hawaii – heath ofee dot com

Maui – IV

Heath OFee — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:10:16 +0000

The fourth instalment in my Maui collection. Such great memories from this trip

We stopped quite a few times along the road to Hana to see if we could find some of the waterfalls described in our guidebook. This bamboo forest was along one of the first and most exciting hikes we took to find a set of secluded falls. It was muddy, humid, and slightly dangerous – so it was SUPER fun

Waterfalls. There are plenty of those in the rainforest along the road to Hana. These are just a few that we were able to see.

We were lucky enough to be able to take a 1-hour helicopter ride during our time in Maui. This shot was taken just as we came through the clouds on the way to the top of the Haleakala crater. Such a cool sight.

One day I drove myself from Kihei all the way along the west and north coastal roads to central Maui. Parts of this road were only just wide enough for a single vehicle, so it was a pretty fun drive.

Taking this shot with the fisheye exaggerates how wide this road was. In reality, it’s a single lane, 180 degree blind uphill corner. Awesomeness.

This wreck was in my guidebook, but you really have to see it to believe it. I had to hike a good 300 yards off the road and through two fences to get to this destroyed vehicle on the coastal cliffs. Your guess is as good as mine as to how it got there.

A sunset on our beach.

A view of the rugged volcanic coastline on the far southwest tip of Maui. You can’t tell, but the wind was ridiculously strong here – I was wiping salt spray off my lenses all morning.

For some reason this view reminded me of a scene straight from Africa. Felt like I could have been on a safari.

The cliffs on the northwest coast of Maui were amazing. Such fantastic views.

I think I may have enough images for one more Maui post like this. Hope you’re not getting sick of these yet!

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon Fisheye EF 15mm f/2.8
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L

Maui – III

Heath OFee — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 14:33:43 +0000

Another instalment of Maui images today. Unfortunately, I haven’t got time to give the brief descriptions of each photo as I’ve done for the past two.

Hope you enjoy the scenery!

Maui – II

Heath OFee — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 14:10:42 +0000

The more I look back at these photos, the more I want to get back to Hawaii for some real exploration. There are so many spots just on Maui that I didn’t get to explore fully – or explore at all. Next time

The beach at our condo complex was amazing. A decent amount of shade if you wanted it and surf just big enough for some quality boogie boarding. Oh, and these rocks made for some great photo opportunities.

Two more shots from our beach – gotta love the palm tree silhouette.

We were staying in Kihei, and one day I decided to venture as far south as the road would take me – I ended up at this location. Amazing, rugged volcanic rock formations created an amazing bit of low coastline.

When Brei and I stopped at the black sand beach past Hana, the first thing we noticed was a crazy person swimming out in the aggressive surf of the small inlet. He must’ve been almost 200 yards out when we got there, and we watched him battle the surf all the way back in. Amazing.

The road to Hana is truly one of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever taken. The long, windy road takes you through some amazing rainforest. Mike – this one’s for you

I posted a similar shot yesterday – this is another from the west side of the island between Kihei and Lahaina.

This is a view looking inland from the volcanic south west coast you saw above. The dark rock, scrubby brush, and low cloud was irresistible.

This grove of trees is above the black sand beach. The fisheye yielded an interesting result.

A little ways south of Wailea I came across this tiny moon-shaped inlet. I could have easily spent a couple hours just sitting on these rocks enjoying the view in silence.

For most of the week I was there we were treated to less than ideal sunsets. Thankfully, on our last night this happened. The photography gods were smiling on me that night.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon Fisheye EF 15mm f/2.8
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
– Canon 50mm f/1.4

Maui – I

Heath OFee — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:10:05 +0000

Last night I spent a bit of time going back through all of my images from my trip to Maui in August. For the most part, I’ve exhausted the ‘wow’ images that deserve their own post but I have a number of images remaining that will form the basis of a few collage posts similar to what I did with my New York City photos.

Looking back through these photos has made me realize all over again how much diversity and beauty there is on that one tiny island. It’s truly mind boggling.

Enjoy.

This was one of the most relaxing places I’ve ever been. This secluded beach was a ways past the town of Hana and I could have sat and watched the aggressive surf pound the shoreline for hours.

It was a shock when I came across this abandoned truck on my drive around the northwest tip of the island. Such a contrast to the natural beauty. Oh, and I’m pretty sure there was a feral cat or something living in there because something was growling at me the whole time I was shooting.

