Kukio Beach, Big Island, Hawaii.

Late afternoon and a walk along a trail to Kukio Beach provided some nice seascape opportunities.   Entry was via the car park of the Four Seasons Hotel and the gates closed at sunset so had to be off the beach by then.   Enough time to experiment with some slow shutter speeds and some wide angles too.

Kukio Beach, Big Island, Hawaii.  Canon 5D Mark 2 with 24-105mm lens at 67mm F22, shutter speed 2.0 seconds at ISO 50.
Rocks on beach, Kukio Beach, Hawaii.  Canon 5D Mark 2 with 16-35mm zoom at 16mm F14, shutter speed 1/50 second at ISO 400.
Beach and clouds, Kukio Beach. Canon 5D Mark 2 with 16-35mm zoom at 16mm F14, shutter speed 1/100 second at ISO 400.

Image processing

Image processing (in Adobe Lightroom) consisted of:

  • Lens correction, using the profiled setting.

  • Increased colour temperature (approx 6300 K)

  • Clarity (20-30 points)

  • Vibrance (approx 10 points)

  • Saturation (approx 10 points)

  • Sharpening and then text

Opportunity missed

An interesting moment occurred just as I was about to pack up my gear,  with the light fading rapidly and being aware of the need to get back to the car before the security people locked the gates.    I was taking my last photograph,  a long exposure by necessity,  when I was startled by a slapping splashing sound nearby in the water.   At first, I couldn’t figure out what it was in the gloomy light but then realized that it was a sea turtle that had made its way into the shallows.  It was only a few metres from me,  one of the closest encounters with a turtle I had during the trip.  Given the conditions,  getting a picture of him(her) was impossible,  if only it had happened 15 minutes earlier!   ~KD