Kauai 2012 : Honu 2

Fair warning: do not mistake the lack of bird photos in today's post for a lack of bird photos. In fact, today I amassed an insane number of images overall, a good number of which starred various avian species. However, it seemed like it was time to take a break from birds, and it wasn't like I was lacking for other options. So, to start things off, a few shots I took this morning of a nearby tree. I really liked how the red leaves were backlit by the morning sun; this first image in particular brought to mind a stained-glass window:

A banana tree growing right next to the house my folks are renting:

A couple of shots of an anole I spotted in the underbrush as I walked along the lanai:

And an anole Dad noticed when it crawled up one of the stumps at the edge of the lawn:

I didn't crop this one in quite as much to provide a better sense of the gecko's size; the trunk in question is about as big around as a basketball:

Later in the afternoon, Mom, Dad, and I walked over to Shell Beach to enjoy the sunshine and, in my case, see what there was to photograph. I'd only been there for five minutes when a couple of guys walking by told me there was a turtle swimming around in a long, narrow pool running from close to the shoreline and out to the deeper water (I can only imagine what it would be like for a person not paying strict attention as they walked along the reef—one moment they'd be maybe shin-deep in the water, the next waist-deep or more). Dad and I hurried over as best we could, but when we got there a man who'd been observing the turtle from the shore had waded in to either photograph or record it. He kept approaching as close to it as he could, it would move away, and slowly but surely he ended up pushing it toward the deeper water. By the time I got there, it seemed well on its way to heading back out to sea.  I tried taking a few shots, but all you could really see was a dark mass in the water.

A bit cranky, I headed back towards the shore. But for whatever reason, I looked back at the pool one last time before I started heading back up to where Mom and Dad had set up their beach chairs. I noticed a dark patch in the water in an area where I didn't think I'd seen any rocks before. I waited, and before too long the spot moved. Spirits renewed, I sloshed back on out and started clicking away.

The majority of the photos I took of the turtle in the water pretty much looked like this, thanks to the constantly moving water:

This was about the only shot I got where the shape in the water was even remotely recognizable as something living:

However, I did manage to get lucky a few times and snag some photos of the turtle's head when it popped up for a breath of fresh air; this first one is the only time the turtle wasn't facing away from me when it happened:

My best shot of the turtle's head:

Cropped in a bit closer:

A look out across the pool at the gorgeous colors of the water, from the shallower light-green of the pool water to the deeper blues of the ocean proper:

Finally... well, how could I not end today's post with this particular shot?

Kauai 2011 day 13: Various and sundry

I've got a fairly large bunch of photos for today's post, taken either around Mom and Dad's place or in the town of Hanalei, so I'll just get right to it.

Another one of my occasional attempts at being intentionally artistic:



A few more photos from the day we fed the birds at Bubba's, starting with a couple of shots of a Zebra Dove:



Taking a load off between snacks:



A close-up of a Red-crested Cardinal that I was particularly pleased with:



Looking out at some taro fields:



I zoomed in as much as I could for this shot:



A pretty well-known Kauai landmark: Wai`oli Hui`ia Church, aka the Little Green Church:



I cropped the above image in to provide a closer look at the stained-glass windows; it was pretty hazy in town, so my close-ups of the windows didn't turn out very well:



A bunch of Myna photos are up next; these next two of a Myna perched on the edge of the roof were both taken as I stood on the porch, giving me a fairly decent angle on them:





Later on, this Myna feasted on tortilla chips. Very messy eater, that one:







A Myna perched on a palm leaf:





That little spot to the right of the Myna's beak is not a glitch in the photo, but a bug hovering the air. From the angle, I have no idea if it was right in front of the Myna, as it appears, or if I just happened to catch the insect at an angle that makes it seem that way:



Another visitor to our porch:





Finally, some ocean shots. In this first one, I liked both the contrast between the greenery and the color of the water and the look of the water's surface:



A few wave photos:









Finally, the combination of textures—the rippled surface of the water, the froth, and the rocks—was what caught my eye in this shot:

I see trees of green

Not much to say about this one; I took it a couple of weeks ago while out for a walk with Kaylee, and really liked how it turned out if I do say so myself:

Details, details

Thanks in part to having to go out and find stuff to photograph, this year I'm noticing that the transition from fall to winter results in some interesting juxtapositions, like yesterday's greenery that was coated in ice. The one that caught my eye today was this oak leaf standing on end on top of the snow as if someone had pinned it there:



I started scanning the ground for others, and before long spotted this maple leaf standing out against the white; I'd actually come within about a foot of stepping on it as I'd walked along by the edge of the trees:



One great thing about photographing leaves against a pure white backdrop? Details like the latticework cell structure exposed as the leaf decayed absolutely pop:



When I crouched down to photograph this maple leaf, I got to see first-hand why it ended up with such a large divot at the base of the stem; the wind was strong enough to make the leaf spin and flutter around, yet didn't have quite enough oomph to dislodge it completely:



And to close things out, a close-up look at that same leaf after a wind-induced position change. Reminds me a bit of a stained-glass window, in a way:

Another rainy day

Since it was looking like my photography opportunities were going to be few and far between today, given it's been raining non-stop since last night, at lunchtime I decided I'd step out the back door and see if the crows I was hearing nearby were within camera range. Alas, they were nowhere in sight. So I turned my attention to the nearby tree branches instead:





Before I began this project, I definitely had little to no appreciation or understanding of how many different factors come into play when taking a photo, much less the ways in which the smallest of changes can have a noticeable impact on the final image. I thought a couple of the pictures in today's batch illustrated this in an interesting way. First, a shot of a branch taken from a spot straight across from it:



Nothing wrong with this picture, really. When I shot it I fully intended the foliage to be the backdrop, thinking it would make a nice contrast to the darkness of the branch and leaves.

Then I moved about a step and a half to my left and took another shot of the same branch:



Granted, I was zoomed in a bit more for this one, which means it's framed slightly differently. But check out how the slight shift in angle changes the way the wet branch catches the light, and how the drops of water pop against the darker background.

As for this last photo... I honestly have no idea how or why the background came out the way it did. Maybe the wind was moving the branches in the back but not affecting the one I'd focused in on, given that the foreground is still in focus. Maybe I caught some of the raindrops at just the right moment. In any event, it: made for a cool effect