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The same weekend as the Kickerillo jaunt I hopped over to the German Festival in Tomball for the same reason, to see if there was something worth capturing. I spent very little time there also, it being cold and breezy that weekend.
This guy was interesting, and very much typified the "carney" type here in America - very much a charmer living a nomadic lifestyle in the company of questionable characters who served as helpers in his act. Entertaining, though, and kept his act short and sweet.
Shot of same below plying his trade:
...a picture of the deck through the trees.
Just off of 249 in Northwest Harris County is a new preserve called Kickerillo. One day this winter I decided to bum around out there a bit to see if there was anything worth capturing. Turns out there was, but it was cold and breezy so didn't stay long.
Sat on a rock for a long time to get just what I wanted out of this shot. Though it was captured at a relatively fast 1/13 of a second, the water was moving quickly enough to capture that flowing motion. There was a girl staring hard at us when we got up to leave, because evidently her boyfriend was after the same spot with his Canon rig, and we weren't moving fast enough. Tough toenails.
So this closes it for the Maui shoot. As always it was the time with family that counted most, but some of these keepers made for some good gravy.
As for what's next, some have requested more critter shots. However, because the Houston Zoo is a construction zone right now I've allowed my membership to lapse until next year. Instead, some scenics from a place in the northwest of Harris County called Kickarillo...
Found this alongside the trail...
This was by no means the most interesting waterfall in the park; in fact, I considered skipping it entirely until the second time we passed it on the way back to the car.
See the feet at the top? The person to whom they belong entered the frame as she sat down to reflect:
As a younger man I would have been very interested in seeing how long it would take to make it to the top of this one...
Iao is one of many state parks on the island. Not too big, though - we covered just about the entire area in the space of two hours. Lots of variation, with thick jungle interspersed with open areas, plus rivers and streams running here and there, providing for some good shots. Lots of people, though, meant that avoiding them in the frame was difficult at times.
Lots of edges makes for a big file - simple as it is, this pic was bigger than 35MP after adjustments were made. Lots of edges also means Glowing Edges might look good in PS...you can be the judge:
This is it for Kihei, and just about it for the Maui posts. Finishing up for this trip will be pics from the Iao State Park, where I was able to experiment a bit with waterfalls.
Of all the photos captured during this trip, only saw two right away that might make for good cards and practice with Photoshop, and this was one of them. Learned new technique involving lettering and using transparency in the insides of the letters for effect:
Saw these birds all along the coast, wherever we went, but saved this one for post because we were able to get so close.
Lots of folks were doing this or something similar. Looks like good exercise, but bet it requires smooth water...
While topside saw an opportunity to snap this panorama, though it is composed of only one shot. As you can see, at the time we were the only ones up there. Below is cropped-in of same, showing how Chenjean loosely lines up with the potted plants:
The next half dozen or so posts also take advantage of this awesome perspective from the rooftop...
After being there a while Chenjean and I discovered a way to get on the roof, which was spacious and accommodating, designed for gatherings of residents and their guests. Shot below is of the restaurant, captured in daylight when the torches and wall are clearly visible. We were seated at the third purple table from the right along the top row:
I didn't even notice the girl doing pushups until post-capture after arriving back at Houston. Thought about removing her but decided against, as it was not exactly a private moment.
Our first meal in Kihei was at an Indian restaurant located in the bottom floor of the condo complex. Decent food, and I didn't even have to get out of my seat to capture the torches that were lit along a low wall bordering the property:
So that we could be closer to the airport, for the last two nights we booked a B&B in Kihei at the Menehune Shores Condominium, which was not anything like the B&B in Kapalua in that it was a much more hotel-like experience. Though not as homey, we made the most of it and the Bigger Cahoona and I managed to capture a few keepers.
What you see above is the view that greeted us as we walked in; the 2-shot panorama below was taken from the balcony itself:
Don't know why, but I just liked this shot...
This is one you'll have to click to enlarge on a bigger computer screen to appreciate. The detail and outlines in all of the foliage made this a massive JPEG file, at more than 50MP.
This and the next three posts will be miscellaneous shots from the Kapalua area while Chenjean and I were on our various walks. This one was snapped just down the street from our B&B there.
Since we were on the islands in late December it was a no-brainer to book a good whale watch. Though at the very beginning of the season, we saw several breaches and lots of plumes, and while waiting to see something the guide taught us a lot about whale anatomy and breeding habits. What I found funny during the excursion was seeing us and up to five other whale-watching boats simultaneously zero in on these plumes and breaches. There is a law that prohibits approaching closer than a hundred yards, so the boats would end up in a semicircle radiating out from where the sightings occurred. And, though these operations supposedly were competitors for the tourist trade, the radio chatter that I overheard revealed great camaraderie and cooperation.
Naturally there was a professional photographer on board, eager to snap these events and the passengers having a good time on board. As for me, the non-professional, I caught two breaches with the Bigger Cahoona, this one being a little better because of the consistent background. Each shot from the sequence above is highly cropped, and a lot of post-capture was required to adjust for composition, exposure, and de-hazing.
These plants intrigued me, with some of the fruit being red while in other parts it remained green. There is a clear distinction here but it was usually more mixed.
Himalayan salt is all the rage now. In some high-end restaurants select items are served on a plate made of it, and in our house back in Houston we have a lamp that is illuminated from the inside of a big (and heavy) block of the stuff. The lamp is supposed to emit a good vibe of some sort...
It was interesting to see flocks of finches fly around so freely, having been used to seeing them only in cages for the pet trade back on the mainland.
Toward the latter half of the week we booked a one-hour tour of a tropical plantation. As we weren't there very long, and since I was locked into keeping up with the group, there aren't many keepers from this excursion. Even so, this guy rates as probably one of the top five favorites captured during the entire trip, snapped while we were waiting for the tour to begin.
The next four posts were captured while we were moving slowly through the property in the tram.
