travel

  • Panoramic aerial view of Hanalei Bay on Kauai
    Jul
    2022
    02
    2022 / Jul / 02

    Aerial views from Princeville to Haena

    A collection of aerial photographs I captured from Princeville to Haena on the beautiful garden island of Kauai.

    It is always a pleasure to be able to visit another island. The Big Island is beautiful and has a lot of very unique qualities, but it is a young island. Erosion hasn’t taken place like it has on the other islands. Kauai is the oldest island of the Hawaiian island chain with an estimated 5 million years. Stepping from a landscape of lava rock and gentle sloping mountain to a lush green landscape with towering chiseled mountains and waterfalls is exciting for me.

    With the Mavic 2 Pro drone I went exploring. I took advantage of the early morning and late afternoon’s warm light which accented the tropical landscapes. This is a collection of the images I created from the beautiful sandy beaches of Hideaways and Pu’u Poa as well as along the coastline to Haena.

    I look forward to returning to Kauai so that I can continue to explore this magical island.

    Additional non-drone images check out the Pu’u Poa Beach Sunset post.

    Sunset reflected in the Hanalei river on the beautiful island of Kauai
    The Hanalei river reflecting the surrounding mountains during sunset.
    Hideaway Beach Sand Design
    Shoreline designs of Hideaways Beach in Princeville
    Aerial panorama of the mountains surrounding the small town of Haena
    Panorama of the mountains surrounding the small town of Haena
    Shoreline design of Haena beach
    Haena beach on the island of Kauai
    The Lamaha'i river meets the Lumaha'i beach
    The point where the Lumaha’i river meets the Lumaha’i beach.
    Hideaways beach in Princeville on the island of Kauai
    Beautiful Hideaways Beach in Princeville Kauai
    Panoramic aerial view of Hanalei Bay on Kauai
    A panorama of the beautiful Hanalei bay in Kauai.

    Purchase prints of the above images by visiting Fine Art America or by contacting me through my Contact Page.

  • Aerial view of three eagle rays swimming in the turquoise waters of Kiholo Bay
    Apr
    2021
    14
    2021 / Apr / 14

    Kiholo Bay Aerial 2021

    First flight of 2021 over Kiholo Bay with a Mavic 2 Pro drone

    It was morning before any wind or people showed up. The sun had been up for an hour. Kiholo Bay was perfect. I couldn’t wait to fly the drone and capture the beauty of this magical place.

    Immediately I noticed two black figures in the water from 100ft in the air and came down lower to check them out. A pair of Eagle Rays were playing in the turquoise waters. I followed them for a bit and then took off to explore other parts of the coastline. Schools of fish, turtles, and unique designs of the lava rock shoreline captured my attention for a while. At the end of the flight I noticed a family of five Eagle Rays swimming together.

    I am always amazed at the beauty of Kiholo Bay.

    Prints are available on my FineArtAmerica store.

     

    Marine life in Kiholo Bay
    Five Eagle Rays swimming in turquoise waters
    Aerial view of a section of Kiholo bay matched up to a section of the ocean
    The turquoise blue of Kiholo Bay contrasted with the blues of the ocean
    Aerial view of three eagle rays swimming in the turquoise waters of Kiholo Bay
    Three Eagle Rays swimming together in the beautiful turquoise waters of Kiholo bay
    Aerial view of Kiholo Bay on the Big Island of Hawaii
    An aerial view of Kiholo Bay

    If you like areal images of marine animals check out this Humpback whale post.

  • aerial of the Kaiminani beach during sunrise
    Nov
    2018
    10
    2018 / Nov / 10

    Pine Trees Morning Surf

    Aerial photograph of a popular surf spot during sunrise in Kailua Kona.

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    My daughter wanted to meet some friend to surf dawn patrol at Pine Trees beach. Usually this means I have to sluggishly get out of bed, drive her down half asleep, and hurry home to drink more coffee, but not this time. For my birthday I got a DJI Spark drone and look for any opportunity to fly it. This was my opportunity to get out at sunrise and practice getting beach pictures while my daughter happily surfed with friends. Best of both worlds.

