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05-17-2013, 03:25 PM   #16
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Guided tours are useful to get you access to/across private lands, and may be quicker than figuring locations out yourself.

Kauai is so popular that an image search can give you all the typical shots everyone takes.

This is the typical plane arrival shot I mentioned above:


My wife would not let me take a helicopter tour because her friends made it sound like they crashed a lot. I have a lot more non-tourist shots because I was living there.




05-17-2013, 10:39 PM   #17
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I recall an old lighthouse on the road that goes up towards the northeast end of the island that was fun to check out. I don't have any of them scanned, but it did make for some nice shots.
05-17-2013, 11:51 PM   #18
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I've been on a few tours and hiked the Na Pali trail. You will get hot and perspire. If you have to carry water and keep up with others I would recommend the 17-50mm, 55-300mm and maybe your DA15mm. Between the walking stopping and taking pics it's not fun carrying a heavy bag. I carried a DA16-50 and 50-135 on my last trip to Kau'ai. The 16-50 stayed on my camera as it covered almost all of my shooting needs and I just didn't have time to swap out lens.

If your tour doesn't include it I would recommend the Na Pali hike and also a catamaran boat ride off the Na Pali coastline which includes a lunch stop at Lehua island. It departs and returns from Port Allen.

Lehua Island
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05-18-2013, 06:54 AM   #19
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You would regret leaving the 50-135 at home for the quality and weather sealing. Leave the 10-17 at home, the 15 will get lots of use. A circular polariser is a must.

I tend to pack as light as I can and especially in a rainforest such as almost anywhere in Hawaii. On my last trip, I used my fleet of Limiteds (15, 21 the most). My buddy was a Pentaxian as well and his 50-135 got a lot of use, so did my 18-135 in windy, salty, potentially wet conditions.

On sunny days, the landscapes were best captured with 15 and 21.

05-18-2013, 09:21 AM   #20
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QuoteOriginally posted by Frank B Quote
I recall an old lighthouse on the road that goes up towards the northeast end of the island that was fun to check out. I don't have any of them scanned, but it did make for some nice shots.
The Kilauea lighthouse. There's a spot above the lighthouse just before the gate for some nice shots, very popular. The area around it is some kind of bird sanctuary. Ignoring my previous advice, a longer telephoto wold be useful here for the birds.

This is my attempt at an IR shot of it, one of those ones I wish I could take again.

05-18-2013, 01:01 PM   #21
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QuoteOriginally posted by kerrowdown Quote
Obviously loads of bonnie lassies in grass skirts.
Just me then on the the grass skirted lassies, I could be up for some exclusives in the world press.
05-18-2013, 11:44 PM   #22
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Thanks for the info. Good stuff. Please keep the ideas rolling in.

I will add the plane or helicopter tour. I will add ND filters and maybe my 24/1.4, FA 35/2 or FA 50/1.4 to my gear bag. I have a back issue and my wife has foot problems, so we won't do a lot of hiking, no more than 15 minutes from the car. Therefore an extra lens would not be a hardship. The extra weight would only be a problem in the airports.

Based on the postings I might substitute the 55-300mm with the 50-135mm. It has better IQ and is WR. The cons are weight for carrying and holding. If I am a little tired, I find it impossible to hold the lens steady. What to do???

I won't add the long FFLs, the 300mm and the 400mm are just too big and heavy.

As for the K10 IR camera, that is a must! The contrast with the vegetation and sky would be phenomenal. Of course I am relying on memories from one day 35 years ago. I "see" the image better for the IR than for standard imaging from my K5. I can already see a palm tree or two, bright white against the black sky on a curved white sand beach.

05-19-2013, 03:11 PM   #23
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Some other unusual ideas:

The airport is on Ahukini Rd. You can go past the airport, pass the area where the helicopters are, and follow this road all the way out to a point on the south side of a bay. There are the remains of a pier here, a park, and a dirt road that goes south around the airport runway (fairly rough). It's a good spot for high surf photos. There's a beach (Hanamaulu) at the end of the bay which you can see from here, typically not mentioned in tourist stuff because a lot of homeless people camp here. It's in a John Wayne movie (Donovan's Reef).

You can get to the lighthouse visible on the north side of Nawiliwili Harbor entrance (Ninini Point), a good spot for photos of cruise ships entering or leaving the harbor. This is usually at dawn/dusk. Look up Ninini Point Rd. on Google Maps. There's some recent development here which may change the roads. Part of this area was wrecked in 1992 and just now being rebuilt.

There's a cemetary with a view overlooking Nawiliwili Harbor with an entrance on the south side of Lala Rd, which begins close to the Anchor Cove shopping center. Another good dawn/dusk spot.

If you go to Opaekaa Falls, you'll be on Kuamoo Rd. Shortly after getting on Kuamoo from Kuhio Highway, there's a sign on the left under a large tree that says Wailua River State Park. That's a picnic area and boat launch popular with locals. Right behind that sign is a stairway, which leads up to an old Japanese cemetary and a river overlook. You can see the sign and stairs on Google Streetview.

If it is rainy, there will be a lot of visible waterfalls, especially on the north shore. On the west side, when you go up to Waimea Canyon and the Kalalau Valley overlook, there are many spots on the right (going up) with views of the canyon, between the official lookout areas. Stop at some of these.

In general, take some extra time to stop or take a side road. One example is the Menehune Fishpond Overlook near Nawiliwili Harbor. If you follow the signs to it, most people just turn around and return the same way. Keep going on that road and sooner or later you will rejoin Kaumualii Highway, close to the Humane Society building. Google maps shows a lot of roads here that are dirt and closed off to the public, a little misleading.
05-23-2013, 01:19 PM   #24
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I cannot recommend the helicopter tour enough. My wife and I were there in March and took the Jack Harter tour in their Hughes helicopter without the doors. You'll want a wide angle lens on this trip. Also, you'll want to visit Waimea Canyon, the grand canyon of the pacific. Here are a couple of photos.
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05-23-2013, 04:34 PM   #25
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Wahines
05-26-2013, 06:48 PM   #26
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QuoteOriginally posted by braindoc Quote
I cannot recommend the helicopter tour enough. My wife and I were there in March and took the Jack Harter tour in their Hughes helicopter without the doors. You'll want a wide angle lens on this trip. Also, you'll want to visit Waimea Canyon, the grand canyon of the pacific. Here are a couple of photos.
Wow!

What would be better, 15mm DA or Tamron 17-50mm/2.8? The Pentax DA has an 88* view and the Tamron 76*-31*. I'll have both lenses there.
05-26-2013, 06:50 PM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by Rob22315 Quote
Wahines
I don't think my wife would agree.
05-26-2013, 09:19 PM   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by lmd91343 Quote
I don't think my wife would agree.
"I'm just capturing some local culture, dear". :-)
05-26-2013, 09:35 PM   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by RoxnDox Quote
"I'm just capturing some local culture, dear". :-)
05-27-2013, 04:04 PM   #30
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Wahines aside, one of the best things I found to do (when I lived there for a year) was the hiking - usually 3-4 miles to an interior waterfall just like the one in the helicopter photos. Great vistas along the way but limited to a ground (vs air) perspective.
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