Anaeho’omalu Beach: Waikoloa, Hawaii

Posted on Saturday, Feb 4, 2012

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Anaeho’omalu Beach is a narrow strip of palm tree-covered land on the leeward side of the Big Island that sits between the ocean and what used to be a fish pond. Before the 2011 Japanese earthquake, photogs arrived here hoping to capture a perfect reflection off the (hopefully) still water of the pond. This all changed when the tsunami generated by the earthquake took out part of the beach, creating a passage between the fish pond and the ocean that insures the water is never still. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful spot to enjoy a sunset.

[Click on a thumbnail to view the entire image.]

©2012 Timothy Linn. All Rights Reserved.

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden: Papaikou, Hawaii

Posted on Saturday, Jan 28, 2012

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Most of my lenses did not make it to Hawaii. I wanted to travel light. (My wife and our airline would both laugh at that statement.) My 100mm macro lens barely made the cut. In the end, I brought it for precisely this type of environment: the lush landscape of Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden. These images are as much about color and form as the actual subject, part of the fun of shooting with a macro lens.

I have to give special credit to Darla for capturing the first image of the palm tree canopy. She looked up, saw the scene, and immediately asked for my camera. I told her that I’d already taken several canopy shots but she could shoot another one as long as she understood that I would take credit for it if it turned out better than mine—which it did. Way better. So what I mean to say is that I took all of these shots. Especially the first one. Which I took myself. When Darla wasn’t even around.

[Click on a thumbnail to view the entire image.]

©2012 Timothy Linn. All Rights Reserved.

Honohina Cemetery: Honohina, Hawaii

Posted on Saturday, Jan 7, 2012

Thursday, July 14, 2011

The Hawaiian islands are dotted with old Japanese cemeteries that date back as far as the early 1900′s. The grounds are usually maintained but the markers themselves are often in a state of disrepair, leading me to wonder if the people buried in these places have all become separated over time from anyone connected to them.

We passed one such cemetery on the way to the red sand beach in Hana. It sat high on a hill with a nice view of the ocean. The same could not be said for several of the markers which, together with their foundations, lay toppled and broken on the beach below, having surrendered to decades of wind and rain.

The kanji-covered monuments in the Honohina Cemetery on Hawaii’s Big Island appeared somewhat more recent and in better condition. They all had white numbers stenciled on the side of them, suggesting that someone was trying to keep track of who these people once were.

The monument in the final image is striking due to the swastika displayed prominently on its base. Although many people in the west associate this symbol with the Nazis, it is actually an ancient Hindu and Buddhist religious symbol associated with eternity. The Nazi swastika is reversed and set at a 45 degree angle compared to this one.

[Click on a thumbnail to view the entire image.]

©2012 Timothy Linn. All Rights Reserved.

Geckos: Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden, Papaikou, HI

Posted on Saturday, Dec 31, 2011

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Geckos were one of the delights of our Hawaiian adventure. Before we left home I told Lewis that he could expect to discover both bugs and geckos lurking inside the condos and hotels where we would be staying. It turned out that we encountered almost no insects—two cockroaches over 23 days—and no geckos. We were a little disappointed with the latter; we were looking forward to having a gecko roommate or two. This is not to say that these diminutive creatures were scarce. Once we figured out where to look for them, they were everywhere. One even wandered out of the engine compartment and onto the windshield as we drove along the road to Hana. This resulted in several unscheduled stops so that a Certain Boy could exit the vehicle to get a closer look.

There were different varieties of gecko—some larger; others more colorful. Our favorite variety was the one pictured in the first seven images, all taken at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden north of Hilo on the Big Island. We spent the better part of a day here wandering the trails, enjoying the amazing variety of flora and stalking the geckos. One gecko in particular seemed to take as keen an interest in us as we did in him (her?). He would creep out toward us on one of the large heliconia leaves only to retreat after a few seconds. Then, a few seconds later, he would venture out again even closer. After approaching within arms length, he disappeared for good—or so we thought. It eventually occurred to us that he might be watching us from a different vantage point and, sure enough, there he was right above us looking down.

Our first close encounter occurred on Kauai weeks earlier at the Allerton-McBryde National Tropical Botanical Gardens visitor center. Darla spotted him and, after an extended chase, I caught him. He was so tired by this time that he was willing to sit on Lewis’ arm without making any attempt to escape. Needless to say Lewis was ecstatic after this experience, which created an ongoing imperative to commune with as many of Hawaii’s geckos as possible. It was only after returning home and reviewing these images did we realize that our first encounter was not with a gecko at all but one of the islands’ Anole lizards.

[Click on a thumbnail to view the entire image.]

©2011 Timothy Linn. All Rights Reserved.

Fiddleheads: Volcano, Hawaii

Posted on Saturday, Dec 24, 2011

Sunday, July 10, 2011

To be sure, there are ferns all over the windward sides of the Hawaiian islands, however none were as impressive as those found in and around Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island. My two favorite varieties were the giant tree ferns that towered above us; and the delicate fern vines which were most striking in their nascent form as slender purple stalks terminating in a fiddlehead.

It was these fiddleheads that interested me photographically. The ones on the giant tree ferns were coarse and bigger than my fist. Amazing texture. The ones at the end of the purple fern vines were even more beautiful, reminding me of the logarithmic spiral often associated with the golden ratio (Phi) that has fascinated both mathematicians and artists over the centuries.

You would be forgiven for assuming that these images were taken in the national park where there are certainly plenty of specimens from which to choose. In fact these were taken at the Volcano Inn, located just outside the park. Lewis and I spent the better part of an afternoon wandering around the grounds with our cameras, investigating all the different flowers and plants, and then returning to our second floor room to view the results. It turned out to be one of our favorite afternoons.

[Click on a thumbnail to view the entire image.]

©2011 Timothy Linn. All Rights Reserved.