    8/22/2022 Update

    I am not sure how I was able to fly the drone during this morning at this spot. I have returned multiple times and have been restricted due to the proximity to the airport. The flight path extends past where I was standing. It’s a shame since now I have upgraded the drone to a Mavic 2 Pro and would love to recreate the beauty this surf spot has to offer.

    Aerial photograph of Pine Trees beach at sunrise
    aerial of the Kaiminani beach during sunrise
    Aerial of Pine Trees beach on the Big Island of Hawaii
  • Surfer girls silhouetted against a beautiful Hawaii sunset
    Oct
    2018
    28
    2018 / Oct / 28

    Surfer Girl Sunset

    Silhouette of surfer girls walking toward a Hawaiian sunset.

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    I wanted to get a little creative with this image. I had the panned sunset image that I wanted to add more interest to after getting inspiration from other artists on FineArtAmerica. I combined a silhouette of surfer girls walking in a sunset from an image I took in 2012 and a more recent image of birds in front of the sunset. Without much editing I had the scene I envisioned.

    Surfer girls silhouetted against a beautiful Hawaii sunset

  • Panoramic view of Hualalai Mountain in the sunset
    Oct
    2018
    23
    2018 / Oct / 23

    Hualalai Sunset

    Hualalai mountain shrouded by sunset lit clouds from the Kailua Kona shoreline

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    Standing on the coastline waiting for the sun to get into position to photograph the rocky shoreline swallowing the waves during sunset, I looked behind me at the mountain. This was too good to pass up and immediately shifted focus from the ocean to the land. My single wide lens couldn’t capture the entire scene that I was witnessing, so I needed to shoot a panorama.

    This image is a combination of 9 images. I first panned the landscape and then the sky to create the largest single image I have ever worked on. 20 hours of warping, masking, blending, and enhancing as well as another 3 to polish the shot to how I saw this amazing sunset.

    Panoramic view of Hualalai Mountain in the sunset

  • A beautiful sunset from the Hawaii coastline.
    Oct
    2018
    08
    2018 / Oct / 08

    Clouds Mimic the Earth

    A beautiful sunset from the OTEC coastline on the Big Island of Hawaii

    Buy a Print from my Fine Art America store.

    This sunset was one for the books. I had a suspicion that the sunset might be good, but as the light began to fizzle I became skeptical. Just as the sun moved under the distant clouds it began to highlight the underside of the lower clouds to gift me a beautiful shot. I was completely blown away that the shape of the clouds mimicked the shape of the landscape I was shooting, which gave me some interest in the sky.

    See this location from the air. A photo and video of this amazing location. “Keahole Coastline Aerial”

    A beautiful sunset from the Hawaii coastline.

  • Yellow Hibiscus flower against a white background
    Oct
    2018
    06
    2018 / Oct / 06

    Yellow Hibiscus

    A beautiful yellow Hibiscus flower found on the Big Island of Hawaii.

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    Picked from one of the Hibiscus bushes we have out in our front yard. I selected this flower because of how the style curved right at the end so that I could photograph the profile of the flower and have all of the 5 stigma balls visual instead of overlapping each other.

    I don’t have much of a studio, so I have to improvise. I was able to float the flower away from its background by pinning it to the bottom of my kitchen cabinets with a safety pin. With natural light I needed a longer than desired shutter speed, so I had to close all windows and stop the fans to keep the flower from wavering. Then with a timer set to 2 seconds on the camera I quickly and carefully pressed the shutter and gently fluttered a white towel in the background to blur any shadow or detail that might be picked up by the camera. The depth of field wasn’t enough to pick up all the details of the flower, so I focus stacked 2 images for the final piece.

    Yellow Hibiscus flower against a white background

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Beautiful Hawaiian sunset along the Kona coastline
    May
    2018
    03
    2018 / May / 03

    Fiery Sunset

    Beautiful bright and colorful sunset from the edge of a blow hole along the Kona coastline.

