Friday, November 15, 2013

Kilauea Lighthouse

Yesterday we visited the Kilauea Lighthouse on the north shore.  The Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge is here and we saw Red-footed boobies, Black-footed Albatrosses and endangered Hawaiian Geese.


Kauai Lighthouse (1 of 5)
North shore swell battering the rocks

Kauai Lighthouse (2 of 5)
More crashing waves

Kauai Lighthouse (3 of 5)
Goose with a view

Kauai Lighthouse (4 of 5)
What are you looking at?

Kauai Lighthouse (5 of 5)
The lighthouse glass

Thursday, November 14, 2013

More stormy wave photos

A few more photos from yesterday - we are having a blast!


Tunnel Waves Day 2 (1 of 4)

Tunnel Waves Day 2 (2 of 4)

Tunnel Waves Day 2 (3 of 4)

Tunnel Waves Day 2 (4 of 4)

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Kauai Storm Waves

One of Laurence's favorite Kauai activities is to watch the surf report for incoming storms to create big sets of wave on the north shore to photograph.

Guess what came in overnight?
Guess who was very excited?  :)

Tunnel Waves Day 1 (2 of 2)
A very long exposure for waves (3 seconds) makes for a more abstract image


Tunnel Waves Day 1 (1 of 2)
We caught the start of a rainbow just as the sun was rising behind us.

More to come soon!

Monday, November 11, 2013

Kauai

It's a long standing tradition of ours to escape the damp gray Seattle weather in late fall/winter in hope of finding sunshine somewhere warm.

This year we find ourselves in Kauai, and while there has been some tropical rain, it's still significantly warmer and sunnier than back home! Kauai Barking Sand (1 of 2)
Barking Sands Beach looking towards the Na Pali Coast


Kauai Barking Sand (2 of 2)
Breaking waves at Barking Sands Beach

Friday, October 11, 2013

Redwood National Park

Trees.  Giant Trees!

What a wonderful experience to walk among 300 ft tall, 1500 year old trees.  Words can't describe how peaceful and tranquil it is.  And photos really don't do it justice....


Redwood National Park (4 of 5)
A giant Redwood disappears into the fog


Redwood National Park (2 of 5)
The path into the Redwoods


Redwood National Park (3 of 5)
Jennifer demonstrating how tall the Redwoods are


Redwood National Park (5 of 5)
Later in the day with less fog


Redwood National Park (1 of 5)
Detail of Redwood bark

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Travel Day - Central Oregon Coast to the Redwoods

After a great few days in Yachats, we drove down to Bandon for lunch (Laurence's old stomping ground in middle school and high school).  We got to visit the new cheese factory in town - nice to see Bandon back in the cheese business!

Then we enjoyed a beautiful drive down the rest of the Oregon Coast into California.  We'll be staying just outside the Redwoods NP for a few nights.  The resident Elk were grazing outside our door....


Redwoods Day 1 (1 of 3)
A solo male keeping a hopeful eye towards the herd...

Redwoods Day 1 (3 of 3)
The male of the herd interacted with all 20+ females and young elk - fun to watch

Redwoods Day 1 (2 of 3)
Setting moon through the sunset lit clouds

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Oregon Coast - Driving to Yachats

Wow - we must have had a few inches of rain on the drive down to Yachats today.  We kept the speed down and stopped in for a long Starbucks break in Newport.

After checking into our hotel - the skies parted briefly, and we were able to enjoy 15 minutes of rain free photography.


Yachats Day 1 (1 of 2)
Algae grass trying to work it's way out to sea....


Yachats Day 1 (2 of 2)
Stormy sea sunset

Monday, October 7, 2013

Oregon Coast - last day in Cannon Beach

We have settled in to more typical Oregon Coast weather - windy, cloudy and sunny, changing rapidly.  We are having a blast, and enjoying the massive number of Pelican's hanging out on the beach.


