Black Gold Photo | TrekEarth

Photographer’s Note

This sweeping view of Maalaea Bay on the island of Maui was taken from the upcountry town of Kula.

If you are planning to do a sunrise shoot at the high volcanic peak in Haleakala National Park, Kula is a great place to overnight. At an elevation of approximately 3000ft above sea level, the beautiful country roads surrounding the town afford brilliant ocean views. Strategically, the location gives you a leg up on the long early morning drive up Haleakala for sunrise. For many visitors to Maui, a sunrise on top of the massive shield volcano of Haleakala (elevation 10023 ft or 3055m) is a must do activity during their stay. Unfortunately to arrive at the summit before sunrise means a long 2 hour drive for most visitors staying in the major resort areas.

A stay in Kula, however, cuts that time to less than an hour. There are not many accomodations in Kula, only a handful of bed and breakfast and lodges and you'll need to plan ahead. We stayed at the Kula Lodge and would recommend its rustic private chalets. The Kula Lodge also houses an impressive gallery of the work of local painter Curtis Wilson Cost. The gallery includes several inspiring works of the surrounding area, and this particular posted image was influenced by his work.

The interesting thing about this shot for me was the play of the sooty black clouds masking the sunset. Those clouds were blackened by the volcanic ash of the active Kilauea volcano on the neighboring Big Island.

Regards,
Doug

dhurjati, gunbud, plimrn, salvator, feather, stego, bakes888, anney, nbj trouve(nt) cette note utile

Critiques | Translate

dhurjati (2827) 2007-10-19 13:17

Hi Douglas,
Yah, I like it.Very interesting colours as if there is a volcano errupting in the sky, rarely have seen such golden tone in the air.Just feel that the surrounding is bit hazy(was it foggy out there?) and colour tone is just little single paced.But I love it very much with the bending beach and ofcourse with the volcano in the sky.
Greetings from India,
Dhurjati

[2]

hatti52 (12654) 2007-10-19 15:08

Hi Douglas,
wonderful compo and light management
bravo

gunbud (28013) 2007-10-19 20:30

Hi Doug,
Wonderful management of these difficult lighting conditions renders a drmatic image with the storm clouds blocking some of the golden rays thus given this one a slightly spooky feel. I love the 3 layered look with light streaming in all directions.
Regards, Tom

plimrn (19688) 2007-10-19 20:53

Hi Doug,
Wow!!~ Amazing light streaming out of the dark clouds and Lighting the broad sweep of Maalaea Bay and the finger of the pali. Given your unique perspective, We had a hard time figuring out the two points until we realized that the further point is is feally Molokai. Very good planning to get a place at the Kula Lodge.
HLJ, Pat

salvator (18823) 2007-10-20 0:38

Hi Douglas,
Superb colors and wonderful rays shining thru the clouds. The depth and the silouette like shapes of the land are very nice. Best regards. Salvator.

vincz (19043) 2007-10-20 1:52

Wow... this is so beautiful. You caught a wonderful moment here. The golden tones under the clouds are fabulous.

feather (49872) 2007-10-20 6:14

What a sight this must have been. Without those sunbeams around the centre the image would have been darker, but there is just enough light to make out the land forms which get hazier as they get further away. Did you make it for a Haleakala sunrise? We stayed in Lahaina and didn't arrive until about 9:30 to hike across the crater. I couldn't believe how cold it was.
Kath

maltagirl (554) 2007-10-20 7:53

Hello Douglas,
The colours are great, well captured photo, my compliments! Regards.
Marthese

Cormac (26451) 2007-10-20 10:10

Great atmospheric effect here from the clouds and the sun coming through them. The sense of distance is really strong in this because of the way the light gets more diffuse as you look farther away. Nicely done!

stego (22376) 2007-10-25 17:30

Hi Douglas,
I confess that I have a certain fascination for sunsets, which is a relatively new thing to me. However, this one is very special to me. Like in every sunset well photographed, we have marvellous warm tones on the sky, like in many others, the sky and the clouds are very scenic and also dramatic, but this one is particularly eye catching. You are right that the black clouds are unique, but there is also the visual wealth of the shoreline and silhouettes of the coastal hills, that luminous haze on the BG and the dark FG, which enhances the layered aspect of the compo. Truly a great photo!
Regards, José.

clic (4063) 2007-10-26 7:49

Hi Douglas
The magic of early backlight on haze conveys much subtlety to these summits compared to view of heavy black clouds.
You captured an appealing paradoxal scenery.
Best regards.
Robert

bakes888 (18257) 2007-10-27 0:56

Hi Doug. That sweep of bay really makes this shot, the golden light doesn’t hurt either ;-). Magnificent view and well captured. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers, Paul.

nbj (1871) 2007-11-16 3:14

wonderful light and colors. it must have been so beautiful to watch.