This is was taken just north of the area where I learned to surf while on the island.
After briefly attempting to surf 5 years ago I wanted to make sure I learned how to do it right and ended up finding Buttons. He turned out to be a local legend and former touring pro. He had me up and surfing on the very first wave and probably inspired a life long love of the sport.
Out of the few sunsets that I have taken here on Oahu my one regret so far was that I had not grabbed a truely pink one yet. The weather conditions have been a little too nice here which has lead to a relatively clear sky, which in photography terms is boring.
We spent the day touring the South East side of the island like tourists without the intention of grabbing a sunset. This included a trip to Moana Falls and Waikiki. Just before deciding to head home for the day I caught a glimpse of the beach and decided to check it out. I hadn’t expected much but after a few minutes the light changed drastically and the sky turned pink.
Portlock Beach is surrounded by million dollar homes. Thankfully the beaches are still public property and there are public access to all of them. When I was taking this picture there was a small group of locals taking advantage of the public access to fish and enjoy the sunset as well. I couldn’t help but appreciate how very fortunate they are to be able to enjoy a million dollar view and fish every day.
This is a 102 second exposure done using a Neutral Density 1000x filter. The filter acts to block out the light requiring the picture to take 10 times as long to properly expose. During that amount of time the water and light change and over time evens out leaving the glassy look that you see.
Today marks one week on the island and on vacation.
I had wanted to get out every night to grab a sunset while here but family obligations began to take its tole on me and required that I take some evenings off to get some rest.
Today we rented a car and decided to tour the island. We began with a trip across the island to Lanakai Beach - which many consider one of the best beaches in the world. I was able to swim to one of the Mokulua Islands and enjoy the bird sanctuary there before swimming back.
Despite being here for a week I had yet to have some Ramen. Thankfully we stumbled upon Rai Rai Ramen in Kailua which was superb. Then we made our way to the Valley of the Temples to visit the Byodo-In Temple.
We continued north to grab a quick shave ice from Aoki’s in Haleiwa then finally made our way to Kaena Point on the west side of the island to grab this sunset.
Spring is starting to peak it’s head out from the rain and the snow here in Oregon. I thought I would take advantage of the opportunity and spend the weekend at the coast shooting Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.
The weekend promised clear skies and warm weather (for the Oregon Coast at least). Unfortunately I was cheated out of a glorious sunset and instead had to settle for this.
Despite my inactivity for posting pictures over the last 6 months - photography has still been on my mind. The new year has brought about a ton of postive changes and I am as excited as ever.
Stay tuned for many more pictures to come in 2012.
About 10 days ago I got an email from one of the friends I climbed Hood with asking if I wanted to climb Rainier. It contained a short description of the hike and ended with “It will be a miserable and wonderful experience. You in?”
He honestly didn’t even need to ask. Even after it was all over and I could barely stand, when simple things like opening a beer would cause me to cramp up, did I feel the same way as I did then - of course I was in.
I think I have reached a stage in my life where simply because something is difficult is not reason enough not to do it. When I look back at the past year one of the things I think of most fondly is my Summit of Hood back in June. Whenever I am about Portland and I catch a glimpse of Hood I can’t help but feel a tremendous sense of accomplishment knowing that I conquered such a gigantic mountain.
What better gift to myself than to be able to claim that I conquered another mountain?
The Rainier summit is at 14,411 ft compared to Hood’s 11,249 ft. In several of my shots there is a mountain called Little Tahoma that seems tiny when on the mountain. It is actually only 100 ft smaller than Mount Hood.
This climb up Rainier is much longer than Hood was. The very last part of Hood, where you need an ice axe to self bellet yourself is probably more technically challenging than anything I encountered on Rainier, but beyond that Rainier is in a different league of difficulty because of the endurance you will need.
Rumor has it that someone went from the parking lot to the top of the mountain and back in 5 hours. We would be traveling with a 90 liter pack filled with gear, food and clothing, which would mean we would be traveling much slower than he did.
