What A Wonderful World

This clip has astonishing wildlife photographs of our most wonderful world. Happy holidays.

What A Wonderful World - David Attenborough

Bokeh dots

I've always loved polka dots and the other night while out with my camera I discovered how to make bokeh dots.  If you don't know, bokeh is the blur that comes from photographing points of light with the camera out of focus.

I've finally mastered getting this effect with seasonal lights.  Hint: use the macro setting or focus on something close in with the lights in the background.

Here's a selection of holiday dots.





















Have you rebounded from the Christmas festivities?  Or are they still continuing?  After three non-stop days of hosting and being hosted, we will have a quiet day tomorrow.  A time to make soup and organize the house.

Hope your holidays were full of love and joy.

Solstice Lights

I love the solstice light, the softness of the sun so low in the sky.  And yesterday and today were perfect days to get out and take some photos.  But I didn't.  Too busy wrapping, decorating, baking, and preparing.  We're back from our trip and into the Christmas hustle. So here are some seasonal lights done with a moving camera.  Happy solstice.  Rejoice that the light is returning.

Posting from Paia

We're sitting in the Paia Bay Cafe with internet access.  Outside this cozy place the cars are spashing through puddles.  We're on the rainy windward side of the island passing the time until our plane leaves tonight at 11:40 pm.  We'll fly through the night (hopefully sleeping) and arrive in Vancouver at 7:10 tomorrow morning (Vancouver time).  We've had a lovely escape.



I'll post some photos once we're home as I want to show you Io's needle, the sweet town of Paia, some lovely sunset and cloud photos and still more flower photos.  Here are just two to warm your day.

Sunrise through the fog

Yesterday we got a very early start, up at 4:00 in the morning to head up the twisty road to Haleakala, Maui's volcanic crater to watch the sunrise.  The stars were shining as we drove up and up and up, finally reaching the parking lot (elevation 9700 feet) at around 6:00.  It was just starting to get light but there were dozens of people clustered at the edge of the crater waiting in the freezing cold wind.  The temperature dropped by at least 35 degrees F from the bottom to the top of the road, and the wind chill was brutal. 


But the view was beautiful. Clouds filled the huge crater from one side to another with the color of the rising sun in the distance. 

At one point the clouds retreated enough that we could see down into the crater.  It's a huge area, big enough to hold the Manhattan, with 27 miles of trails through it.  But then the clouds came back again and spilled over the top, enveloping us all in fog.

By the time the sun finally rose it was behind a fog bank so it wasn't as spectacular as we had hoped.  By then we'd been standing around in the freezing wind for about forty minutes so we headed back down the mountain...

with a quick stop to photograph the rare Silver Sword Cactus, which grows only on the highest part of Haleakala.

Then down we went to the warm beaches.  No need for our scarves and toques for the rest of the trip.

Reef life in Maui

Our first day here was pretty stormy, with wind and rain and clouds, so we decided to check out the Aquarium to learn about the fish in these waters.  The Maui Ocean Centre has excellent exhibits, focusing on local reef dweller and the bigger fish from the deeper part of the ocean.

It was tough to get good photos through the glass with the fish moving around but I managed to capture a few.  I especially like the color play on the little fish, and the mysterious moon jellies.

The finale  of the aquarium visit is the shark tunnel, where you can walk through a glass tunnel beneath a huge pool full of tiger sharks, sting rays, hammerheads, among others.  It’s very cool (and a bit startling) to see the underside of the rays and the sharks.

Here are Aaron and Laura sitting beneath a school of fish (tuna maybe?).  And just below that you can see the underside of a happy, smiling ray and a hammerhead shark floating by.

  

We’re planning to go on a snorkel trip if the weather gets better and it’s nice to have some knowledge of the fish ahead of time.  I’m looking forward to seeing some of the tropical fish, but not so much the sharks and rays