Capturing the Moment

  Long exposure of the dense rainforest and stream of Iao Valley. Wow! What an amazing few weeks in Maui. There are many adventures, both on and off the beaten path, that are so worth it. It may seem like after a long flight you might want to just sit at your resort pool with a mai tai in hand, but if you are the go-getter type, then the island adventures are just waiting for you, as they were for us. Most of the resorts, and our condo are on the dry side of the island. This means maximum sunshine and calm waters for snorkeling and whale watching. Which we did a lot of! You can whale watch from your balcony even, if you are there November thru April. But I would suggest getting over to the wet side of the island at some point. This is where you find lush valleys, beautiful exotic flowers, rocky rivers, and beautiful waterfalls. Iao Valley is the easiest valley to go explore, only minutes away from the airport. I often send people here on their last day, especially if they have a la...

  This was my favorite shot from the morning. This whale surfaced very close to our small boat, then rolled on its side and gave us a pectoral fin slap. We were looking up at a whale! The sunrise colors were beautiful over Haleakala volcano. This was taken with a wide angle camera. The whale was that close! It is always a great time to be in Hawaii, but January through March is the best time to be here for humpback whale encounters. This morning I had my guests wake up early, before the sunrise, to go for a sunrise whale watch from our small boats. Almost every guests took me up on the offer...and the early birds definitely got the worms. We had amazing encounters and different behaviors with the whales. We even had some whales come so close to us that I had to switch to my wide angle lens. Even if we hadn't seen a single whale, the sunrise itself was worth the trip. Early morning is just a wonderful time to be out on the water. Everyone was very glad that they went. Here is the mo...

   I find myself once again in Seattle at Fishermen's Terminal, on the verge of cruising up to Alaska's famous Inside Passage for a summer aboard one of the UnCruise boats. I can't help but look back through some of my old pictures and remember all of the amazing encounters and experiences I've had these past two years as an expedition leader. And I can't help but imagine what lies in store for this summer.   I've witnessed massive calving events at different tidewater glaciers. I've seen the salmon run so thick that I could literally reach in and grab one with my bare hand. I've seen hungry mama bears teach their cubs how to catch fish. I've seen eagles spar in mid-air and puffins get a running start as they take off from the water. I have walked inside a cave made completely out of ice under a glacier. I've been woken up in the middle of the night to experience the incredible lights of the Aurora Borealis. And I've been surrounded ...