While the interior of the little “Painted Church” is lavishly colorful, the exterior is a simple white structure. I could feel the history surrounding the church through it’s old, but well maintained, grave yard and gardens. It is a beautiful and peaceful site on the gentle sloping sides of Moana Loa.
The last time I was here I hiked down to the base of these cliffs and looked up the Palolu Valley to the south. Waipi’o Valley is in the distance. This trip I did not make the trek down to the bottom.
On previous trips, my interest focused on the bay directly below and closer. The above ridges were in the distant background. This time the ridges caught my eye. I zoomed out to 400m to isolate them.
For reference, the photo below represents my previous focus.
As seen, this is quite a different perspective. It pays to return to special places and keep an open mind to see new things.
This tree has an unseen story to tell. The photographer did not step back to include the rest of the story. On the tree’s left is the Little Blue Church. On its right is an ancient Hawaiian heiau.
Here I stand, catching the evening’s last light,
Spreading it gently to the souls of the present on my left,
And to the ancient spirits of the past on my right
Lesson Learned: I need to take my time to contemplate what I am seeing and feeling, then raise my camera to record the story. I should have used a wide-angle perspective to include the church and the heiau. Always learning …
Just to the north of the “Little Blue Church” is the remnant of an ancient Hawaiian heiau (temple). I came to see the church, but my interest quickly turned to the adjacent heiau. How long ago did the ancient peoples worship on this ground? Was it in use when Cook first landed on the island just a few miles south of here? What do these protruding wood branches and line represent? So many questions …
This little church was built in 1888 next to an ancient Hawaiian heiou. It is currently a Catholic mission and holding Sunday services.
When I drove past the church, it was late afternoon. The front of the church was in deep shadows. The sun glare dominated the background as it reflected off the ocean. It was a great opportunity for a B&W photograph.
Silent and serene the little church stood
against the brilliant glow from above.
What history does it have to tell?
You can’t get any further south in the United States than this. The southern tip of the big island of Hawai’i is the most southern point of our country. I guess you can consider it the deep, deep South.
This image is the second of a series of Black and White photographs that I will post from my recent trip to the Big Island. In each of these images, I purposefully took my time to try to catch a specific moment and/or composition. Each one had a specific intent when I began the process of recording what my eyes were seeing or what my mind was feeling.
I stood and watched this boy for several moments before I put my camera to my eye. I could have just stood and watched much longer as he patiently cast out and reeled in his line, repeating the process over and over. Each time he cast out, I was hoping that a fish would take the bait. What a a glorious way to spend a late afternoon!
Over the years, I have visited the Hawaiian Tropical Gardens on the big island of Hawaii four times. Located near Hilo, it gets around 160 inches of rain a year. It is a tropical RAIN forest. Every visit has been on a brilliantly bright day, no clouds and no rain. This visit I was hoping for at least a cloud cover to help darken the gardens like it typically is … no such luck!
Onomea Falls is one of the special beautiful places in the garden that I enjoy most. My intent was to create an image of the falls in a dark setting as it typically is in. It was dark, but bright hot spots from open spots the canopy were located all around the area. I was not going to leave disappointed again. I took my time, worked my way around the area, played with filters and exposures and left with something I could work with. Back at home I combined images to reduce the hot spots and keep the shadow details. I converted to B&W (as was my intent when I took the images) and did a little selective dodging and burning.
The result to me was well worth the extra time!
Hoarfrost
In the early winter morning,
the soft, lacy leaves of a Japanese Maple
have been transformed into sharp swords.
If we succumb to a long, winter sleep,
we might miss the gentle frost
that melts away in a moment.
Mary Dahlin Graf
Hoarfrost is amazing. The small ice crystals build up on each other as the frost forms. Here, the hoarfrost continued to build up over a two day period. The frost looks like multiple sharp spikes on the exposed Japanese maple branches.
I was prepared for a sharp prick when I touched a branch. As soon as I got close the frost melted. No pain!
“Experienced tractors for sale – Cheap!” Here’s a little more history of the Palouse. Scattered across the Palouse next to old barns and fields are old farm equipment. Here was an anomaly. This enterprising individual had collected a variety of old tractors of the 40’s and early 50’s vintage (I think) and put them on display.
The site brought back early memories of my childhood growing up on an apple orchard in the upper Yakima Valley. I can remember riding on my grandpa’s John Deere crawler working in the orchard. It was hard to start with the hand crank in the front. But when it did, what a roar it made. I remember sitting on my grandpa’s lap pulling the turning handles to to make the machine turn. It took all I had, pulling with two hands and my whole body. What a thrill! I was heart broke when he traded it in for a wheeled tractor.
