Capturing the Moment

Sea Turtle near the surface with clouds   Summer time in Oahu means the North Shore calms down and scuba season opens up. Heidi and I picked a very calm morning to rent some tanks and check out the underwater landscape at Shark's Cove, one of the North Shore's most popular scuba and snorkel sites.   We snagged a couple of tanks from Eco Divers in the quirky North Shore town of Haleiwa. From there it is just a short drive to Pupukea, the community that contains shark's cove. It was a beautiful day and many people had already hit the water. Turtle Photos   Right when we got into the shallows I could see that it was going to be great viz for our dive. We started out by heading to the right but after not finding much and getting separated we decided to turn back to the left. The wall on the outside of the lave flow forms a vertical shelf that extends 20-30ft underwater. We swam past small schools of fish and a couple of fun nudibranchs but the best photo opportuni

Looking back at the Pali Lookout   When researching secret hikes here in Oahu I stumbled upon a few stories about the Pali puka. "Puka" is the Hawaiian word for 'hole'. The Pali puka is a natural hole in the ridge near the Nuuanu Pali lookout. This lookout is the dividing point between the windward and the leeward side of Oahu. There is a low pass here in the Koolau range making it the traditional path for hikers crossing the cliffs. It also makes for a great starting point for a trail leading up to the ridge line, but it is not for the faint of heart.   The ridge trail can lead all the way to Makapu'u on Oahu's eastern point or west to the fabled 'stairway to heaven', thousands of stairs leading up to an old abandoned coast guard station on the ridge. The puka lies along the ridge path to the west. If the trail is muddy my suggestion is to turn around. It gets very steep, and some parts of the trail bring you within inches of a thousand foot vert

  When a gallon of milk cost $6 and gas is upwards of $5 people start to look for cheap night out opportunities. The entertainment here in Waikiki is usually quite pricey but every Friday night after sunset the Hilton has a pretty decent firework show at the far end of Waikiki beach...for free! So grab a maitai, find some beach space, and set those cameras on long exposure to capture all the action.   I ran an around the island tour which finished just before sunset so I thought I would check out the fireworks after. I parked at Ala Moana mall and walked across the street to the beach park, figuring it would be a good vantage point to photograph the fireworks over Waikiki. It turns out I wasn't the only one with this idea. Tons of local families had tents and bbqs set up with good views across the harbor. Other photographers already had their spots staked out and tripods set up.    The fireworks only last for about five minutes, but it is still an impressive display. I

  40,000 people gathered in Ala Moana Beach park this memorial day for one of the most moving and peaceful celebrations I have ever witnessed. The Lantern Floating festival here in Oahu, HI has become a major attraction. Over 6,000 paper lanterns were created and then just after sunset people made their way down to the water where they set their lanterns afloat.   The lanterns were covered with the names of lost loved ones; grandparents, parents, siblings, friends, even pets. Messages to the deceased filled the empty spaces on the lanterns. Not wanting to litter the ocean with debris, even degradable debris, all the lanterns were corralled at the mouth of the bay. The floating lanterns of the flying kind were outlawed, although I saw a few lifting off after most people had already finished and turned towards the parking lots. One of my favorite images of the night was two people lighting up one of these flying lanterns and watching the concentration as their faces were lit up

Anemonefish, or clownfish as they are widely known, are some of my favorite photographic subjects. Not only are they brightly and boldly colored, but you are almost guaranteed a surreal background. These fish are almost always found darting in and out of their host anemone, which provides a protective home for the anemonefish. http://www.daimarsphotos.com/Animals/Anemonefish/ Waving Hello?    These fish have always been a favorite of scuba divers and underwater photographers, but have gained a worldwide reputation since being featured as "Nemo" in the Finding Nemo movie. With fame comes problems. The demand for anemonefish in the aquarium trade has increased exponentially, an ironic fact since the movie's message preached the exact opposite.   The mutualism between anemonefish and their host anemone has been widely studied but is still not fully understood. Just how the fish are able to avoid the potent poison of the anemone is only theories at this

Lightning eyes of a porcupine fish Blenny in a bottle    Take a walk, or swim, on the wild side. Bizarre fish pop up on every dive here in the Lembeh Strait, Indonesia. While staying and diving out of NAD Lembeh resort and with the help of our amazing critter finder and guide Nathan we saw a plethora of fun fish. Here is a sample of the craziness. Hairy Frogfish, Antennarius striatus Hairy frogfish on the hunt   Frogfish are some of my favorite fish to look for. I can find a few species in Hawaii but for the rare hairy frogfish, Lembeh is the place to look. We were lucky enough to find two of these bizarre looking fish during our stay. Both were moving along the black sand and bobbing their lures up and down trying to trick prey into coming close enough to gobble up. Their mouth extends forward enabling them to swallow prey nearly as large as they are. Male Ribbon Eel Ribbon Eel, Rhinomuraena quaesita  Another big mission this trip was to find a blue ribbon