A typical view of the northwest coastline.

I made the early trek up to the top of the Haleakala Crater for sunrise one morning and froze my butt off. Unfortunately, I’m not particularly pleased with any of my shots of the actual sunrise, which is a shame – but I do like this shot of the observatory at the summit. One of the highest in the world.

I’ve shared an image of the black sand beach we visited along the road to Hana before, and was taken just a short walk down from the beach. Love the contrast of the black rock against lush green vegetation.

On the way down from the Haleakala Crater, I stopped at a spot called Leleiwi Lookout. What you see above are a couple of shots looking into the crater. It’s like another planet.

Our drive of the road to Hana began with a light sprinkling of rain – the only moisture we saw the entire trip. It’s hard to resist that sheen of water on pavement.

This was taken at our first stop on the road to Hana. Our guidebook said there was a great waterfall at the end of a short hike – which there was, but this little grotto seemed a better shot to me at the time.

A view of the western coastline somewhere between Lahaina and Kihei.

I’ve posted a shot from this location before, but I thought it worth another to again showcase the diversity in topography. Lush rainforest on one side of the island, dry scrubby brush on the other. Just crazy.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this first instalment. I’m hoping to have two or three more along the same vein over the next few days.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon Fisheye EF 15mm f/2.8
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– Canon TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
– Canon 50mm f/1.4

Ghostly

Heath OFee — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 13:10:01 +0000

Alright, back to Maui again

Some of you may recognize the tree in this shot as I’ve shared a few images from this specific location previously (here, here, and here). It was one of the most memorable spots I hit while in Maui, so I’m glad I spent the time trying to capture it from as many angles as possible.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– B+W 77mm 10-stop ND Filter

A Portrait of Lahaina

Heath OFee — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:10:25 +0000

If you haven’t been following the work of my bud Jesse Pafundi, you should definitely start now. He’s been posting some great little sets that really tell the story of a day or location – awesome stuff. With that said, this post of mine was 100% inspired by what Jesse has been doing.

Lahaina is a great little town on the western coast of Maui – we were told it is a must visit, and we weren’t disappointed. Not only does it have one of the coolest town parks I’ve ever seen in Banyan Tree Park, but the main streets have some great places for both shopping and eating. We spent a good portion of an afternoon just cruising the streets and I did what I could to capture a little piece of the town with my 50mm. Oh, and we had a meal at Cheeseburger in Paradise – hard to pass on a name like that.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon 50mm f/1.4
– Black¤Rapid RS-4 Camera Strap (this camera strap changed my life)

Ripples

Heath OFee — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 13:10:00 +0000

If any of you have used the B+W 10-stop ND filter, you’ll know that it’s actually not quite neutral in colour – it tends to have a bit of a warm cast. Most times I try to eliminate this cast in post-processing, but for some images – like the one below – it just works. The added warmth from the filter helped emphasize the tones in the sand and made those sunset colours really pop. So, when using a filter that may create a bit of a colour cast, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and not just because you ‘think you should’ – you may find yourself happy with the uncorrected frame.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– B+W 77mm 10-stop ND Filter

Relaxation

Heath OFee — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:10:52 +0000

Welcome to the new look of heathofee.com. I’ve been thinking about making the site a little simpler and cleaner for a while now, and I finally took the initiative to get it done over the last couple of days. There may be a few more minor tweaks in the coming weeks, but I’m pretty happy with how it is right now. Of course, I’m open to any comments or suggestions.

There’s something so relaxing about sitting on a secluded beach all on your own listening to the waves roll in. It’s like all your cares and worries are temporarily washed out to sea with each successive wave, leaving only peace and serenity.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L
– B+W 77mm 10-stop ND Filter

Life

Heath OFee — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:10:24 +0000

The rainforest is pretty amazing. So much diversity of life in such close quarters. Although this photo was taken just steps from the road to Hana, I felt completely immersed in forest when taking this shot.

Life is all around us – enjoy it and capture it.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L

Roots

Heath OFee — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 13:10:56 +0000

Some places on this planet are just made to be photographed – and I found out that a great deal of them happen to be in Hawaii. During my time there, I was constantly amazed at the natural beauty and diversity available to capture with my camera – and the scene below is no exception. This tree couldn’t have fallen in a more beautiful spot and I felt very lucky to have stumbled upon it.

Equipment:
– Canon EOS 5D Mark II
– Sigma 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
– onOne Phototools