Over the past two months, every trip I have worked has put me in Hawaii for at least one night. The two locations where I find myself laying over are Kaanapali on the island of Maui and Waikiki on the island of Oahu. One photograph that I had always assumed would be an easy photo to make would be one of a Hawaiian sunset. Â It turns out, this particular photograph would be one that would allude me for quite some time.
Waikiki Sunset
Timing. The largest obstacle I was facing  is the fact that when I fly back to the mainland, I am flying on the back side of the clock (aka red-eyes.) Another issue is the six hour time difference.
Due to the repeated trips to Hawaii, I have started to develop a routine (and I’m ready to get out of that routine!) Here’s a brief description of that little routine:
The arrival time is between 5 and 8 in the evening depending on the island. By this time, the sun is either setting or is about to set.
If the sun is still up, I run up to my room, change, then run back down to see if the sun is actually visible.
Bed around 8:00pm (which is 2:00am at home.)
Up around 4:00am (which is 10:00 at home.)
Out to run, take photos, and get food by 6:00am.
Try to rest throughout the day while seeing what I can see.
Do my best to get to sleep between 1:00pm and 3:00pm depending on the departure time.
If it is a later show time, I set the alarm to get up around sunset time. After the sun sets, back to bed.
Following this nap, it’s up in the middle of the night back home, then off to LA.
Most evenings, the cloud cover is to the point where the sky turns amazing colors, but the sun itself it not visible. The past two trips, however, this wasn’t the case.
The theme for this most recent trip’s photography was surfing. (I’m a geek like that, I go out with my camera, find a theme, and shoot as creatively as I can for that theme.)
Enjoy. If anyone wants any of these images, feel free to drop me an e-mail.
Surfboard and Sunset
Sunset, Surfer, and Sail Boats
Two weeks before the Waikiki photos, when the alarm went off in Maui, the sunset wasn’t ideal in my opinion, but there was still an opportunity to make a couple of photographs.
Maui Sunset with Tiki Torches
Torches, Trees, and a Setting Sun
