Sunday morning at Waimanalo Beach. It was a nice day out but WOW it was windy. :

Oahu's shoreline out by past Hanauma Bay. The cliff formations and waves are amazing. We saw several whales out that morning though none were close enough to get a good shot at.. You could see their spray off in the distance and every once in a while one would breach. Guess they were out having fun.

Sunrise this morning at Sandy Beach. Not much of a sunrise but it was fun and refreshing to be outside in the salt air and watching the sunrise. A nice way to start the day :)

So sorry for posting another blah blah blah sunrise. No snow here ya know.. :) :) Sunrise at Sandy Beach on this Aloha Friday. We got out there super early "in the dark" around 5:50am. The sunrise colors didn't reach out to the clouds and stayed in that small red/orange band along the horizon. Ahhh shucks!! Oh well better luck next time. Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend.

A couple of more North Shore waves. All of that salt spray in the air sure does add a lot of noise to the images. Not really sure why that is.... :)

This morning we got up at 5:30am and headed out to the North Shore to watch the high surf. You ask.. why get up at 5:30am to head out for a 45 minute drive???... Parking and Traffic!!! The North Shore has a 2 lane highway with limited parking.. So if you don't want to walk a super long way then you have to get out early... The surf was suppose to be 15 - 20 feet today but I am not sure it got to that height.. There were some really impressive sets though!!! Unfortunately the surf was pretty much wind blown and no one was surfing as you can see... Darn. :) :) However, many guys were on shore with their cameras and mega 300 and 400 + lens (Lens envy is a terrible thing!!) waiting and watching.. not much to shoot... It was a fun way to spend the morning though and when the sets come in the sound of the crashing waves is very cool!!! :) :) As you can see high surf means tons of salt spray in the air. Have a great week!!! :)

Sandy Beach, Oahu... this morning a little after sunrise.. It was a really nice morning out!! :)

The Sony Open in Hawaii... This is the 15th hole of the Waialae Country Club Golf Course ( I know you can't see much of the course but the sky was much nicer than just green grass) today was the first day of the Sony Open... The course is down the street so I thought I would head over after 5:30 since you can park on the street and see what I could find.... Plus by then they won't take your camera away.. :) :)
I do not golf!!
So here are the few things I learned about golf.. NO Cameras Allowed.. No cell phones Allowed .. You walk a lot..that makes me wonder why everyone is not tiny and thin!! Hmmmm.... You really can not see much happening so you should just watch it on TV. ...No Cameras Allowed!!! (geeeesh) .... There is a certain golf clap... a quite quick "clap clap clap" even if they didn't make par ( how silly is that)!! Tickets are expensive so you should just peer thru the fence from the sidewalk. ... No one smiles much ..... Lots of expensive photo gear with awesome lenses but you need a cute pass hanging from your neck to get to bring your camera in!! ... Golf is a quite game... no moving, talking or clapping when they hold up the sign "QUITE PLEASE"....... shhhhhh!! ....... Tons of people love golf and wonder aimlessly around with paper in their hands trying to figure out who is going to appear next... and balls fly out of now where.... I am sure that the athletes competing in the Sony Open are beyond awesome .. Good luck to them all! But me.. I do not golf... :) :)

Tonights sunset sinking below Diamond Head Crater. A little different view of Diamond Head than I would normally post. :) :) The view is from a park down my street that overlooks out towards the ocean and Diamond Head.

Hilton Hawaiian Village - Rainbow Tower and a portion of the newly renovated Lagoon (off to the left). They have done a spectacular job renovating the lagoon along with new boarded walkway, palm trees and I think new sand!! Sure looked great !! It is open to the public and you can even swim in there now since they installed huge pumps that circulate the water. It was really icky before and no one ever dared go in the water.... It was a huge renovation project.

I was feeling better so I thought I would venture out to Waikiki and see what the sunset was doing. As you can see many others had the same idea and were patiently waiting .. :) :) It was a bit unusual since there so many layers of clouds.. Worth the short walk and nice to have fresh air after being stuck at home for the past several days. Wishing everyone a great week..

A December sunset. I am sick so I can not go out and play... The weather is not all that great here anyway..

Diamond Head Lighthouse... Thought it would be fun to take a shot of the lighthouse with the star still up!! :) :) Just a little trivia about the lighthouse... taken from various web sites.. :) :)
Built on the side of Diamond Head Crater, 147 feet above sea level, Diamond Head Light can be seen as far away as 18 miles and has an intensity of 60,000 candlepower. The original lighthouse structure was erected in 1899. The present tower, built in 1917, was constructed of reinforced concrete and stands 55 feet high. The first step in modernization at Diamond Head Lighthouse was to replace the fixed or steady light with the present day flashing light. Diamond Head Lighthouse has been progressively improved until today it stands as a modern automated USCG aid to navigation.

Surf's up!! The rainy windy and overcast conditions didn't keep these guys out of the water!!. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year.. :)

Sunset clouds over Diamond Head, Sunday Evening.

Makapu'u Lighthouse, Oahu
The lighthouse was built in 1909 and automated in 1974. A 2-mile paved trail leads to the lighthouse and a fantastic view of the entire coastline and the island of Molokai in the distance.
The Kaiwi Channel (26 miles Molokai to Oahu) runs past Makapu'u Lighthouse and is an excellent spot to watch Humpback whales as they travel the channel between December and April. (info from Hawaiiweb.com and other sites) Have to admit I just couldn't come up with all of these facts!! :) :) It is a wonderful, fun, easy hike and the views are awesome.

Hilton Hawaiian Village Rainbow Tower and Waikiki Beach lights.. :)

Last nite was a huge full moon. Kind of hidden in the clouds just around sunset, but was fun to watch rise. Annie and I stopped near Sandy Beach and was it windy!! Tons of salt spray in the air!! Which means not real clear images and major camera and tripod clean up when you get home. Oh well it was worth the stop. :)

A fish eye view of Waikiki from Ala Moana Beach Park, Magic Island. I still love playing around with that fish eye lens. One of these days I will just have to break down and get one of my own!!!

An overexposed moon... Oh well I took it super quick from my lanai... :) :) Saw the moon from the kitchen window and ran out to the lanai, darn the tripod was in the car.. Shucks... :) :) Then snapped a few shots before it went up into the clouds.. :) :) Have a great week..