Capturing the Moment

 My friend Moser got us the hookup with a Molokini Wild Side trip on my old boat, the Ocean Explorer. Aaron was the captain, Matt and Daniel were the naturalist. We caught some nice weather as the kona winds shifted to North, giving us a chance for a four snorkel day. We went to reefs end, backwall, Secrets at the southernmost tip of the island, and then to Coral Gardens. Not a bad day. Even learned a few new spots myself.     This is some of the GoPro footage I took set to some relaxing music. Enjoy!

 Starting about a month ago I was asked to lead a photo safari whale watch with Pacific Whale Foundation on Tuesdays out of Ma'alaea Harbor. It has been an incredible opportunity to share my passion of photography with others in one of the most challenging environments for a photographer. Wildlife photography is difficult enough already, but taking pictures of these humpback whales means you have to add in new layers of challenges. The boat is always rocking which means you have a moving platform to shoot from. The whales themselves are unpredictable and hidden from sight for most of the time. Wind can be an issue with visibility and can cause big waves, sudden splashes, and unstable footing. Add to this the usual issues of lighting, fast movements, and big contrasts of light and dark and you have yourself the ultimate wildlife photography challenge. So it is my job to help coach the guest through these challenges. We have had some amazing encounters and have been lucky enoug...

Early morning look at Haleakala volcano's South side  Road 'round the West Maui Mtns, NW Maui Plumeria  One of the big adventures not often attempted here on Maui is the drive around the West Maui mountains. The road here can be driven by any type of car, however you need to be a confident driver as some of the turns are little more than one lane and on the precipice of a huge cliff. But like the more popular 'road to Hana' the sights along this drive are incredible. Huge canyons, distant waterfalls, tropical flowers, and ocean vistas try and pull your eyes off the road. One of my favorite scenes, Big Beach  My mom and I tackled this windy road after starting off the morning at the very end of the road, La Perouse Bay . Tucked back in the newest lava flows on Maui the road dead ends into a very beautiful but rugged bay where Admiral La Perouse landed his ship. Beautiful sandy beaches like Big Beach await travelers down in the Makena area with a few se...

This is something I get to share with people every day during the winter out here in Maui. Well, this exact thing of a whale breaching out of the water is a bit rarer site than that, but getting to see humpback whales is an every day sighting. This is a baby humpback, probably only a few weeks old, launching itself out of the water only 80 or so yards in front of our boat. By the time I snapped this picture the guests on board were locked and focused on this whale as you can tell. Pretty easy to wake up excited in the morning...

 Wild dolphin search is a great name for this trip out of Lahaina, Maui. With all kinds of different dolphins species around but also with no telling where and when you might see them it can be a wonderful experience for all, although a bit stressful for the captain if the dolphins are being extra elusive. On our last trip that I drove we lucked out. We found the dolphins after only 26 minutes of searching and we found lots of them. About 150 spinner dolphins racing across the channel between Maui and Lana'i. The wind backed off and the sun was shining giving us perfect conditions to see dolphins above and below the water racing alongside the boat. The water was clear and glassy as we spent a good hour and fifteen minutes during two different encounters with this large pod.    Sometimes I get high school kids on board that are interested in Marine Biology and I tell them that throughout their studies people will try to dissuade them and say its not really playing w...

 I try to get in as many adventures as I can during my off time. However, many times my 'on-time' is an adventure in itself. Yesterday I was captain for a wild dolphin safari. This is a three hour tour, (how many of you are humming Gilligan's Island), where we head out wherever the best chance of seeing dolphins might be. Today we headed out to the island of Lana'i which is about 9 miles away from Maui, across the Au'Au Channel. Bottlenose Dolphin  Luckily the trade winds had died down just enough today for their to be a little wind shadow off the west coast of Maui. Lately the winds have been so strong that my trips have mine as well been admission to a water park. Not to mention that rough seas can make spotting dolphins tougher. As you can see from the pictures we found dolphins today in glassy, clear water. This is great for picture taking. You can follow along as they swim underwater and see when they are about to come up for air.  The first group of ...