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  • Beautiful sunset from Kaanapali on the island of Maui
    Feb
    2018
    26
    2018 / Feb / 26

    Ka’anapali Sunset

    A beautiful sunset from the Ka’anapali beach on the island of Maui

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    The winter months in Hawaii are the busiest as people that live in cold climates seek an escape to warm beautiful tropical weather. With the increase in people finding wide open unobstructed landscape photo opportunities decrease.

    I went out to photograph this sunset off of the sandy beach of Ka’anapali. Instead of getting a wide angle shot close to the water I decided on capturing a fresh perspective. I have always loved the look of the trees that lined the beach along with the broad leaved vines that grow along the ground, so this time I setup back away from the ocean. After composing and setting up for the shot I started to realize the traffic of all the people coming out to enjoy the sunset. Some people stopped to take a quick picture while others rested on the trees within my field of view. The last interruption came as a family posed to take a family photo on the tree with the sunset to their backs. Luckily I had a few open opportunities to get the shots I needed to work with. The rest of the time was spent enjoying the sunset and the way people reacted once they saw me crouched on the ground taking their photo.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Photograph of wet oil on pavement and the cool colors that appear
    Feb
    2018
    04
    2018 / Feb / 04

    Oil Colors

    Close up of the colorful wet oil on the pavement of a Waimea parking lot.

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    I have been wanting to photograph the colorful oil streaks on wet pavement for a while, but never wanted to take the time to capture it properly. Instead I would take a few shots only to notice edges are out of focus, or there was a small amount of blur from shaking the camera. I would always get back to the computer just to kick myself for not spending the time to get the shot properly. In this situation, in public, I always have trouble taking pictures. I would rather be in the comfort of my home or out in the wild away from people to work on perfecting images. When I saw this colorful oil slick in the middle of a busy parking lot I thought of all the times I had failed, so this time I made sure I got the shot right.

    I didn’t pull out the tripod and reflector shield, although maybe I should have. Instead I boosted the ISO to eliminate shake and crouched down on the parking block and bobbed around until I was able to get all 4 corners in focus. It must look pretty funny for some people that don’t know much about macro photography to witness.

    “What is that man doing?” a young child might say.

    “He’s taking pictures of the ground honey. Now hurry up and don’t look.” the parent replies as they glare with a concerned look… Like I’m on drugs or something.

    Who is crazy enough to photograph really close to the dirty parking lot in the rain? They must be on drugs. Well I’m not. I’m just trying to capture the beauty of the world. Even if it’s pollution.

    © Christopher Johnson

    www.fromhereonin.com

  • Image of a large tree leaning over a barbed wire fence off of Mana Road in Waimea, Hawaii.
    Jan
    2018
    30
    2018 / Jan / 30

    Restricted

    Black and White photograph of a leaning tree in Waimea, Hawaii

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    During a rainy day in Waimea, I decided to drive around some side roads in search of some interesting compositions that were enhanced by the mood of the weather. While driving the paved portion of Mana Road I was excited by this tree hanging over a barbed wire fence with a faded line of trees in the distant background. There were a lot of amazing elements to play with. I went with a low camera angle in order to place the distant trees under the canopy of the foreground tree. This also allowed for an exaggerated fence line to fill up the entire right side of the frame for some added interest. The image just wasn’t complete once I had completed the color edit. Although I still like it I decided to work the image as a black and white which I feel enhances the overall feel I was going for when I first was attracted to this location.

    I titled this piece Restricted because of the contrasting sides of the fence. One side is overgrown and rugged while the other is tended to and open while outlined by a sharp barbed wire fence. The tree feels like it is trying to reach over to the other side, but is rooted on the wrong side. Restricted from crossing over.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Kiave tree along Kiholo Bay spans in front of a starry sky
    Jan
    2018
    01
    2018 / Jan / 01

    Kiholo Bay at Night

    Kiave tree in a moonlit night along the Kiholo Bay coastline

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    We were camping next to this awesome Kiave Tree on the beach of Kiholo Bay. During the day there wasn’t a lot to photograph because the clear skies didn’t give much interest to the sky and the bold shadows weren’t very attractive. At night the skies were full of stars and the full moon and camp fire provided a lot of interest. It took a while to come up with a composition that I liked. Since the viewfinder was dark, I had to take an exposure and wait for it to load before I could review it, then adjust to what worked. It ended up being a fun creative exercise.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Photograph of a single stone on the black sand beach of Pololu Valley
    Dec
    2017
    03
    2017 / Dec / 03

    Single Stone on a Black Sand Beach

    Photograph of a stone nestled in the black sand beach of Pololu Valley on the Big Island of Hawaii.

