Ahi Uapo by konaloha

Ahi Uapo (Bridge of Fire). I recently discovered this reef bridge spanning two reef pukas near Keahole Point. The tide was just right and the sunset was on fire. Usually I’m rushing around trying to find a good composition before the light fades. But this composition came to me quickly and I was able to calmly fire off some shots at the right settings without falling in and before the brilliance was lost. Reef pukas are a great photographic subject, but a real pain in the okole to shoot satisfactorily. Finding a good composition is not easy. Like the old real-estate cliché, location is everything: Too far and it’s just a boring hole in the reef. Get too close and you risk life, equipment and ridicule: you and your gear drenched, or worse - swept off the reef and flushed down into the puka while the local boys cheer from the peanut gallery on the beach. And then there’s the harsh, high-contrast lighting: dark lava rock, blinding sunsets and surges of white water. It’s a dynamic, constantly changing scene that will throw metering off by six or more stops with each wave and every second the sun is dropping. It’s a metering nightmare. Add to the mix a CPL filter and one or more GNDs and you’ll get brain farts trying to keep shutter (I like low shutter speeds for water movement), aperture and ISO combinations straight in your head all while the light is fading faster than you can say GONE! Lastly there’s the timing of the waves – both to get the shot and so that you’re not flushed down the reef like a dead eel. Being a surfer, timing waves is natural to me but even I get caught by rogue sets. Typically the wave explodes up through the puka (good for high speed shots), flows out onto the reef, begins to ebb back into the hole, and then quickly drains with a roar back into the puka (my favorite images). Hurry! Snap! All this happens in seconds. And if shooting at low shutter speeds you get just one chance and it’s all over. So this requires multiple attempts. Out of hundreds of shots (waves) I may have one keeper where the water flow is just what I want. Not that good static landscape shots are easy, but they’re a lot less stressful! I enjoy doing it for the photographic challenge and the occasional beautiful image that results form the effort. Of course you may think it sucks. But that’s okay; I enjoyed making it and in the end, that’s why I do it. Mahalo for looking! via 500px http://ift.tt/1NLpqHA