Not Much to Say...

Last Friday a group of us from the Oahu photography meetup ventured down to Magic Island.  The goal was to photograph sunset, fireworks and full moon.  Well, the sunset didn't inspire me, and the full moon never made it's appearance while I was there--mostly, I think, because there was a huge bank of clouds at the eastern horizon, and I didn't want to stay long (late) enough for the moon to rise over the clouds.  Besides, by the time it was up over the clouds, it would have looked too small and the sky would have been too dark.

But we did manage to capture the fireworks.  The Hawaiian Hilton puts on a fireworks display every Friday night.  It only lasts about 10 minutes, but it's very nice and there are a lot of oooohs & aaaaahs. 

Photographing fireworks is always an exercise in experimentation, even if you really do know what you're doing, which, by the way, I don't.  So, hopefully, I'll get back there another Friday night and have another go at it.   Bring a chair, something to drink and a friend and you're good to go. It's not a bad way to spend the evening.

Saturday afternoon, Mar 22, 2008

MOONRISE

The charts said that on Friday, Mar. 21, 2008 the full moon would be rising right around the same time that the sun would set. Perfect timing to take moonrise shots. The sky would still be light enough, but not too bright, and the moon always looks huge when it's at the horizon. So we had a Meetup Moonrise Shoot planned. Only about 4-5 people were signed up--in spite of the fact that there are about 70 registered members. Well, Friday dawned cloudy...which didn't bode too well for clear skies at sunset.

As the day progressed the sky became, cloudy. I decided I was still going because even if the moon and clouds didn't cooperate, I knew there would be other things to photograph, and how shabby is it to spend sunset at the beach?? It turned out that only two of us went. Len and I. It had been planned for us to meet at Makapuu Beach, below the lighthouse we shot many weeks ago.

Below is an image of some sort of memorial. Several of the stones had leis and necklaces draped over them. I haven't researched yet to see exactly what the memorial is for.

So we were wandering around taking photos of the sea and other things when we saw two guys with tripods setting up. We thought they might be with our group so we went over to speak with them. No. They were just there to photograph the moonrise for some movie that one of them was making. We all commiserated because the clouds were very thick at the horizon.

So it got to be the time the moon was due to rise and sure enough, the cloud bank on the horizon continued to be thick as pea soup and it was getting too dark to photograph anything else. We all decided it was probably time to leave. Close up the tripods, turn off the cameras and put them away in their bags, put the bags in the trunks or back seats, get in the car, turn it on, look over shoulder while beginning to back up and THERE IT WAS!! We must have all seen it at the same time because suddenly all the cars went off and there was a rush to get cameras and tripods out and set up. So even though we missed the moon right at the horizon, it was still pretty good where we got it.

Moon and Makapuu Lighthouse

lighthouse=Hale ipukukui

memorial= Mea ho'omana'o

full moon=mahina piha

Aloha