Great shot...back in the day you could climb those rocks up the falls with Guide....do they still let you do that today? It was an exciting climb from sea level up to the top but the reward was at the top a cold Jamaican Red Strip beer. I love the photo, thanks for sharing.

I spent 12 months on Midway Island in the late 60's as a Navy Seabee maintaining several high security transmitting stations by providing emergency power via stand-by generators. These transmitters were the main communication relay stations between Viet Nam and the states. Back in the day it was very high tech secret stuff. I did such a good job they sent me to Da Nang, Viet Nam after that tour. There are 100's and 100's of these birds on the island, especially during matting season. They are beautiful in flight but can't land worth a darn. Their take off is much like an airplane as they run flapping there wings until they get enough speed to actually take off. Thanks for sharing this, it brought back many memories. Somewhere in my archives I have lots of photos of these guys around the island. Some day I'll drag that box down and scan them all before mother time destroys them. By the way both are great photos.

I think this guy lives in my community ☺

Here are a couple of tips...first get a "City Pass". You can purchase your "City Pass" on line prior to you leaving for the island. This gets you admission into many different sight-seeing-locations/attractions at a reduced price including the Kualoa Ranch which I haven' seen mentioned here so far. The Kualoa Ranch is not far from the Polynesian cultural center. This ranch and the cultural center are too much to see in one day despite the fact they relatively close to each other. There is an old converted school bus that drives you around the Ranch. You are taken to locations see many different vegetation's that are grown on the island as well as where many movie scenes have been shot, i.e. the TV show Lost, Hawaii Five O, Jurassic World, the movie Pearl Harbor along with others that just don't come to mind at this minute. Certainly a photographers fun spot to shoot. Not sure where you are staying but if its on Waikiki Beach, then take the Pali hwy to that side of the island. That way you stop of at the lookout and shoot some very dramatic landscape photo of the island. Have fun.

thanks for the input...someone else in my wallet.

The Cuisinart is 1800-watt too. Keep in mind, most kitchen counter top devices max out at 1800-watts as that is all the circuits are really designed to handle. If you find a higher wattage you might find yourself resetting breakers or replacing fuses depending on the age of your home. As I said, it is a perfect size for the two of us. Cooks darn fast in my opinion. My only negative comments are the amount of food you can put in the basket when family comes over the basket is a bit too small. The second negative is the fry basket isn't dishwasher safe. So as soon as I'm done cooking and serve the food that was prepared, I put the basket in the kitchen sink full of hot water to cover and soak it while eating dinner. By the time dinner is over and clean up the counter, it cleans up easily. So far so good.

I use a Cuisinart Toaster Oven Air Fryer. It replaced existing my toaster oven. The major difference is the size. The unit is roughly the same footprint of my old toaster oven, but this unit is taller. I've used it to air fry, shrimp with no breading, French fries, chicken with breading, salmon fillets, fish-n-chips style cod fish in 12 minutes, chicken wings in 20 minutes and I've warm up from frozen pizza bites in 4-5 minutes and bagel bites in 6-7 minutes. Nothing I've mentioned has taken over 25 or 30 minutes in the air fryer. I'm very pleased with the results. You have to spend some extra time in cooking so to get crispy on both sides you have flip the food during cooking times. So it's not just put in the fry basket and walk away until it's done. The only food I feel doesn't quite make the grade is the French fry. It does crisp it, but not like deep fried, but the trade off is well worth it. No messy oil to deal with and much healthier. Keep in mind this is NOT completely oil free, i.e. when I prepare chicken wings, after rinsing them I put them in a big bowl and poor about a tablespoon or so of olive oil on them and mix to coat the wings...I season them to my liking, no batter, and cook them for about 10 minutes on each side. For us they come out perfect.
I use Dixie fry to coat my chicken parts (thighs and breasts) and again I spray them with olive oil just as I put them in the air fryer...20-25 minutes later I have fried chicken. The biggest downside to the unit I own is it's capacity. If you're cooking for two or three it's perfect. Cooking for a larger family, you'd have to cook in batches...good luck with your choice, but I'm sold on using it.
We've had for about six month now and I can't believe how useful this unit is. Not only can I air fry, but I can toast my bread and bagels or use it as a regular toaster over or convection over. I've not used the feature yet so I really can't comment, but the unit also broils. As I said we are sold on it.
By the way, look for sales. Kohl's sometimes has 20 and 30 percent coupons plus if you have Kohl's cash it can bring the price way down. These bad boy list and just under $200. However, with the coupons that we had brought it down to $140 and change. In my opinion well worth the price.

You might want to look into a Nikon ML-L3. It works with most Nikon DSLR's. I have one that I use occasionally on my D750. I originally bought it to use on my D90. However, it is compatible with both cameras. Not sure about the D500, but I'm sure with a little research you can find out. The ML-L3 runs about $20.00 plus or minus. Good luck with your search.

I haven't seen anyone comment or mention the Living Desert in Palm Desert. It's about a 15-20ish minutes drive from downtown Palm Springs. Not only do they have on of the best animal and reptile exhibits around, they also have a model train layout that is beyond imagination. There are four or five full time volunteers that create and maintain a huge train layout. Very realistic and detailed. In addition, there various displays of type of cactus, more than I realized. You can spend the whole day there and not see everything. Have fun. If you want more info, PM me or Google "Living Desert Zoo and Gardens" Palm Desert.

Nice shoots....I didn't realize you live just over the hill from me...I'm in Beaumont.

Fun shot, thanks for sharing and Happy Holidays to you and yours.

I like the idea and would love to be included when you set up a time and place....I'm in the Inland Empire as they call it, about 45 minutes before you get to Palm Springs if you're coming from the LA or Orange county areas. If the time and location work, I'm there. Lane

I too join most of the comments about loving model trains. I still have my 1954 Lionel train set that was given to me when I was 8 yrs. old, I'm scratching 73 AND they still are in working condition. I'm fortunate enough to live about an hour from the Living Desert in Palm Desert Calif. They have a model train layout there that is one of the best I've ever seen. Here is a YouTube link that someone posted to give you an idea what their layout looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SilFppfRNmI
If you're really into model trains just Google the Living Desert model trains and you'll get a ton of videos and photos. When I take my grandkids there, we spend about half the time at the trains and the other half looking at the animals. Fabulous place to go and don't forget your camera with wide angle and zoom lens...you won't be disappointed. By the way, great shots and thanks for sharing.

I have to agree with "Rab-Eye", I'm not a fan of the processing either. As he said a good image, but processing not so much.

I too met another Seabee while in the Navy named Dennis. He grew up in Redondo Beach area and I in Culver City, (only a few miles apart) but we didn't know each other....so the Navy sent us both to Naval Support Activity Da Nang in 1968 at the height of the TET offensive. We spent a year together in Da Nang, and that was over 50 years ago. He now lives in northern California and I in southern California. We still stay in touch, talk on the phone regularly, vacation together, visit one another and we're getting old together. We both have lots of pictures over the years of us getting together and spending the good and the bad times together. If anything good came out of my time as a Navy Seabees it was meeting Dennis. God Bless All that serve(d) then and now.