Shadows on deck

SHADOWS ON THE PROMENADE DECK, MS ZAANDAM, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, FEBRUARY 16, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 21mm
1/1600 f9
ISO 400

Another from last month's voyage to Hawaii: Deborah Abbott captured this study in shadows aboard our cruise ship while it was docked in San Diego Harbor.

Harbor pilot

PILOT BOAT NININI, NAWILIWILI, KAUAI, HAWAII, FEBRUARY 23, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 53mm
1/1250 f9
ISO 800

Tiny but speedy watercraft bouncing over high swells after they pick up the harbor pilot always make a fine photo opportunity aboard cruise ships. I shot the pilot boat Ninini from the promenade deck of the Holland-America vessel Zaandam during a Hawaiian vacation last month. LATER: In 2009, a Ninini pilot transferring from the cruise ship Island Princess missed his footing, fell overboard and was killed by the pilot boat's propellers. Piloting can be a very hazardous undertaking, especially in the treacherous entry to Nawiliwili harbor.

Rain forest

RAIN FOREST, BIG ISLAND, HAWAII, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 18mm
1/40 sec. f6.3
ISO 1600

Good thing both camera and lens were weather sealed during our hike in the rain forest on the Big Island, but the torrent lifted just enough for me to get this clear shot. As you can see from the high ISO, low shutter speed and largish aperture, conditons were dark as well as dank.

Blue Hydrangea

BLUE HYDRANGEA, BIG ISLAND, HAWAII, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Pentax K-01
Pentax 35mm f2.4
1/500 sec. f8
ISO 800

Deborah Abbott captured this gorgeous bloom during a visit to the Big Island on a rainy day. At first I thought it was Plumbago auriculata, or Cape Leadwort, but the saw-toothed edges of the leaves say it's the Blue Hydrangea we're all familiar with.

Agave

UNIDENTIFIED AGAVE, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, MARCH 14, 2013

Pentax K-01
Tamron 90mm f2.8 macro
1/750 sec. f13
ISO 1600

Identifying some of the plants in the arid greenhouse at the Botanic Garden can be difficult, for they're all jammed together with ID nameplates scattered willy-nilly. This does appear to be some kind of agave, but the species is elusive. Note the ghostly green spikes on the blades of the leaves; I wonder what their purpose is.

Horns? Spikes?

ETHIOPIAN EUPHORBIA, CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN, GLENCOE, ILLINOIS, MARCH 14, 2013

Pentax K-01
Tamron 90mm macro with Raynox 250 auxiliary closeup lens
1/1000 f16
ISO 1600

This isn't a drowning cow but a dime-sized leaf spike on an Ethiopian euphorbia, a kind of cactus tree, at the Botanic Garden. I took it with a Raynox 250 auxiliary closeup lens clipped to a Tamron macro, increasing the magnification of the Tamron by about 75 per cent. The combination ought to be good for photographing very small insects, if I can get them to hold still long enough.

The Punchbowl

NATIONAL CEMETERY OF THE PACIFIC, HONOLULU, HAWAII, FEBRUARY 24, 2013

Nikon Coolpix S8200
Nikkor 4.5-63 at 4.5mm
1/160 sec. f3.3
ISO 100

The military cemetery inside Punchbowl Crater just above Honolulu is one of the most serene and moving places in the islands. Taken through a tour bus window with a point-and-shoot camera.

Maui in the afternoon

LANDSCAPE FROM THE SEA, MAUI, HAWAII, FEBRUARY 22, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 18mm
1/6400 sec. f9
ISO 400

Also shot from the deck of the cruise liner MS Zaandam, as the previous blogpost photo was, this was captured about 3 p.m. after heavy rain clouds began lifting from the hills near Lahaina on Maui. Just goes to show that blind luck—being in the right place at the right time—often yields good pictures. Also best appreciated by clicking for a larger version.

Maui in the morning

LANDSCAPE FROM THE SEA, MAUI, HAWAII, FEBRUARY 22, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax 18-135 at 18mm
1/6400 sec. f8
ISO 800

This shot was taken from aboard the anchored cruise liner MS Zaandam about 300 yards off Lahaina on the island of Maui. The sun in the foreground tricked the camera into an absurdly high shutter speed, necessitating opening up of shadows with Lightroom. Best appreciated by clicking to large size.

Hibiscus

HIBISCUS BLOOM, BIG ISLAND, HAWAII, FEBRUARY 21, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax-DA 18-135 at 135mm
1/400 sec. f8
ISO 3200

I took this shot in the shade on an overcast and rainy day outside an art gallery on the Big Island of Hawaii, hence the sky-high ISO. Desaturating the background colors and denoising the photograph with Lightroom made the red bloom stand out all the more. A slight tinge in the background remains that I'll have to work on.

Hawaiian feral chicken

FERAL CHICKEN, KAUAI, HAWAII, FEBRUARY 23, 2013

Pentax K-01
Pentax 35mm f2.4
1/350 sec. f8
ISO 800

Wild chickens' constant, all-night cackling and tearing up of gardens irritates residents of Kauai. Why there are so many is obscure. Some people think they got loose on sugar cane plantations over a century, perhaps given a push by the 1992 hurricane that blew coops apart. The resultant crossbreeding of varieties has yielded some colorful roosters like this one, photographed by Deborah Abbott.

Hawaiian wild pig

WILD PIG, KAUAI, HAWAII, FEBRUARY 23, 2013

Pentax K-5
Pentax-DA 18-135 at 88mm
1/250 sec. f8
ISO 800

The feral hogs of Hawaii are thought to be a melding of the offspring of small Asian pigs imported by Polynesian settlers in the 5th century CE and a bigger European variety brought to the islands by Captain James Cook in 1778. This handsome boar was captured at a tourist railroad running through an old sugar cane plantation on Kauai.