    The sunset last night was amazing!
    I set out when I saw low lying clouds underneath the upper clouds along with a clear horizon. Usually the sun will begin to illuminate the lower clouds with color and slowly hit the upper clouds to create an amazing glow of color, but when I got to the coastline I had second thoughts. The sky was gray and dismal. It didn’t change much as the sunset came near so I thought the hazy on the horizon would stop the color and fizzle into nothing.
    I setup to capture a totally different scene and was facing south when the explosion of color began. As fast as I could along the treacherous jagged and slippery rocks I moved to this location, looking through the large holes in the reef, to compose for the colors in the sky. I threw caution to the wind as I precariously setup on some small boulders and watched the large waves flood in toward me. I was rusty because I hadn’t been out in a while, but I’m happy that I walked away with some usable images to work with.
    Enjoy!
    © Christopher Johnson
  • Beautiful sunset from Kaanapali on the island of Maui
    Feb
    2018
    26
    2018 / Feb / 26

    Ka’anapali Sunset

    A beautiful sunset from the Ka’anapali beach on the island of Maui

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    The winter months in Hawaii are the busiest as people that live in cold climates seek an escape to warm beautiful tropical weather. With the increase in people finding wide open unobstructed landscape photo opportunities decrease.

    I went out to photograph this sunset off of the sandy beach of Ka’anapali. Instead of getting a wide angle shot close to the water I decided on capturing a fresh perspective. I have always loved the look of the trees that lined the beach along with the broad leaved vines that grow along the ground, so this time I setup back away from the ocean. After composing and setting up for the shot I started to realize the traffic of all the people coming out to enjoy the sunset. Some people stopped to take a quick picture while others rested on the trees within my field of view. The last interruption came as a family posed to take a family photo on the tree with the sunset to their backs. Luckily I had a few open opportunities to get the shots I needed to work with. The rest of the time was spent enjoying the sunset and the way people reacted once they saw me crouched on the ground taking their photo.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Water fills into a large hole in the Hawaiian coastline during a beautiful golden sunset.
    Sep
    2017
    28
    2017 / Sep / 28

    Golden Hour

    Photograph of an amazingly clear golden sunset from the Keahole Point coastline on the Big Island of Hawaii.

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    I stood precariously close to the edge of this Big Island blow hole in order to capture the details of water flowing through the seaweed and into the large hole. Luckily the tide and swells were low so that I could do this without too much worry or trouble. Like always there is the rogue wave that helps me to not get too comfortable and to always be prepared. I was pleasantly surprised there was a golden sunset to accent the golden foreground of the seaweed.

    Water fills into a large hole in the Hawaiian coastline during a beautiful golden sunset.

    Visit another golden sunset post Golden September Sunset.

  • Golden sunset from the Big Island of Hawaii shoreline.
    Sep
    2017
    17
    2017 / Sep / 17

    Golden September Sunset

    Photograph of a Golden Sunset along the coastline of the Big Island of Hawaii

    Golden sunset from the Big Island of Hawaii shoreline.

    Check out my Pu’u Poa Beach Sunset collection.

  • Photograph from Mauna Kea with the silhouette of an old tree in front of a bright milky way.
    Jul
    2017
    26
    2017 / Jul / 26

    Mauna Kea Milky Way Silhouette

    Photograph from Mauna Kea with the silhouette of an old tree in front of a bright milky way.

     

    © Christopher Johnson

  • Split view photograph of the fish underwater and the palm trees above.
    Jul
    2017
    16
    2017 / Jul / 16

    Split View

    Photograph of an underwater-land split view from the shoreline of Hawaii’s Mahaiula beach.

    © Christopher Johnson

  • photo of a green sea turtle while snorkeling at Mahaiula beach in Hawaii
    Jul
    2017
    06
    2017 / Jul / 06

    Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle

    Photograph of a Hawaiian green sea turtle as it swims off the shoreline of Mahaiula beach.

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    © Christopher Johnson

  • Hawaiian sunset from the coastline of Keahole point on the Big Island of Hawaii
    Jun
    2017
    19
    2017 / Jun / 19

    Follow Through

    Photograph of the Hawaiian sunset near a large blow hole in the rugged coastline of Keahole Point.

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    The sunset wasn’t progressing like I had hoped it would on my re-visit to this familiar blow hole. I setup further away from the blow hole in order to capture the water streaking back towards the hole with the sun setting just beyond. With the storm clouds stretching toward to horizon I had to wait for the small window where the sun peaked out and casted its beautiful orange sunset color over the coastline surface and underbelly of the clouds. Unfortunately once the sun disappeared the colors went as well, but I waited for the hope of a surprise that didn’t come. 🙁

    © Christopher Johnson