More Hawaii Pics - last ones!

Here are a last few Hawaii pics as promised to some of you who asked for them. So sorry for the LONG hiatus as well. I've been traveling like a crazy woman for work, and a little for fun too! Now that the weather is fab and my bags are unpacked until 2011, I promise to post new photo updates so stay tuned!

my sweet hubby!

ahh the Kuaui beach - I so miss it!

A sweet dad and his little boy taking a walk at sunset

our heli ride

me

Ryan

Hawaii - Part II

Without further ado, below are some photos from Hawaii. My beginner photog skills couldn't come close to capturing the beauty of the two amazing islands we visited (Kauai and Maui), but hope you can use a little imagination to envision this paradise of a place. This is a random collection of photos from our different activities, places we visited and hotels (which were AMAZING). There are still so many more photos to edit, so stay tuned for more.

Welcome Kauai.

We were lucky enough to land at Lihue Airport and make the 40-minute drive to Princeville as the sun set. What a breathtaking drive through winding roads, cliffs and the most curious assortment of plants, trees and flowers. Because it receives a great deal of rain, Kauai is able to sustain many different kinds of plants. Below are a few snapshots of our drive to Princeville.

These Aspen-like trees stand tall against the blue sky and are complimented by many, many other kinds of beautiful tall trees.

Welcome to Princeville!! What a perfect welcoming into Princeville, a semi-private collection of homes and resorts.

One of the best and worst parts of traveling West is jet lag will get the best of you at night, but it lends for some bright and early mornings leaving plenty of time for fun adventures, activities or pool-side drinking (yes please!). I did a sunrise photo shoot the first morning which was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Makai Golf Course

Just a few random pics from my big day riding in a golf cart. Who says you can't have fun on a golf course even if you're not golfing. :)

This was a mystical little path that I found intriguing...hey I was riding in a golf cart with nothing to do...wouldn't this seem intriguing to you too? :)

I decided to practice my macro (close up) photography. This was kind of a fun random shot!

And look at these cute little guys! Ducks, geese and chicken roam freely on Kauai.

Welcome to Maui.

My absolute favorite part of Maui was the hotel. The Wailea Four Seasons is AHHmazing. Besides the celeb spotting and delish meals we indulged in, the property is just incredibly relaxing and over the top.

Tiki torches decorate the property and each evening there's a hula torch lighting ceremony. A male and female hula dancer perform a ritual to light the torches. Unfortunately we missed it both nights, but we heard it was definitely worth grabbing a drink at the open-air lobby bar and watching.

The fabulous Four Seasons pool - I just love this place!

Hawaii - Part I

Aloha!! Ha I'm such a nerd. I just couldn't help myself. We just got back from a 10-day vacation in Hawaii. What an AMAZING trip! We visited the islands of Kauai and Maui. Kauai was by far the most breathtaking place I've ever visited. I couldn't imagine a more beautiful place. The island was a combination of giant lush mountains, monstrous orange canyons and brilliant blue-water beaches. It felt like Ireland, Fiji and the Grand Canyon in one INCREDIBLE island.

Each afternoon, momentary rain showers blew in leaving behind the most striking and brilliant rainbows imaginable. It almost felt like you could reach out and touch them. I have to admit, this trip exceeded my expectations in a very weird way! Needless to say, it was a fabulous place to practice my photography skills.

In preparation of our trip, I rented a wide-angle lens from borrowlenses.com. After researching landscape photography and pros and cons between telephoto and wide-angle lenses, I opted for the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8. It had impeccable reviews and essentially legendary status in the wide angle category. With a price tag of nearly $2,000, borrowing a lens before you make this kind of purchase is a fabulous idea (not that I could afford this bad boy anyways!). Not to mention, Borrow Lenses made it such a convenient and pleasant experience. I highly recommend lens rental.

The Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G Ed AF-S

For the non-photog readers, the wide angle lens aims to provide a larger depth of field than a standard lens (i.e. "kit lens" - the introductory lens that comes with your camera). The larger depth of field means more sharpness and detail you can capture from corner to corner. This is a recommeded lens for landscape photography since you are usually trying to capture every detail in the photo. For instance, if you're taking a beach snapshot you probably want to capture rays of sun, the texture of sand, and the brilliance of the water. Where if you were taking a picture of a person, likely you want the attention to be drawn to the person and not necessarily background details (street lamps, a neighbor in the yard, a dog in a park, a fire hydrant, etc.). Of course there are many different ways to do this, and this is just a very elementary explanation.

Since I’m a newbie, I'm shouldn't be giving photog tips so check out my fave photo resource DPS for great articles on landscape photography. Here is a very basic landscape article: http://www.digital-photography-school.com/photographing-the-perfect-landscape.

Back to the Hawaii trip! I came home with nearly 1,000 photos. One thing about a photography hobby is there is A LOT more to it than just a fun snappy snap papparazzi sounding cam. It's way more difficult than taking photos with a point and shoot (at least for me it is :). It requires me to stop before each photo and think about the light, clouds, colors, focal point, depth of field and so on. Which also means a lot more editing when you get home from your relaxing vacay.

I have a boatload to learn about all this photog funness! So.....you’ll have to come back soon for pics of Hawaii....only so many fun hobby hours in a day. :) Here are just a few teaser snapshots though.

Cliffs overlooking the Na Pali Coast taken from a helicopter ride.

This pic still needs help but I just love the colors

so I wanted to give you a sneak preview.

The Waimea Canyons in Kauai, Hawaii.

I'm making updates to this one to - just a little pre-editing peak!