Maui Nights

I just returned from a week in Maui. Each time I have been to Hawaii, I've always expected to do a lot of night shooting. And as it turns out, each time I'm lucky if I return with more than a dozen night shots. There's something about needing that quiet time to work on your art when you're at home and juggling family and work responsibilities. But when you're on vacation, creative projects just don't seem to be as important.

(Waipuilani Beach, Maui)

On this trip, I was lucky to have gotten away for one hour to shoot one evening. This shot was taken on a relatively unremarkable beach behind rows of hotels. Tourists don't usually swim in this particular beach due to a water contamination warning in one of the most popular tour guides (Maui Revealed, by Wizard Publications).

This beach is relatively quiet at night. I was only visited by one person who seemed to be living on the beach. He snuck up behind me and asked, "Are you the person who gave me this sleeping bag?" I told him I was not. We wished each other good night, then he wandered off down the beach.

I also learned that Canon's wonderful L lenses are not sandproof. Combine that with Maui's traditional windy afternoons (especially on the west side of the island where you'll find the better beaches), and you may find that sand has crept underneath the focusing ring of your lens. I'll have more to report in a few weeks when I get my lens back from the Canon repair facility in Irvine, CA :-).