahina... the first of the plumeria.


Just before dinner time, I noticed an underlit sunset developing. I ran back to the car and grabbed my equipment. However, it took a good hour between my observation and this event. Ravi was very patient with me on our vacation. She sat quietly took some pictures herself while i shot for over a 1/2 hour. I bought her dinner as a reward. Definitely the most beautiful sunset we witnessed while on the island.

Some google earth surveying allowed me to discover this aptly named "Secret Beach". A 45min drive from Kihei and a squeeze through a hole in a giant wall to access this hidden gem... however it wasn't much of a secret after all. In total, 3 sunset weddings were going on as i walked out onto the beach. Like a true moron, i posed as one of the wedding photographers until the perfect moment when i ran forward, shot a couple of images and quickly disappeared over some lava rocks. Strait 007 style.


After ruining 3 weddings, I scaled some lava rocks on the camera right and onto a private beach in front of a couple of bazillion dollar homes. I waded in the water holding filters and dodging waves to capture this image as the sky lit up pink.


Of course, everyone takes a trip up Haleakala volcano to see the sunrise. It felt like cheating being able to drive to the top of a mountain. I had to separate myself from the flash firing (shooting a sunrise ;) hoards toting digital compacts, so i hiked around a bluff to fire off some images. I later found out that you can not walk off the path on the top of this mountain, as a police officer actually put on his lights to pull me over walking and lecture me not to disturb the delicate ecosystem?! I told him "Sorry, i'm from Canada where we hike in our mountains". He was not amused.

I had a 3 stop hard and 2 stop soft GND filter on the camera and i still couldn't control the magnitude of light entering the lens. Bracketing allowed me to re-coupe another 2 stops of light. In all, i utilized 7 stops difference between the foreground and the sky. I could have used another 2-3 stop reverse GND to balance the image but the result is almost as magnificent as the moment was.


The last two days we had in Maui were my most productive (as planned). We drove the road to Hana the dreaded south route and found out why no one goes this way. Sure it was the most amazing route i've ever driven, but it was also the most dangerous. No guard-rail cliffs, blind corners, terrible dirt/gravel/pothole roads. Pretty much like an off-road video game.

As we arrived in Hana, we had some time to kill so we headed to one of the best rated beaches in the United States... Hamoa beach. This location is the only "beachy beach" near Hana and it's quiet, subdued and stunning. It opens up from the Jungle onto beautiful white sand with lava rock surrounding the beach. Very quiet... in fact too quiet for our tastes, but a nice find none the less.


Our first morning in Hana, i was up in the midnight black morning and drove 30min to Oheo Gulch to shoot the sunrise. It was one of the most difficult tasks i did on this trip hiking in the pitch black morning with only the light of my headlamp down to the ocean (it took me about 45min). I really had no idea where i was going.

The sunrise was subdued. A momentary flash of light on an otherwise dull gray morning.


On the way back to the hotel from the Oheo Gulch, i climbed down a cliff to Paia falls. This waterfall is located right beside one of the hundreds of bridges on the highway and likely very few people who drive by it actually notice it. To me (and to Peter Lik) it is a beauty. I had to ram myself right up against one of the bridge pillars and zoom out to 17mm to get the whole falls in my shot but my 17-40mm was the perfect companion once again.


From the Seven Sacred Pools parking lot the Pipiwai Trail begins. It meanders ups a valley through Banyan tress and lookout points. Nearing the majestic 400ft Waimoku Falls, you enter into an eerie bamboo forest. One of the most haunting sounds must be bamboo trees clanging against one another in the wind. One of the hidden gems of Maui for sure.


Honokalani Beach just north of Hana. One of the most brilliant sunrises i've witnessed in my life. Stunning location, stunning morning. Just me, the beach, my camera and a frozen moment i'll never forget.