Hawaii Trip: We are leaving in about a week to spend 4 days on the big island of Hawaii. We have never been there previously. Since we have very limited time I was hoping to get some...

lwhitlow

We are leaving in about a week to spend 4 days on the big island of Hawaii. We have never been there previously. Since we have very limited time I was hoping to get some advice on the best places to go to in order to photograph local items and not get caught up with a bunch of tourism. We are interested in photographing nature such as birds, wildlife, etc. We would also love to be able to photograph part of the active volcano, but don't know if we can get close enough to capture any good photos. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Bozsik Loc: Orangevale, California

lwhitlow wrote:

We are leaving in about a week to spend 4 days on ... (show quote)

I was just there in Sept/Oct. What equipment do you have? Makes a difference. Here are some samples, but they are taken with different lenses. Most of the wildlife was shot with three basic essentials - camera body, 80-400 lens, and patience.

PM me with some specifics about what you want to see, and I might be able to send you the cords for your GPS.

(Download)

hpucker99 Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

For photographing an active volcano, go the the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and view the eruption of Kilauea from the Jaggar Center. We saw resting sea turtles on the Old Kona Airport beach and the Punalum'u Black Sands Beach.

lwhitlow

Bozsik wrote:

I was just there in Sept/Oct. What equipment do you have? Makes a difference. Here are some samples, but they are taken with different lenses. Most of the wildlife was shot with three basic essentials - camera body, 80-400 lens, and patience.

PM me with some specifics about what you want to see, and I might be able to send you the cords for your GPS.

Sorry, I forgot to add my camera info. We will be taking 2 different cameras. One a Canon EOS Rebel T5i and the other one is a Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Our lens range from macro lens to a 150-500mm and a couple in between. We also have a wide angle Robinson lens 2.8/14mm.

lwhitlow

hpucker99 wrote:

For photographing an active volcano, go the the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and view the eruption of Kilauea from the Jaggar Center. We saw resting sea turtles on the Old Kona Airport beach and the Punalum'u Black Sands Beach.

Thank you so much. So excited to go, but such limited time - don't want to come back and wish we had gone elsewhere.

lwhitlow

lwhitlow wrote:

Sorry, I forgot to add my camera info. We will be taking 2 different cameras. One a Canon EOS Rebel T5i and the other one is a Canon EOS 5D Mark III. Our lens range from macro lens to a 150-500mm and a couple in between. We also have a wide angle Robinson lens 2.8/14mm.

Your photos are beautiful!!!

hpucker99 Loc: Anchorage, Alaska

lwhitlow wrote:

Thank you so much. So excited to go, but such limited time - don't want to come back and wish we had gone elsewhere.

We were on Hawaii for 10 days and saw what we wanted to see based on research before we went. We bought the book,"Hawaii The Big Island Revealed", as a guide for trying to select what areas we wanted to see. We realized we couldn't do all what we wanted to do in 10 days but could get a good visit out the highlights and make notes for future visits. I could have spent 10 days just around Kilauea hiking and photographing the craters and volcanic debris. On the southeast side, magma is flowing into the sea, but it is a 8 to 10 mile hike (round trip) to see and we ran out of time.

We used Airbnb to stay at 4 locations around the island while we were there. I wanted to travel light, so I only took my iPhone 6 and my Sony RX10m3. Next time I will bring the Nikon D750 and the heavier zoom and wide angle lenses.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

Bozsik wrote:

I was just there in Sept/Oct. What equipment do you have? Makes a difference. Here are some samples, but they are taken with different lenses. Most of the wildlife was shot with three basic essentials - camera body, 80-400 lens, and patience.

PM me with some specifics about what you want to see, and I might be able to send you the cords for your GPS.

Beautiful pictures. I like the Rock Crabs. In reply to the Op creater, they are everywhere, but you have to find a quiet place to sit and wait because they are very cautious. When you don't move for some period of time, they will start to come out. But if they see you move, they immediately disappear. Works best to have a longer lens on a tripod and to have it already focused at a spot you think they may appear. And then be ready to very slowly re-aim as necessary, and to snap the shot.

The ghost crabs are another one you can find everywhere.

lwhitlow

hpucker99 wrote:

We were on Hawaii for 10 days and saw what we want... (show quote)

Thank you so much for the info. Will check out that book😊😊. Good idea!!!

lwhitlow

JimH123 wrote:

Beautiful pictures. I like the Rock Crabs. In re... (show quote)

Thank you for the info. We are getting so excited.

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

lwhitlow wrote:

Thank you for the info. We are getting so excited.

The views are so spectacular, even the wild turkeys stop to gawk!

And be sure to watch for the state bird.

If you get to the big island, look for the lava fields. And if you can get closer.

And keep your eyes open for local critters.

lwhitlow

JimH123 wrote:

The views are so spectacular, even the wild turkeys stop to gawk!

Love it😀😀

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

If you go to the Volcano National Park web site, you will find this as the opening picture. I am attaching the one I took myself from the visitors's center. For your information, this is 110mm on a crop sensor (165mm equivalent).

(Download)

lwhitlow

JimH123 wrote:

If you go to the Volcano National Park web site, you will find this as the opening picture. I am attaching the one I took myself from the visitors's center. For your information, this is 110mm on a crop sensor (165mm equivalent).

Simply amazing photo!!! How do you get close enough to see this? Is it driveable or do you have to walk a long distance?

JimH123 Loc: Morgan Hill, CA

lwhitlow wrote:

Simply amazing photo!!! How do you get close enough to see this? Is it driveable or do you have to walk a long distance?

The visitor's center is drivable. They have a nice parking lot. And if you arrive as it is getting dark, you can see the view I posted. I did use a tripod. I find that most pictures I take in Hawaii do not need a telephoto lens. But on occasion, for instance when I see an interesting bird or some other animal, I get it out.

A previous, up close picture of the lava was done after a 3 or 4 mile hike over lava. Went in while still light and came out after dark using flash lights (pack the long lasting LED types for this). Used a guide service in which a guide took back a group of people. Many took in some long sticks and had fun poking the molasses like lava. The way it cools, it creates a thin crust that tends to hold the heat in, which means you can actually approach fairly close. A stick can crack the crust allowing the lava to ooze out, and of course, the stick doesn't last very long before burning up.