Author Archives: admin

October 16, 2019 Cloud Fire

Another round of “nuclear or dud” commenced tonight. An hour before sunset, the sky was gray, and the horizon had a thick gray cloud layer which usually indicates a dud (i.e. not a good sunset) due to the horizon being blocked. I noticed the cloud layer seemed closer in distance than the higher clouds; there was a bit of orange color glowing from underneath. I had a hunch it was going to be a burn if the horizon was clear behind the cloud layer. After many times of missing good sunsets by being lazy, sitting at home, and hoping it was going to be anticlimactic, I decided it was best to take the camera out and see the result. As I left the house, I saw the clouds behind me light up; it almost looked as if they caught fire. I ran as fast as I could to the beach. The clouds ignited with orange and pink before my eyes, as I kept telling myself “I knew it I knew it”. I had my zoom lens on so I couldn’t capture the entire sky, but I was about to see the details of the clouds. Even though the waves were mediocre, there’s nothing like watching nature’s color show. Long after the sun went down, the clouds still had color, still burning.

October 6, 2019 Red Sea

After living under the fog 24 hours a day during the summer months, it was refreshing to finally to see some deep saturated sunset colors. There was broken up clouds all the way to the horizon, so I was only expecting some light pastel colors. After the sun disappeared over the horizon, the Cumulus clouds started to become more and more pink. I quickly launched the drone to get a bird’s eye view.

September 1, 2019 Thanks for the Weekend

I spend almost every night staring at a computer screen. It’s much easier to sit comfortably at home than to plan a trip, pack, and drive 10 hours to an interesting location. At the end of the day though, I’m more content with the latter. There simply is no substitute to be sitting around a campfire, being surrounded by trees and stars, and sharing stories with people who you don’t see often. Did I mention there was no cell service or electricity, or even running water that night? So much of what we do with our electronic devices doesn’t matter in reality. Yes, we can live without all these amenities and conveniences, we don’t need to be in constant communication with the world 24/7, or have to share every moment of our lives. I know that myself still succumbs to this digital world, but I said I can forgo it, at least for one night.

See you in the morning.

August 30, 2019 Crater Nights

I took two of my good friends to see and photograph the Milky Way. We set up camp, ate dinner, then started the hike up the peak as the sun went down. The darker the sky turned, the more stars started to appear. By the time we got to the top, we could already see the Milky Way span across the lake. It was brightest and more prominent near the horizon. I want to thank one of my co-workers for letting me borrow his lens, which had a much larger maximum aperture than mine allowing more light to enter the sensor. See the slight purple/magenta glow? My eyes lit up as I saw that on the back of my camera.

June 9, 2019 Early Mornings

With only a few hours of bad sleep at a noisy campground, I made it for sunrise at 5:47AM. I could not see much of the sky from my campground. Some clouds can’t be seen in the dark and only appear once light hits it. I had to make the decision whether to sleep in or wake up in 39F air temperature, pack the tent, and drive to a spot. I pulled over on the side of the road to where I thought was a good angle for sunrise. The sky wasn’t completely devoid of clouds so it had some pre-dawn colors. I was joined by a few other photographers and had a nice chat with them, then I booked it backed home.

January 17, 2019

My first time shooting Sandys beach was back in 2015. I was wearing booties so my fins would stay on my feet, but with the sand flushing in, it was no longer tolerable. While rinsing off in the parking lot, Marcus came up and said hi. He saw the sand pouring out of my booties and said “oh yeah, you don’t want to do that, the sand will grind up your feet”. I asked him where I can get some new DaFins, and he happily pointed me to a shop just a few minutes away. I was able to get a new better fitting pair of fins and go out the next day. Little did I know he was a local bodysurfing legend, I got a few sequences and shared it with him. I keep looking forward to the next time I go back to the island, already knowing I’ll run into him again. It’s easy to notice how he was always looking out for others and sharing nothing but good vibes in and out of the lineup. It is with a heavy heart, to know he caught his final wave this morning. Aloha, my friend, we’ll all miss you.