sunset

  • Beautiful photograph of a Hawaiian sunset viewed through the back lit leaves of a tree.
    Aug
    2022
    19
    2022 / Aug / 19

    Pu’u Poa Beach Sunset

    The Beautiful Pu’u Poa Beach in Princeville Kauai

    August, 8th 2022

    The first time I visited this beach a year ago I came without my camera and was kicking myself for not being prepared. Not a total loss as I did have my drone and got some killer aerial shots around the bay, however, I talked myself out of taking additional gear. I learned my lesson and packed my camera, lenses, and dismantled my tripod into several pieces in-order to fit in my carry on. The tripod is a huge waste of space. This is when I discovered that Peak Designs makes an amazing travel tripod that has the smallest profile of any tripod I have ever seen. More on this after my review in a few weeks.

    Pu’u Poa beach is beautiful. A great place to relax and enjoy the day with the ability to sunbathe or seek shelter under the natural overhanging canopy of the tropical almond trees. The golden sand meets the warm shallow water while the canopy of leaves kiss the ocean a couple feet away from the shoreline. A few openings in the leaves reveal the distant mountains and open waters of Hanalei Bay. It’s at one of these openings that I am setup and waiting for the light to be perfect.

    Summer time is difficult to photograph due to the tropical storms and hurricanes. Extra humidity fills the air and clouds form just over the horizon making the colors die quickly. That was the case during this shoot. This is why I always begin shooting early to capture the light that is just a little warmer, but in a lot of cases too bright for slow shutter effects. My focus is on the backlit leaves and to make them fairly sharp and to frame the distant mountains. Lucky enough the sun gave me a little bit of color just before it faded. This is the resulting image. I plan to return for another attempt.

    Thank you for reading.

    Buy a Print

    Beautiful photograph of a Hawaiian sunset viewed through the back lit leaves of a tree.
    Sunset through overhanging Tropical Almond Tree leaves on the beautiful sandy Pu’u Poa beach on Kauai.
    Additional images taken while waiting for the sun to start setting.
    Under the canopy of tropical almond tree branches at the Pu'u Poa beach in Princeville, Kauai
    Footprints in the sandy beach of Pu’u Poa beach
    Soft light filters through the canopy of tree branches along Pu'u Poa beach
    Sunlight filters through the overhanging tree branches along the Pu’u Poa coastline
    Sunstar seem through the tropical almond branches of Pu'u Poa beach
    Sunstar shining through the tropical almond tree branches
    Mountains of Haena seen through the tree branches from Princeville
    The distant mountains of Haena seen through the tropical almond tree branches of Pu’u Poa beach

     

    For more images of Kauai please view my Kauai Aerial Images post.

  • Panoramic aerial view of Hanalei Bay on Kauai
    Jul
    2022
    02
    2022 / Jul / 02

    Aerial views from Princeville to Haena

    A collection of aerial photographs I captured from Princeville to Haena on the beautiful garden island of Kauai.

    It is always a pleasure to be able to visit another island. The Big Island is beautiful and has a lot of very unique qualities, but it is a young island. Erosion hasn’t taken place like it has on the other islands. Kauai is the oldest island of the Hawaiian island chain with an estimated 5 million years. Stepping from a landscape of lava rock and gentle sloping mountain to a lush green landscape with towering chiseled mountains and waterfalls is exciting for me.

    With the Mavic 2 Pro drone I went exploring. I took advantage of the early morning and late afternoon’s warm light which accented the tropical landscapes. This is a collection of the images I created from the beautiful sandy beaches of Hideaways and Pu’u Poa as well as along the coastline to Haena.

    I look forward to returning to Kauai so that I can continue to explore this magical island.

    Additional non-drone images check out the Pu’u Poa Beach Sunset post.

    Sunset reflected in the Hanalei river on the beautiful island of Kauai
    The Hanalei river reflecting the surrounding mountains during sunset.
    Hideaway Beach Sand Design
    Shoreline designs of Hideaways Beach in Princeville
    Aerial panorama of the mountains surrounding the small town of Haena
    Panorama of the mountains surrounding the small town of Haena
    Shoreline design of Haena beach
    Haena beach on the island of Kauai
    The Lamaha'i river meets the Lumaha'i beach
    The point where the Lumaha’i river meets the Lumaha’i beach.
    Hideaways beach in Princeville on the island of Kauai
    Beautiful Hideaways Beach in Princeville Kauai
    Panoramic aerial view of Hanalei Bay on Kauai
    A panorama of the beautiful Hanalei bay in Kauai.

