Seat with a View

Hi All,

I'm just back from 10 days on Kaua'i in the Hawaiian islands. On my last afternoon there I took a "doors off" helicopter tour of the island for some photography. My very first time in a helicopter. Considering my very real fear of heights I thought that was something I needed to do to push myself and hopefully get some images I would never get otherwise.

This image was captured just as we crossed the extremely vertical mountain slopes where the famed Na Pali coast meets the Pacific ocean. We were about 2,000 feet up at this point and for scale, those tiny white dots in the water are pleasure boats which I'm guessing are between 40 - 60 feet in length.

The flight was an amazing experience and incredibly I wasn't nervous at all. Once we lifted off I was so mesmerized by the scenery and photographic opportunties that I completely forgot to be scared. Thanks for looking.

Wayne, very nice, really like the color. Sounds like a great trip, hope we see some more of your photos. I haven't flown in the open door of a chopper since Vietnam 67-68.

Richard, I'll take my trip over the ones you used to take any day. Thanks for the comment.

Wayne, extraordinary picture! I know you loved the trip! We went a couple of years ago to Maui and did the helicopter tour over Kaua'i and when we flew into the canyon with the huge waterfall cascading down the mountain I actually got choked up and had tears in my eyes it was so beautiful! Our chopper had doors on it, but still the ride was an experience of a lifetime!
P.S. to Richard-thanks for your service during that time!

Wayne,
Really nice photo. I like the contrast of the greens and blues. It seems there even appears to be a blending of the colors in the region at the base of the foreground cliffs. Nice job.

Beautiful color, Wayne, without being oversaturated. I'll bet it was quite a thrill shooting from that altitude! A sure cure for any vertigo isuues one might have...

Congratulations on what must have been a great trip, and taking advantage of some photo opportunities. Those boats really help give a sense of scale, which makes the clear water even that much more impressive. I hope you got a bunch of snapshots as well as some to hang on your wall.

Wayne, great shot and I bet you have more pictures to show us. I wish I had done the doors off tour when I went last fall. Where did you stay? Did you make it to Hanalui Bay?

Thanks everyone. Tom, we made it all the way around the island to the north where the road ends at Ke'e Beach. We mainly just took things in and shopped up north our first day there. After that we spent virtually all of our time on the southern end of the island.

We stayed in a VRBO (vacation rental by owner) cottage west of Lihue. Staying south we had easy access to the Waimea Canyon for hiking, catamaran cruises, helicopter tours, laua's and of course shopping. Tons to do on the south end and the weather is actually much more stable (dryer) than the north end of the island.

Fantastic place Kaua'i ... I could spend many, many more days & weeks there that is for sure!

Here's a photo I took of the Na Pali coast during a sunset dinner cruise.

beautiful, Wayne. I am glad you overcame your fear and were able to capture such beautiful scenes. It looks like you had a great trip.

Awesome images !!! Sounds like a great trip and photography experiencre. With doors off that was probablt the way to go too.