Big Island - Hawaii
Devil Came Up from Kilauea - Hawaii
Back in 2022, I was on a photography workshop on the islalnd of Hawaii . While there we went to Kilauea to shoot the eruption . So I spent the day to find an area that we wanted to shoot After all, we wanted to get a spectacular shoot.
Our leader was watching the Park news each day and was keeping track of the times it was erupting powerfully. So, one afternoon he was getting good feedback that Kileaua had started a large eruption and decided we should go up that evening. When arriving at the top, the area was packed with all kinds of visitors and photographers and we had to spend quite a bit of time searching for a good place to view the volcano. Upon finding a good area to photograph from, I quickly set up the camera and gear and starting shooting to capture this dramatic seen. After taking many shots, the above images were the ones that I decided were the very best. Reviewing the top image, I decided that, to me, it appears to resemble the Devil coming up from Kilauea. And so the name!
Heaven and Earth an The Milky Way
The next day, after photographing much closer, we decided to look for anothee area to to photographth Kilauea at night with the Milky Way above tlhe volcano. We drove up to an area that provided a very good view of the Volcano and decided it would be a good spot to shoot from. Ous photography instructor had alread figured out the spot where the Milky Way woud be directly over the volcano. As you can see he was right on. So I gave it the name that you see below the photograph.
Tidal Waves Crashing Coastal Rocks
Umauma Falls - Big Island
Mckenzie Point Big Island
Hawaiian Tropical Botantical Gardens
While researching nature places to visit on the Big Island of Hawaii, I found this forest sanctuary located at an altitude of 3,000 to 4,000 feet on the slopes of Mt. Hualaiai. The 70-acre sanctuary is the most accessible cloud forest on the Big Island. The sanctuary mission is to inspire and respect for tropical ecosystems and provide experiences in nature for Big Island residents and tourists from all over the world. A tropical rain forest receives most of its precipitation from rain. Cloud forests however, receive as much as 40% of their precipitation from moisture that condenses on the leaves of trees from mist and cloods that move throough these upland forests. The constant supplly of above-ground water makes a cloud foresst an excellent habitat for epiphytes (plants that grow on ollther plants).
The imaages above are of giant rainbow eucalyptus trees. These trees are evergreen trees with spear-shaped, silvery-green leaves and clusters of tiny white flowers. The most stunning feature is the trunk, which grow rainbow bark in shades of green, blue, orange, red, and purple. As it grows, the bark peels off in strips to reveal new colors and patterns, its beauty constantly evolving. They are just beaultiful.
The images below the rainbow trees are of other giant trees whose roots spread out over the forest ground. Since there is little soil (maybe six inches) due to volcanic lava everywhere below the soil, the roots are not able to grow down in the soil and so they spread far out. The roots in the photos above are as high as 3 feet and spread out quite a ways.
You can find out about the Kona Cloud Forest Sanctuary at www. konacloudforest.com