    Purchase prints of the above images by visiting Fine Art America or by contacting me through my Contact Page.

  • Hawaii sunset reflected in the coastline tide pool.
    Oct
    2019
    12
    2019 / Oct / 12

    Coastline Reflections

    Coastline reflections of a beautiful Hawaiian sunset by Christopher Johnson.

    Buy a Print

    A different perspective of the same coastline. With the high surf pounding the Kailua Kona coastline the water found its way to the grassy patch well behind the surf. Instead of positioning myself of the edge of a blowhole I chose to work with this grassy reflective scene. This was my second attempt when I wasn’t thrilled with my first composition from the previous day. Lucky for me the sunset and water waited for me to return.

    © Christopher Johnson

     

    Hawaii sunset reflected in the coastline tide pool.

  • Surfer girls silhouetted against a beautiful Hawaii sunset
    Oct
    2018
    28
    2018 / Oct / 28

    Surfer Girl Sunset

    Silhouette of surfer girls walking toward a Hawaiian sunset.

    Buy a Print

    I wanted to get a little creative with this image. I had the panned sunset image that I wanted to add more interest to after getting inspiration from other artists on FineArtAmerica. I combined a silhouette of surfer girls walking in a sunset from an image I took in 2012 and a more recent image of birds in front of the sunset. Without much editing I had the scene I envisioned.

    Surfer girls silhouetted against a beautiful Hawaii sunset

  • Panoramic view of Hualalai Mountain in the sunset
    Oct
    2018
    23
    2018 / Oct / 23

    Hualalai Sunset

    Hualalai mountain shrouded by sunset lit clouds from the Kailua Kona shoreline

    Buy a print

    Standing on the coastline waiting for the sun to get into position to photograph the rocky shoreline swallowing the waves during sunset, I looked behind me at the mountain. This was too good to pass up and immediately shifted focus from the ocean to the land. My single wide lens couldn’t capture the entire scene that I was witnessing, so I needed to shoot a panorama.

    This image is a combination of 9 images. I first panned the landscape and then the sky to create the largest single image I have ever worked on. 20 hours of warping, masking, blending, and enhancing as well as another 3 to polish the shot to how I saw this amazing sunset.

    Panoramic view of Hualalai Mountain in the sunset

  • A beautiful sunset from the Hawaii coastline.
    Oct
    2018
    08
    2018 / Oct / 08

    Clouds Mimic the Earth

    A beautiful sunset from the OTEC coastline on the Big Island of Hawaii

    Buy a Print from my Fine Art America store.

    This sunset was one for the books. I had a suspicion that the sunset might be good, but as the light began to fizzle I became skeptical. Just as the sun moved under the distant clouds it began to highlight the underside of the lower clouds to gift me a beautiful shot. I was completely blown away that the shape of the clouds mimicked the shape of the landscape I was shooting, which gave me some interest in the sky.

    See this location from the air. A photo and video of this amazing location. “Keahole Coastline Aerial”

    A beautiful sunset from the Hawaii coastline.

  • Sunset along the Kailua Lona coastline
    Aug
    2018
    15
    2018 / Aug / 15

    South Swell

    A beautiful sunset from along the Kona coastline during a large swell.

