A snowy in the surf
When we were in Mexico a couple of months ago, I found this snowy egret fishing in the shallows off the beach. While she stood motionless, I used a slow shutter to blur the motion of the small surf as it ran over the rocks. There was a tranquility in that moment that I felt this photograph came close to capturing.
Sharing this post is welcomed - but please do not use individual images without permission from Christopher Martin in advance.
Port Angeles – the ocean in motion
When I was on the west coast a couple of weeks ago, I spent one morning photographing along the Port Angeles shoreline. It had been a little while since I have been on the ocean and I was hypnotized by the ebb and flow of the waves along the beach. I always am.
Sharing this post is welcomed - but please do not use individual images without permission from Christopher Martin in advance.
Hawaiian Landscapes: Kaua’i Sunrises
I was able to enjoy three consecutive sunrises down on the eastern shore of Kaua’i in the last days of our trip in December. I went to a couple of different spots between Kealia and Kapa’a and each offered a different perspective of the coastline. Here are a few of the photographs I liked from these mornings on the water with the rising sun.
A defiant shelf of rock juts out into the surf while the sun drives through a set of breaking clouds. Before dawn, these clouds were knitted together and lashed the coast south of Kealia with a heavy rain. I was happy they had the good graces to separate and catch the early morning light.
A break between waves allow the water resting in these small tidal pools to reflect the color in the sky along the shore just north of Kapa’a.
Spray from the waves hitting the rocks was a challenge and demanded frequent spot cleanings. In this image above, I found the water spots on my lens were diffracting the sunlight in the middle of the image which added to the motion in the water and drew my eye up to the sun. I liked these rocks grouped just off shore and enjoyed trying to show the movement of the waves and sunlight in that time just after sunrise there.
The color lasts for only a couple of minutes this close to the equator as the sun seems to jump into the sky very quickly. This large cloud bank was in good position to catch the pink light as the sun pulled clear of a distant storm on the edge of the horizon.
The sun halo I could create here stole the show from the foreground rocks so I centered on it and eliminated any strong elements that would distract from this interesting optical illusion.
Sharing this post is welcomed - but please do not use individual images without permission from Christopher Martin in advance.
Hawaiian Landscapes: Na Pali Sunset
Ke’e Beach is the northern most point accessible by road on Kauai’s coastline. We were there to photograph the sunset on our last night on the island (for this trip). The sun dipped into the water just off of the silhouetted cliffs of the Na Pali coast and was truly magical. I have many images to look through, but this one jumped out at me after a quick review. I was trying to capture the collisions when a large wave would hit off of the cliff face and while returning towards the water would then hit the next incoming wave. The energy was incredible and this wave is higher than sixty feet in the air given that the lowest cliff ledge in the picture was at least five feet above the water. I’m looking forward to reliving this great trip when I am reviewing all of the images back home. For now, this one is a nice finish for my posts from the Garden Island.
Sharing this post is welcomed - but please do not use individual images without permission from Christopher Martin in advance.
Hawaiian Landscapes: Hanalei Bay Sunset
The sunset over Hanalei Bay on Kauai’s North Shore is remarkable in the summer I was told by a local photographer, Daniel Lane, last night when we met while shooting the sunset from one of the lookouts over the Bay last night. In July the sun sets in line with the mouth of the bay. At this time of the year, the sun hides behind the edge of the Na Pali coast before setting so that you can’t see it hit the ocean from Hanalei. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the shoot last night watching the subtle color come in while dodging the steady blasts of rain. A great spot to photograph the bay and a good chat with a fellow photographer.
With the sun having set for about 20 minutes when I photographed the image above, the purples had taken over as the dominant color. The rain settled in after this or I would have enjoyed watching the night come in more.
Christopher Martin Photography 