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Shifting Camera Choices · We just got back from a week in Maui; obviously, I took a lot of pictures. I think my choice of tools and techniques is pretty mainstream, so when I suddenly change them I wonder if I’m part of a news story. As of this trip, I treat my camera (Fuji X-T1) and phone (Pixel 2) as peers, and which one I reach for depends on what kind of picture I want to take. And almost always, there’s big glass on the Fuji (the Samyang 135mm F2 or Fuji’s own excellent 55-200 zoom). I’m wondering if “normal” lenses on “real” cameras have a future. By way of evidence I offer ten pictures of Maui, five each from the Pixel and from the “real” camera ...
HP7 — Draperies · My Hawaii Problem is solved, or anyhow I’m out of Big-Island pictures I feel compelled to share. These last two have absolutely nothing specific to the geography ...
HP6 — Greens · This, I promise, is the second-last outburst consequent upon the Hawaii Problem where my Lightroom is all bulgy with nifty Big-Island photos. Today, shades of green at Akaka Falls State Park ...
HP5 — Lava Context · Having bombarded you with lava pix while dealing with my need-to-overshare Hawaii Problem, I thought it’d be nice to show the story of where the hot rock came from ...
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HP4 — Botanicals · Botanical gardens are A Good Thing. If you haven’t been to any, you should rectify that soonest. If you get to Hawaii’s Big Island, you should definitely drive north from Hilo and visit the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. In this entry, the Hawaii-Problem you-gotta-see-these-pix monotony is relieved by sex ...
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HP3 — More Hot Lava! · I wrote about hiking across hard lava to poke a stick into hot lava, and the pictures were groovy, but I had more than I could squeeze in there, so here are the rest that are worthwhile. Those who don’t sympathize with my Hawaii Problem (the urge to force recent-vacation pictures down the world’s throat) will be happy to hear that there are only a couple more instalments after today ...
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HP2 — The Last Palms · The Hawaii Problem is when you come back from there with an irresistible urge to show off your pictures. Today, some lonely palm trees ...
HP1 — Sea Turtles · HP stands for “Hawaii Problem”, which is what happens when your friends come back from it and insist on showing you their pictures. Except for since this is the Internet, nobody can insist you look at anything. Anyhow, I have a few more I feel the urge to share, starting with sea turtles ...
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Tropical Mirrorless Research · I claim that watching people photograph the Big Island is effective camera-futures research; and camera futures are interesting now. So here’s some research. Oh, and Big Island photos ...
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Finite Surface Integral of the Earth · I have watched the piecewise creation of the world; new pieces burn gold-red, creeping into place like honey, lethally hot in the ocean-moist air ...
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Eight From Maui · Pictures, I mean. I suspect that many readers have been somewhere in Hawaiʻi at least once, and may find smiles in the photos. For those who’ve not, or who have but not to Maui, I’ve wrapped some words of advice around the pictures ...
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Photo Notes · Remarks from the photo world, interspersed with uplifting Hawai’i snapshots. It’s about emotion, not just technology ...
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Maui Ladies · Here are three photos of two ladies taken on Maui, one of whom is addressed with a capital L ...
Island Food and Drink · Herewith some words on real ale, fake wine, and Fran’s Island Grill, with pictures for atmosphere and a recipe even ...
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Honen Again · I’ve written before about the Honen mission in Lahaina on Maui, but I’ll never visit this island without dropping by ...
Kā’anapali · This is the westernmost part of the island of Maui. It turns out the resort has exorbitantly-priced Internet which doesn’t allow anything but proxied Web access, which would mean that, among other things, I can’t post to this space. So I’m only gonna poke my head in at a café every few days ...
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Maui Bound · I’m off with the family tomorrow for ten days in Maui, 15th through the 24th. We’ll be meeting an Aussie friend. Anyone else I know who’ll be there, drop me a line and we’ll get together for a Mai Tai.
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Picture Frames · On this vacation, given that Lauren is seven months pregnant, we picked something that was low-stress and low-adventure (starting with the location; there’s a direct Vancouver-to-Kona flight). I like lounging by the pool and sampling the local beverages as much as anyone, but with a deadline-free week, I also found time for some recreational programming. The result is something I call “Framer”, which generates borders and/or drop shadows for images in most popular formats. It writes PNGs with variable alpha channel so the drop shadows will look OK on any color background. It has some options and you’re free to use it, but it’s not problem-free and unless there’s a lot of interest I’m not going to open-source it. Illustrated with groovy Big Island sunset photos ...
The Big Island · I’m good at vacationing; sleep a couple hours extra every night, lose all ambition, disconnect from work. Here are some photos from the Big Island, which is a good vacation spot, and remarks on: palm trees, resort maintenance and economics, bad clothing, lava, the size of things, where to buy fish, beer, flying with the kid, weather forecasts, Kailua-Kona and sea turtles ...
FSS: Hawai’i · Friday Slide Scan #27, like #26, has two twenty-year-old photos from Hawai’i, the Big Island; but unlike last week, these are ordinary pretty-plant pictures. Like last week, I picked them because we’re going to be spending the a week there, leaving tomorrow, April 1. If anyone I know is going to be there too, let’s get together for a Mai Tai ...
FSS: Hawai’i · Friday Slide Scan #26 has two twenty-year-old photos from Hawai’i, the Big Island; unusually for such photography, neither includes the ocean, nor any flowers, nor any plants even; there’s one non-native animal. They’re pretty enough, and that island’s in my mind because we’re going to be spending the a week there starting next Sunday, April 2nd. If anyone I know is going to be there too, let’s get together for a Mai Tai ...
Geometries On Maui · Doing that pretty-shapes post last night reminded me of a couple of pictures hanging around from the Maui vacation that are the same, only different ...
The Surfing Goat Dairy · I’d been meaning to write some traveler’s notes on Maui, they might be useful since lots of West Coasters go there; but to be honest, we planned our trips and travels based pretty well on the travel-guides and websites, and there are lots of them, and a little discrimination produces good results. The Surfing Goat Dairy would be an exception; we ran across one of their leaflets somewhere, and if you’re going to drive up Haleakala (and you should), they’re handily-placed for a visit on the way down. They’re a couple of expat Germans and in among the goats they have a nice little low-key place to eat, selling what they claimed were focaccias but in fact were croissants, loaded up with various combinations of their own flavored Chèvres and Fetas plus meats and vegetables. The food is excellent, the goats are charming, the view is good, the air on the mountainside is a pleasure to breathe, and the motto is Da’ Feta Mo’ Betta; what’s not to like? Inside, a picture of a handsome goat ...
The Pa’ia Sugar Mill · Pa’ia is a funky little town on Maui; its sugar mill closed in 2000 but is still there ...
St. Valentine’s Hibiscus · I had the good fortune to grow up in a warm climate, surrounded by large hibiscus bushes, well-supplied most months with luscious tropical blooms, in our case usually crimson. But in Hawai’i they come in apricot too, and what could be more appropriate for this day? ...
Buddha and the Insect · We were visiting the Honen Buddhist Mission in Lahaina, and found the great Buddha there untroubled by small things ...
Tiki Torches at Twilight? · I’m on vacation in Maui next week (Feb. 7-13). In the unlikely event that any other sunburnt geeks will be on the island, get in touch and let’s do a social under the palms. Oh, the torches? Just an excuse to recommend a truly superb recording ...