    I went to this familiar location to shoot from the same spot I usually do, right at the mouth of the hole in the reef. This usually puts me right in line looking at the sun setting with a dramatic foreground of the water draining back to sea. Fortunately there was a large south swell that had forced me to find a new perspective because standing where I usually do would be dangerous as the water will pull my photography gear or me into the hole that is 10 to 15 feet deep if not careful. Some of these waves will catch me off guard and it is not easy to escape and in the past I have had to thrust my camera way up in the air by grabbing the tripod legs so a wave didn’t kill it, but would leave me drenched. You might wonder why I say fortunately instead of unfortunately. Why would it be fortunate to be forced into something I wasn’t planning on. Well, I say fortunately because I love it when I am forced to try something new. When there is a spectacular sunset I always go to my comfort zone with a perspective and composition I have photographed before so I don’t screw it up. Where I usually come home with some great shots, I am still longing for a new perspective. I don’t want to have a portfolio of the same shots when there are so many great views along this coastline. At least this time I was forced.
    This is not the most amazing photograph, but it was very complicated both with composition and technicality. I really had to work for this shot. The foreground rocks aren’t very large, so in order to trick the eye I had to crouch down into the small crevice and straddle the river of rushing water about 2 feet off the ground. In that position it is really hard to setup and look through the view finder… especially when you are as out of shape and stiff like I am.   🙁   I had to fold myself while moving around so my shadow wasn’t visible on the left rock face. It’s hard to explain how weird I felt, but I’m sure I looked like a crazy person on the coastline waiting until the right moment, which never ever comes immediately. I have to begin cramping up before I can begin to shoot and create.
    After all that I waited on developing these images until 3 months later because of the volcano eruption that stole my attention. It wasn’t until I was tired of not seeing a sunset because of all the VOG that I went back through my images to find this awesome day.
    This image is a mesh of 2 images at different focal points. One for the foreground rocks and the other for the rest of the scene. The final image was edited several times over, over a couple days to get the look I was going for.
    © Christopher Johnson
  • Beautiful Hawaiian sunset along the Kona coastline
    May
    2018
    03
    2018 / May / 03

    Fiery Sunset

    Beautiful bright and colorful sunset from the edge of a blow hole along the Kona coastline.

    The sunset last night was amazing!
    I set out when I saw low lying clouds underneath the upper clouds along with a clear horizon. Usually the sun will begin to illuminate the lower clouds with color and slowly hit the upper clouds to create an amazing glow of color, but when I got to the coastline I had second thoughts. The sky was gray and dismal. It didn’t change much as the sunset came near so I thought the hazy on the horizon would stop the color and fizzle into nothing.
    I setup to capture a totally different scene and was facing south when the explosion of color began. As fast as I could along the treacherous jagged and slippery rocks I moved to this location, looking through the large holes in the reef, to compose for the colors in the sky. I threw caution to the wind as I precariously setup on some small boulders and watched the large waves flood in toward me. I was rusty because I hadn’t been out in a while, but I’m happy that I walked away with some usable images to work with.
    Enjoy!
    © Christopher Johnson
  • 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

    Buy this artwork

    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

  • Pink sunset off of the Keahole Point coastline on the Big Island of Hawaii
    Oct
    2017
    16
    2017 / Oct / 16

    Pink Sky

    Photograph of a beautiful reflected sunset along the coastline of the Big Island of Hawaii

    Buy A Print

    This was a surprising sunset. The colors came out of nowhere.

    I was standing in a different location when the sunset just seemed to fizzle in muted dull colors like I had seen so many other times before. A lot of times there is a VOG layer or clouds just off of the horizon that block the sun from hitting the underside of the clouds when it sets. So when the sun set and there wasn’t any sign of life I began to pack up. It was just then the pink under lit clouds began to glow. Filling everything with an amazing warm glow. The only thing I could think to do was setup my camera and jump into this reflecting pool to capture a full frame of color and landscape.

    © 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.

    Buy A Print

    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.

  • Golden sunset from the Big Island of Hawaii shoreline.
    Sep
    2017
    17
    2017 / Sep / 17

    Golden September Sunset

    Photograph of a Golden Sunset along the coastline of the Big Island of Hawaii

    Golden sunset from the Big Island of Hawaii shoreline.

    Check out my Pu’u Poa Beach Sunset collection.

  • Sunset photograph from the rocky coastline of Keahole Point on the Big Island of Hawaii
    Jun
    2017
    23
    2017 / Jun / 23

    Big Island Sunset

    Photograph of a Big Island sunset from the edge of a large blow hole along the Keahole Point coastline.

     

    This point along the Keahole coastline is made up of black rock that outstretches toward the ocean and ends as a cliff. A long jagged 50′ sliver cut in the rock allows the ocean surges to flow in and out, filling the void with a beautiful light blue color. There are so many places to setup to photograph this scene, but they all come with the harsh challenge of merging the bright sunlight with the dark rock. This shot is not a typical composition that I would normally pick, but the lines from the land bridge through the reflected water path to the sun really caught my eye. I shot a few images to capture the movement of the water the way I wanted as well as a few bracketed shots  for the shadows and lights. All combined in Photoshop for an image that shows a Big Island sunset.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • 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.

    Buy a Print

    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.

     

    Buy a Print

    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