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    After the waves wash over the stones along the black sand they recess into the sand and leave a beautiful golden silky trail that contrasts with the black sand. I don’t know what the golden sand is or where it comes from, but it seems to only occur when a wave violently crashes across the stones and recedes back with the same ferocity. However, the golden color doesn’t develop immediately. The sand needs to dry a little for the golden color to present itself. With this said, I had to wait for quite a while before I was able to capture an image that would accent this occurrence. Needless to say this is one of the reasons I love photography.

    If I were to hike into Pololu Valley without a camera I wouldn’t catch the subtleties of the valley. I am not knocking anyone that just wants to enjoy the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands without a camera because I would be fascinated with the enormous cliffs, the amazing trees, the beautiful reflection on the river, and the enjoyment of the awesome hike. Photography makes me concentrate on the subtleties in order to capture a piece of art that I would be proud to hang on my wall.

    With that said… I took a photograph a while ago in Pololu Valley of the same nature; stones with the golden sand streaking off them, but the only thing was most of the image was out of focus. When I took the photo I didn’t bring a tripod and was just taking snap shots. Mainly because I was learning the new Sony camera I had just purchased. It wasn’t from that moment, but a year later when I was reviewing images taken from then, that I wanted to return to capture this image properly. This time I had my tripod and a few extra lenses to choose from to get the image. It was then that I realized how difficult it was to capture the golden streaking sand which made me slow down to realized when it occurs. Without my camera I would never even care to know about it.

    Then we come to processing the image.

    Originally I overlooked this image because there wasn’t much going on with it. A single stone with a washed out golden streak… great… I had more interesting images that I shot that day. So I thought. I started to process images with multiple stones that had a lot going on. They looked nice, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I few days later I selected this image to work on and was immediately satisfied. This is the shot I came back for. It took a while to process. I darkened the edges to give more focus to the stone and trail and to create a lot more drama while maintaining the stones character. After I completed the image it seemed almost celestial with the small highlighted specks in the dark shining through while the stone felt like a meteorite flying through space.  It took a while, but I finally have the image I set out for.

    © Christopher Johnson

    If you would like to buy a print I have this available on my FineArtAmerica page.

  • Photograph of a red Hibiscus Schizopetalus against a white backdrop
    Nov
    2017
    07
    2017 / Nov / 07

    Hibiscus Schizopetalus

    Photograph of a red Hibiscus Schizopetalus against a white background.

    I have always found these Hibiscus flowers fascinating and have been wanting to photograph one for a long time. The way they hang off of a branch with their long stamen delicately hanging and swaying in the wind in contrast to the thrown back, crazy petals makes these Hibiscus super unique.

    While on a walk, about a mile away from home, I picked this flowers off of a bush to photograph. The only thing was the day was hot and I worried that it would wilt before I got home, but it held up. Maybe it was my wife’s care that it survived. If it were in my large hands it would surely not have made it.

    With a magnetic bag clip magnetized to the inner screw of an upper cabinet door I clipped the flower and propped a white pillow behind for a backdrop. I used an off camera strobe to capture the flower still as it waved around with each small movement of air. Minor adjustments in Photoshop.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Water fills into a large hole in the Hawaiian coastline during a beautiful golden sunset.
    Sep
    2017
    28
    2017 / Sep / 28

    Golden Hour

    Photograph of an amazingly clear golden sunset from the Keahole Point coastline on the Big Island of Hawaii.

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    I stood precariously close to the edge of this Big Island blow hole in order to capture the details of water flowing through the seaweed and into the large hole. Luckily the tide and swells were low so that I could do this without too much worry or trouble. Like always there is the rogue wave that helps me to not get too comfortable and to always be prepared. I was pleasantly surprised there was a golden sunset to accent the golden foreground of the seaweed.

    Water fills into a large hole in the Hawaiian coastline during a beautiful golden sunset.

    Visit another golden sunset post Golden September Sunset.

  • photo of a green sea turtle while snorkeling at Mahaiula beach in Hawaii
    Jul
    2017
    06
    2017 / Jul / 06

    Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

    Photograph of a Hawaiian green sea turtle as it swims off the shoreline of Mahaiula beach.

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    © Christopher Johnson

  • Milky Way curve over the Big Island of Hawaii
    Jul
    2017
    01
    2017 / Jul / 01

    Milky Way Panorama From Mauna Kea

    Panorama photograph of the milky way from the slopes of Mauna Kea.

    This image is for sale on RedBubble.com

    Three images were stitched together to create this panoramic image of the milky way as it spans across the night sky connecting Mauna Kea to Mauna Loa. The lights along the landscape are from Hilo on the left, the lava glow of Kilauea in the distance, and cars driving down Mauna Kea through the fog. Seeing this night sky on a moonless night was simply breathtaking. I hiked a hill just down from the visitors center in order to get this view point.

