I am preparring to spend 2 weeks in Hawaii. I will be spending a lot of time in some of the more remote parts of Kauai. I expect to have some great landscape opportunities, but I have not been happy with my landscapes to this point. I have a D80 and will be taking my 80-400VR and my 28-80 f2.8. My compositions and color are decent, but I don't want to waste this opportunity on "decent." Does anyone have any good "tricks or tips" for capturing magnificent landscapes?
Thanks in advance.
Posted by Kent Staubus on March 30, 2008 at 11:07 PM
We've been going to Hawaiian Islands every other year lately. Last year we were back on Hawaii. I use a D80. My most used lens was my Sigma 10-20mm. My second most used was the 80-400mm VR. My least used was the 18-50mm. I have maybe ten lenses to choose from, and if I could only take one it would be the 10-20mm. The only time I used the 18-50mm lens was when I rented a helicopter for an hour (special deal, had them take the doors off for me.) I used a tripod most of the time, and a polarizer almost every shot. If I couldn't bring a polarizer, I wouldn't even take my camera. Consider buying the inexpensive but optically excellent Nikon 18-50mm "kit" lens. It will be a lot more useful than the 28-80mm, especially if you have noting wider. Bring plastic bags along to put camera gear in, to keep out sand and water. Both are a huge problem. Open your bag at night in your room to make sure everything gets dried out or you might well get mildew.
Gear talk over, all landscape photos come down to the ability to see light. Maybe even all photography comes down to that. This is something I've just learned the past couple of years. Being able to see and use light effectively is about 80% of photography, I think.
Kauai is deceptive in a way because you go there expecting grand vistas, and they don't seem to be there for the most part. What is there are thousands of small scale shots that are very nice. Small waterfalls. Clumps of exotic flowers, trail scenes and so on. I'll give an example. There's a big waterfall there (forget the name) that is very tall and you drive down a very narrow road to get to. The falls are very famous and pretty dramatic. However, they've fenced everything off and there just aren't any really good shots of it from the viewing area. I don't recall that I even took one. Might be better luck if you climbed (and it is more of a climb than a hike) down into the canyon and tried to make it up to the falls, I don't know. I had kids along and didn't take them down that. Anyway, I did get some very nice shots on that drive, just not of the waterfall. There were some local farmers selling tropical fruit and honey from roadside stands about a mile from the falls. I got some truly great shots of the fruitstand, the people, and also my kids interacting with the sellers. Another small scene I liked was one of the beaches on the north (I think it was--the wild coast.) Instead of simply photo'ing the beach from the beach, I photo'd it from a small opening in the jungle. I used fill flash from my SB-800 to light the near, camera set to slow sync. Learn how to use slow sync. It's VERY useful.
My advice would be to learn how to make very intimate small scale compositions. Learn how to slow down and look closely. The island is mostly very overgrown and doesn't have the big vistas that the big Island or even Maui has. Keep your eyes and mind open. Opportunities abound and they aren't always what you expected.
Michael, Time, experience, reading...that sort of thing will help you take great landscapes. Although some people can spend a whole lifetime and never catch on.
Posted by scott gietler on March 31, 2008 at 3:11 AM
hey Mike,
Seriously, just stop at the bookstore and pickup 3 books on nature/landscape photography by john shaw, tim fitzharris, and john cox, and you'll be all set..oh, and practise a lot before your trip.
or just click this link...but you're much better off buying the books, then clicking on the link.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22landscape+photography%22+tips
have fun! I enjoyed kaui alot last year, but I liked the remote parts of maui better :)
I'm not sure what type of photography you do, but Kauai is a great place for bird photo's!
You can get great pictures of sea birds in flight at the light house on the east cost with your 80-400mm lense. You are up on a cliff looking out at the seabird gliding right by you. I was also able to shot a couple of Nene's walking near the parking lot there.
At the Kalalau Canyon lookout, check out the trees in the visitor parking lot for honeycreepers. I saw Apapane and Iwi' feeding on the blossoms in the trees. I agree with Kent, you should try and bring a wide angle zoom also for the vista' at Kalalau Canyon and Waimea Canyon lookouts. Check the bookstores for hikes you can take on Kauai. We found some great ones off the canyon road with great views. Bring a tripod, polarizer and graduated ND filters. You will need the Grad ND filter at Waimea canyon to really do it justice. The polarizer is great for enhancing the rainbows you will definitly see there. Whereever you go on Kauai, check the area forcolorful birds. Especially the honeycreepers, brazilian cardinals, and wild roosters.
Discussion
4 repliesThanks in advance.
Gear talk over, all landscape photos come down to the ability to see light. Maybe even all photography comes down to that. This is something I've just learned the past couple of years. Being able to see and use light effectively is about 80% of photography, I think.
Kauai is deceptive in a way because you go there expecting grand vistas, and they don't seem to be there for the most part. What is there are thousands of small scale shots that are very nice. Small waterfalls. Clumps of exotic flowers, trail scenes and so on. I'll give an example. There's a big waterfall there (forget the name) that is very tall and you drive down a very narrow road to get to. The falls are very famous and pretty dramatic. However, they've fenced everything off and there just aren't any really good shots of it from the viewing area. I don't recall that I even took one. Might be better luck if you climbed (and it is more of a climb than a hike) down into the canyon and tried to make it up to the falls, I don't know. I had kids along and didn't take them down that. Anyway, I did get some very nice shots on that drive, just not of the waterfall. There were some local farmers selling tropical fruit and honey from roadside stands about a mile from the falls. I got some truly great shots of the fruitstand, the people, and also my kids interacting with the sellers. Another small scene I liked was one of the beaches on the north (I think it was--the wild coast.) Instead of simply photo'ing the beach from the beach, I photo'd it from a small opening in the jungle. I used fill flash from my SB-800 to light the near, camera set to slow sync. Learn how to use slow sync. It's VERY useful.
My advice would be to learn how to make very intimate small scale compositions. Learn how to slow down and look closely. The island is mostly very overgrown and doesn't have the big vistas that the big Island or even Maui has. Keep your eyes and mind open. Opportunities abound and they aren't always what you expected.
Kent in SD
Seriously, just stop at the bookstore and pickup 3 books on nature/landscape photography by john shaw, tim fitzharris, and john cox, and you'll be all set..oh, and practise a lot before your trip.
or just click this link...but you're much better off buying the books, then clicking on the link.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22landscape+photography%22+tips
have fun! I enjoyed kaui alot last year, but I liked the remote parts of maui better :)
scott
I'm not sure what type of photography you do, but Kauai is a great place for bird photo's!
You can get great pictures of sea birds in flight at the light house on the east cost with your 80-400mm lense. You are up on a cliff looking out at the seabird gliding right by you. I was also able to shot a couple of Nene's walking near the parking lot there.
At the Kalalau Canyon lookout, check out the trees in the visitor parking lot for honeycreepers. I saw Apapane and Iwi' feeding on the blossoms in the trees. I agree with Kent, you should try and bring a wide angle zoom also for the vista' at Kalalau Canyon and Waimea Canyon lookouts. Check the bookstores for hikes you can take on Kauai. We found some great ones off the canyon road with great views. Bring a tripod, polarizer and graduated ND filters. You will need the Grad ND filter at Waimea canyon to really do it justice. The polarizer is great for enhancing the rainbows you will definitly see there. Whereever you go on Kauai, check the area forcolorful birds. Especially the honeycreepers, brazilian cardinals, and wild roosters.
Have a great trip!
Vic