tide pool

  • Angry Eyes

    Macro photograph of a small hermit crab giving its angry eyes

    This image is a more comical view of a hermit crab propped up on the end of its shell. When it emerged its eyes were together as if it was angry at what it saw… me. Or perhaps its reflection in the massive filter which it though was another hermit crab. Shortly after it realized the beauty it was looking at and began to relax. I on the other hand photographed the initial response.

     

    © Christopher Johnson

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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

  • Keahole Sunset

    A wide photograph to show the character of the Keahole shoreline.

     

    Being too busy to go out and shoot is no fun and that is where I have been for most of 2015. Today I was able to retreat to the beach and noticed the calm ocean. It was then I slated a time to shoot the sunset. When the ocean is calm and the tide is low, the seaweed is more prevalent and I knew exactly where to go. A spot I haven’t been to in a while just north of Kailua Kona where the shoreline has a unique character to what we think Hawaii should look like.

    This location, unlike the others, is more violent when the waves surge in and out of the large holes in the rocky shoreline. Extra caution is needed when setting up. I setup low and close to the opening in-order to capture the water flowing through the seaweed. Because the surf was calm I felt safe from being pulled into the opening.

    I was lucky that the sunset came together at the right moment. I shot several frames, but this is the one that brought the entire scene together… Enjoy!

    © Christopher Johnson

    Waves rush through the blooming seaweed along the terrain of the Keahole coastline

    Purchase a print on paper, canvas, or metal at RedBubble.

  • Honu Coming To Rest on Anaehoomalu Beach, Waikoloa

    This was an amazing day for turtle sightings. Upon arrival to the Anaehoomalu Beach, AKA A-Bay, my family and I made our way down the coastline away from the hotels only to discover turtle after turtle after turtle. By the time we made it to a little cove, literally around the corner from the main beach, we had counted 15 turtles.

    The turtle pictured here was number 15. It was making it’s way up the beach to rest as the waves continued to pound all around making it struggle. Eventually it made it and slept pretty hardy 20 feet from where we were.

    To give the waves more character and motion I set my camera to aperture priority, enough to slow the shutter to 1/13th sec. This, with Image Stabilizing turned on kept the turtle in focus while blurring the crashing waves slightly. Then in Photoshop, I converted the image to black and white and overexposed +1 to lighten the darks of the turtle and blow out the highlights of the water just enough to make it less distracting.

    The image was nice in color, however, I was adjusting it to work for the Monochrome contest hosted by Popular Photography. Please vote for my image here – http://www.popphoto.com/photo-contest/septphotochallenge2011/photos/all/200250

    by Christopher Johnson – www.fromhereonin.com