    Hiking was an adventure. I couldn’t find the start of the path since it was so dark. I stumbled upon a couple laying under a blanket and out of courtesy I turned off my light and passed by only to trip over a rock and and completely fall down on my side. I continued up the slope embarrassed and aching, but super excited to shoot the night sky. I stopped to shoot a tree on the slope only to be lit up by another photographer which I then felt compelled to look for another location out of their way. I finally found the location that I shot this series from… out of breath. While shooting an exposure I started to notice my knee was throbbing. I reached down to notice a large tear in my pants and a lot of blood. “Bummer” These were my good pants. Then just as I was getting into shooting I got a call from my wife, waiting in the car, that she and the girls were ready to go.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Milky way photograph over the rugged landscape of Mauna Kea
    Jun
    2017
    30
    2017 / Jun / 30

    Milky Way

    Photograph of the milky way above the rugged landscape of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Night sky seen from a hilltop on Mauna Kea. The Milky way stretches from Mauna Loa and over Kilauea.
    Jun
    2017
    30
    2017 / Jun / 30

    Mauna Kea Milky Way

    Photograph of the beautiful Milky Way over the Big Island of Hawaii.

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  • Hawaiian sunset from the coastline of Keahole point on the Big Island of Hawaii
    Jun
    2017
    19
    2017 / Jun / 19

    Follow Through

    Photograph of the Hawaiian sunset near a large blow hole in the rugged coastline of Keahole Point.

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    The sunset wasn’t progressing like I had hoped it would on my re-visit to this familiar blow hole. I setup further away from the blow hole in order to capture the water streaking back towards the hole with the sun setting just beyond. With the storm clouds stretching toward to horizon I had to wait for the small window where the sun peaked out and casted its beautiful orange sunset color over the coastline surface and underbelly of the clouds. Unfortunately once the sun disappeared the colors went as well, but I waited for the hope of a surprise that didn’t come. 🙁

    © Christopher Johnson

  • A second photographic look at the June Blow Hole
    Jun
    2017
    14
    2017 / Jun / 14

    Take Two

    Beautiful Hawaiian landscape photograph of the energy surrounding an awesome Big Island blow hole at sunset.

     

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    Take Two is a second photographic look at the blow hole I posted earlier. Instead of the calming reflected water there is a more energetic rush of water.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Photograph of a beautiful sunset along the Big Island coastline.
    Jun
    2017
    14
    2017 / Jun / 14

    June Blow Hole Sunset

    Sunset photograph from the rugged coastline of the Big Island of Hawaii

    This sunset shot is from a favorite location that I have photographed many times before. On returning here I didn’t want to repeat the same composition, so I spent a good amount of time scoping out a location. Then when I thought I was ready my tripod began acting up. I cleaned out the legs and didn’t seat one of them back in properly forcing me to quickly fix it on the rocks while waves came crashing in. Clumsily I nearly dropped a piece into the water, but I was able to fix the problem and was back in business.

    I liked how the water was reflecting the clouds while it gently flowed back into the blow hole, so I set up in the pool of water directly behind the opening. At times I was nearly waist deep in the inrush of flowing water. It was a beautiful sunset.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Beautiful rainy and foggy landscape photograph
    Jun
    2017
    11
    2017 / Jun / 11

    Mud Lane

    Fog rolls through the beautiful tunnel of trees lining Mud Lane

     

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    I find it unusual that a road winds its way through a beautiful grove of trees and at every turn has a magical scene is named Mud Lane. I had actually never known that this road existed until this day. My daughters wanted to go long board skateboarding down this road that they had gone before with their aunt. I didn’t really want to drive all the way to Waimea, but I wanted to do what they wanted to do and so we set off. Halfway there, around Waikoloa, it began to sprinkle rain, fog began to roll in and I thought for sure it was going to be a bust, but we continued anyway. Maybe the storm is localized I thought. We hit Waimea and we were still socked in. I didn’t really know where this mysterious road was I had heard so much about and I was really relying on my 12 year old for directions, but I did know it was on the rainy side of Waimea… and it was.

    A few miles outside of town we made the turn down Mud Lane and parked just off the road. As the girls took off on the skateboards I was in awe with the beautiful scene of trees lining this narrow road that went on for miles. Fog rolled in and out of the canopy creating a dreamy look. I didn’t care it was raining.

    Photographing the trees came with challenges. I used a telephoto lens to zoom down the tunnel. I was dealing with more camera shake than usual while rain drops steadily fell on the camera. I was soaked and so was the equipment, but I didn’t care. I was thoroughly enjoying every part of this location.

    © Christopher Johnson

     

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