Lani's Lost Love

Gallery: LandscapePosted June 5, 2013466 views17 comments

The sun sets on Makaiwa Bay near Muana Lani on the big island of Hawaii. The kona side of Hawai'i has a unique phenomenon because of VOG, or fog created from the volcanic fumes that spew from the volcanic activity further south on the island. Even with a mostly clear sky, it creates a unique glow during sunset that you don't typically see elsewhere. The brush in the foreground is called Beach Naupaka, and blooms small 'half' flowers all over. Hawaiian folklore says the flowers signify lovers that have been torn apart, never to be reunited. Tragic! A solitary tree, which I believe to be a Heliotrope, grows from the brush on the shores edge.

6 exposures total here. 4 for a foreground focus stack, and then 2 for the sky/tree to control dynamic range.

Comments

17 comments

Comment posted by Peter Coskun on June 5, 2013 at 1:10 AM

The light on the foreground vegetation is just heaven to my eyes. An incredibly peaceful scene that pleases my eyes. Excellent processing as usual.

Registered on October 31, 2011, 170 Posts, 1240 Comments

Comment posted by Helmut Steidl on June 5, 2013 at 2:12 AM

Wonderfull light and mood, perfect for me ... javascript:%20x()

Best Regards Helmut

Registered on May 18, 2011, 17 Posts, 67 Comments

Comment posted by Abdullaziz Bin Ali on June 5, 2013 at 7:13 AM

I really love this

Registered on May 31, 2009, 112 Posts, 1590 Comments

Comment posted by Joerg Bonner on June 5, 2013 at 7:30 AM

superb shot! the light is gorgeous. you did a really great job with the blending here!

Registered on September 5, 2011, 44 Posts, 221 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Reid on June 5, 2013 at 8:46 AM

Beautiful shot Ted. The foreground light is just great and a wonderful sky. Processing is very well done. Excellent.

Registered on January 27, 2013, 65 Posts, 2460 Comments

Comment posted by Marc Adamus on June 5, 2013 at 11:07 AM

Whew-wee. What nice glowing light you find in that warmth and sea atmosphere down there. Processing looks exceptionally good to me. Maybe I could be super-picky and wish for a tad more flowers to carry the middleground, but that's almost irrelevant. This is simple and definitely sings a beautiful song.

Registered on September 17, 2005, 780 Posts, 8091 Comments

Comment posted by Ted Gore on June 5, 2013 at 12:14 PM

Thanks everyone! I'm glad for such positive feedback on the light and processing in this image, I am pretty happy with it, and excited to have been able to capture the magic of such a simple scene. I find that I'm always wishing for the most intense skies full of colorful clouds, but was really surprised at how beautiful a mostly clear sky could be in Hawaii.

Marc, thanks much! I know what you mean about the flowers. I searched for a more thorough distribution of them in the foreground, but they were pretty spotty. This was the best patch I could find. I considered adding some in to achieve just what you are talking about, but, it's like, how far do you take it? Adding things that weren't there... I don't know, is it something you ever consider?

Registered on April 25, 2013, 36 Posts, 149 Comments

Comment posted by R.Bill Moser on June 5, 2013 at 12:31 PM

The light on the foreground is just awesome. Excellent work. Processing looks spot on

Registered on January 29, 2010, 285 Posts, 4281 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Metternich on June 5, 2013 at 3:39 PM

Wonderful light and simplicity.

Registered on June 19, 2009, 276 Posts, 6240 Comments

Comment posted by Nancy Lea Sandy on June 5, 2013 at 4:09 PM

Stunning light. Excellent image

Registered on January 24, 2011, 576 Posts, 6942 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Bristol on June 5, 2013 at 7:52 PM

This is really a beautiful image, Ted! I love the feel and the light is wonderful. Excellent work!

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

Registered on February 1, 2004, 752 Posts, 14140 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Dawson on June 5, 2013 at 10:09 PM

Nice light, just a slight leveling of the horizon perhaps?

Registered on February 4, 2006, 364 Posts, 8872 Comments

Comment posted by Oleg Kuchorenko on June 6, 2013 at 5:14 AM

Incredible image ! The glow are amazing... All the light and tones have so good balance!
What gear have you used ? can you write exif ?

Have you use technique to "expose to the right" to get such crisp and clean image or it`s post processing ?

Registered on July 2, 2012, 9 Posts, 111 Comments

Comment posted by Ted Gore on June 6, 2013 at 7:26 PM

Hey Oleg, I used a nikon d600 and the 17-35 f2.8. I did'n't expose to the right, just did an exposure blend. I don't have the exif data on me right now, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. I believe I was at f14. The light is a combination of the atmosperic effects of the volcanic fumes in the air around the island, and then my post processing. I use dodging and burning along with a bit of orton effect to give the image the feel it has. I use Tony Kuypers actions, and I really like his sharpening action.

Registered on April 25, 2013, 36 Posts, 149 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Overacker on June 7, 2013 at 1:28 AM

Ted,

Fantastic image! Excellent near/far composition and your 1/3 - 2/3 comp gives prominence to the gorgeous light and glow in the plants - what a beautiful glow you've captured here. I like that the setting sun on the horizon is just a nice added element and not a dominant feature. Well done all the way around!

Lon

Registered on November 24, 2006, 521 Posts, 19147 Comments

Comment posted by Oleg Kuchorenko on June 7, 2013 at 1:57 AM

Thank you Ted for answering. Just was interested maybe some extra ordinary tricks with expo. I`m so inspired. I should more practice with focus stacking. Now I'm using f 22.. for DOF

I guess 99% of u using Tony Kuyper actions !

Registered on July 2, 2012, 9 Posts, 111 Comments

Comment posted by Pavel Cakl on July 10, 2013 at 12:25 PM

Ted this is wonderfully captured. I could just wish for such a post-processing.

Registered on April 8, 2010, 7 Posts, 178 Comments