Weight was always on my mind. None of my gear is particularly light. My pack is about 15 years old and no where near being ideal for climbing mountains with. I elected to leave my relatively heavy Nikon D90 + Sigma 10-20 combo that I adored on Hood home in exchange for a much lighter (if damaged) Canon G9. My G9 has been through quite a bit so it is filled with dust and if I ever tried to change its focal length it would lock up and give a lens error. I really wish I could have spared the weight but realize that many of the shots that I did get would not have happened if I had to fumble through my pack constantly to retrive my camera.
The hike involves leaving early in the morning from the Paradise parking lot with all your gear. From there you will travel roughly 4 hours to Camp Muir. The trip up was relatively easy. I was fresh and my pack felt light. Despite the length of the hike most of the people doing it were approaching it as a day hike - so up to Camp Muir and back.
Like many others though we were in it to go all the way. We arrived at Muir shortly after noon and then spent the next 12 hours sleeping, filtering water and cooking. We were really concerned about having to carry a tent so we sprinted to Muir to make sure that we had a spot in the first come first serve hut that is available to climbers for free.
We were able to get good spots and shortly after the place filled up with people who would be waking up the same time as we did to tackle the mountain. It seems everyone had the same plan and woke up around midnight to eat some breakfast, gear up and head out for what would be much more difficult climb than the first half of the mountain.
By the end of the climb I was so exhausted that I had to break frequently to make the short walk to the actual summit. Without realizing it I was nearly on the verge of tears as we celebrated the climb. Was it the hardest thing I had ever done? Maybe. Most exhausting? Definitely.
The hardest part of the experience was realizing you had to climb all the way back down again though. Shale and sliding snow made for a really uncomfortable trip down.
Total trip broke down to:
So in total about 32 hours.
My favorite moments were waking up in the middle of night, gazing up at a perfectly clear star-filled sky, and seeing St Helens silhouetted by the glow of Portland.
I also enjoyed catching the first glow of the morning sky on the mountain and watching it change the color of the landscape.
Finally I enjoyed butt sliding the rest of the way down the mountain and arriving at a wild flower filled mountain fed stream that meant we would have water to drink that didn’t involve melting snow.
Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of the pictures. The rest of my shots and video from the trip can be found at on my flickr set.
All pictures taken with a Canon G9
Last year I accomplished a huge goal by losing 30 lbs in about 3 months. Then I followed it up by losing an additional 5 pounds which brought me to my lowest weight since high-school. I both felt and looked great and the change was noticeable by everyone who knew me. After that I went into maintenance mode and returned to enjoying good food. The problem is I have apparently been enjoying myself a little too much and have crossed what I consider to be my weight limit.
Well it is time to get back on the wagon again. If my experience with weight loss has taught me anything it is that weight loss is at least 80% diet, and I know for a fact that I have been enjoying the good life when it comes to food and beer a little bit too much.
During the past few months I haven’t exactly been inactive. I climbed a mountain, ran a bunch, and have been playing more tennis. I feel stronger and healthier than ever so why I am I freaking out? Because it all begins some where. Sure a 5-10 pounds of weight gain isn’t much but that is just the beginning. If I get comfortable with a pound here and there then before I know it I will be overweight, out of shape and hating myself.
I have set a new goal for myself to lose 10 pounds. It isn’t nearly as much as last time but weight isn’t everything. This isn’t about maintenance any longer but instead prevention.
I’ll be recording my progress using loseit.com and the related iphone app. If anyone wants to join along then feel free to friend me. My plan is to rein in control of my diet. I don’t think I can give up eating good food completely (I don’t hate myself that much). What I do need to do is to eat smaller portions. So instead of 20 delicious wings of King’s Wings I will instead order ~6.
The last time I dieted my most recorded food was ice cream. The key for me then was instead of eating the entire pint I would only eat a single serving at a time (~200 calories).
For me the most effective way to lose weight is to be accountable and conscious of what I am doing. This is why I love using loseit because if you are being honest with yourself then you can see exactly what you are doing. If you are consistently over budget then of course the weight isn’t going to come off. At the same time you are sharing your progress (or lack of) with your friends who can then share in your success when you do reach your goals.
Bring on the six-pack abs please.