It's a little bittersweet to go through these images from just two short weeks ago and remember that I was in such a gorgeous place. As I look through these images I am again reminded of one of the major reasons I loved Kauai, the color. Everything was just colored differently there than in California. The flowers were more vibrant, the green much greener and the most interesting part, the beaches were redder. I just loved that when I was photographing our special beach moments, how the color of sand had such rich, warm tones. It worked even in the middle of the day.
I have a confession to make, I am lazy about editing pictures and even lazier about editing nature pictures. Lately it is more about quantity than quality and I am trying to stop myself when it comes to these images. So I kept it down to just a few of my favorite moments. Also I am going to have to do some tutorials on editing nature images. I use to be good and it was always what I shot, but I am very out of practice. I am out of practice taking them and mostly editing them, so here is my best shot.
One thing I can't do to these images from Kauai is convert them to black and white, I just can't do it. I tried it several times with my images, but the colors in Kauai are just so gorgeous that I can't hide them behind monochromatic colors, even when there is so much fog and clouds it dims the view.
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| A view spot on the way to Waimea, I didn't catch the name. |
Then there is Hawaii and Kauai's version of the Grand Canyon. On this day I went in the middle of the day, worst time to take nature pictures, and it was cloudy and rainy so I was out of luck, but look at the range of colors in this mountain, how can I possibly show anything differently?
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| Waimea Canyon |
The colors of vibrancy shows up everywhere and Kauai is specifically known for its red dirt, does it get any redder than this little mountain stream? I am not sure if I have seen colors like that anywhere.
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| Waimea Canyon Drive |
Then there are the flowers, there really is a reason this is known as the garden state. The flowers are in so many shades and so colorful and everywhere. I just love flowers.
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| Koke'E State Park |
When I went to Hawaii and Oahu the first time I had this vision of what Hawaii should be and Oahu was just too crowded and touristy and I just never really saw what I wanted to see there. One day Carl and the boys and I went off the beaten path and here in this private residence I saw the view that I thought was very Hawaiian and how I envisioned the state. Also as all my family members know, I am a sucker for rolling green hills, so this picture is how I imagined the meadows and open space of Hawaii the first time I went.
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| Hoopii Trail |
I have made no secret that I was obsessed with fresh water and waterfalls in this very natural and garden like island. So here is my own private waterfall and my favorite river. I finally got to be next to a river. I have wanted to be near a forest and river for ages that is not crowded and full of people. We are headed to June Lake soon so my wish will come true again. It was peaceful to be here, until one of the kids fell in. Just kidding!
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| Hoopii Trail |
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| Hoopii Trail |
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| Ho'opi'l Falls |
Can wild boar be cute? I guess if there are little babies like this guy here and not fattened up yet. I just liked his little prance.
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| Kilohana Plantation |
Carl says, this obsession comes from him, but I think I need to go through all my images because I have been taking these pictures for a while, curving road. Or in this case curving rail road tracks. I just like the motion of going somewhere when nothing is moving. It is abandoned, often used, does anyone notice it but me, I just love it.
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| Kilohana Plantation |
If there is one tourist attraction on the island it is spouting horn and there are vendors all the way up the sidewalk until you reach this spot. I bet there are millions of pictures taken at this little spot and it is actually very boring. The boys said, yep there is a bunch of water spraying up, now let's play on this bench it more fun than this thing. I liked this picture because all the water is spraying up at the same time.
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| Spouting Horn |
The only cool thing about Spouting Horn is that the geyser makes a continuous rainbow right next to it, but as I proved to myself you can't capture the geyser and the rainbow at the same time. So I settled for a picture that would remind me of Hawaii in that typical way; rainbows, shoreline and hotels.
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| Spouting Horn |
I am not sure if it was bad luck, our spot on the island or just this island, but I didn't get very good sunsets. It was too cloudy and for an island that was full of beautiful vibrant colors, the sunset was the exact opposite. Of course you can't go there without one beach sunset shot, so here are two.
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| Brennecke Beach |
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| Poipu Beach |
These are the colors and nature and moments I loved about Kauai and why I really want to go back. I have rarely felt this way about a vacation spot, but I loved how uncrowded and natural this island was. The beaches were free of a lot of people and every spot was a hidden gem. That means no major tourist spots for those who are looking, but all the same I like the search.
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