Cannon Beach Day 2 (2 of 6)
Stormy B&W


Cannon Beach Day 2 (1 of 6)
Pelican fly-over


Cannon Beach Day 2 (6 of 6)
Cruising in front of storm clouds


Cannon Beach Day 2 (4 of 6)
Jennifer takes advantage of a sunny break in the weather for a beautiful run


Cannon Beach Day 2 (5 of 6)
And a quick pose after the run


Cannon Beach Day 2 (3 of 6)
Grassy sand dune

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Oregon Coast - Cannon Beach

We arrived to amazing weather on the Oregon Coast.  Sunny, calm and warm (70 degrees counts as warm on the Oregon Coast - especially in October).

This morning the sky filled with soft pastel light - making for some fun photography.


Cannon Beach Day 1 (3 of 3)
Haystack rock in the mist


Cannon Beach Day 1 (2 of 3)
Looking the other direction


Cannon Beach Day 1 (1 of 3)
Haystack Rock in the distance from a grassy dune


Monday, August 26, 2013

Mount Rainier

We headed up to Mount Rainier for our 20th Anniversary celebration.  We were treated to amazing weather, fun animal interactions, and beautiful wildflowers.  Plenty of deer, a fox, and hilarious marmots following Laurence and stuffing their faces with wildflowers were the animal highlights.


Rainier (1 of 5)
Self Portrait @ Bench Lake

Rainier (2 of 5)
Bench Lake reflection

Rainier (3 of 5)
Reflection Lake just after sunrise - lighting up the wildflowers

Rainier (4 of 5)
Wildflowers and Waterfalls

Rainier (5 of 5)
This marmot kept eating the wildflowers Laurence was trying to photograph

Monday, May 20, 2013

Rattlesnake Canyon

We had the pleasure to explore and photograph a small slot canyon called Rattlesnake Canyon.  It's very short and very narrow (and a couple of latters in place to enter).

Jennifer was assured it's called Rattlesnake canyon for it's shape, not for it's residents!


Rattlesnake Canyon (4 of 4)
Wonderful lines


Rattlesnake Canyon (2 of 4)
Jennifer demonstrating how narrow it is


Rattlesnake Canyon (1 of 4)
A fun arch inside the canyon


Rattlesnake Canyon (3 of 4)
A color version of the S curves

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Antelope Canyon at Night

Last year we explored both Upper & Lower Antelope Canyon.  Upper Antelope is guided only - and the only way to describe it is as a zoo.  It's incredibly beautiful, but the tour companies run hundreds of people at the same time through the small slot canyon.  The amazing light beam photos you see can be deceptive - as they almost all involve a brief moment of holding the flood of people back for a quick shot.

We had an opportunity to experience Upper Antelope in a different way - though a small night tour.  It was just us with 1 other photographer - and amazing peaceful.

Our guide was Lionel Bigthumb - an incredible guide and accomplished photographer in his own right.    We highly, highly recommend him out of the multiple slot canyon guide options in Page, AZ.  http://www.navajoantelopecanyon.com/tours.html


Antelope Canyon at Night (4 of 4)
Looking at the entrance - with the interior light painted by our guide


Antelope Canyon at Night (3 of 4)
The first chamber, with a few stars peaking out


Antelope Canyon at Night (2 of 4)
Looking up

Upper Antelope Night Guide
Getting started

Saturday, May 18, 2013

The Wave - 2013

We were fortunate enough to win the online lottery for tickets to hike "The Wave" 2 years in a row.


The Wave 2013 (4 of 8)
Secret passage to The Wave


The Wave 2013 (2 of 8)
Jennifer hanging out on The Wave


The Wave 2013 (1 of 8)
Desert flowers


The Wave 2013 (5 of 8)
The classic view of The Wave


The Wave 2013 (6 of 8)
The heart of The Wave

Travel IQ Challenge


brought to you by TravelPod, the Web's Original Travel Blog ( part of the TripAdvisor Media Network )