Photography & Family in Kauai, Hawaii (Part 1)
Day 1 – Traveling to Kauai from Austin, Texas
This trip involved a total of 14 family members all heading to Kauai in order to fulfill my mother-in-law’s wish to have her ashes scattered in Hawaii. Our trip departed early morning from Austin, Texas and would involve one stop in Denver before the final leg from Denver to Lihue, Kauai. My wife and sister-in-law planned the lodging, many activities and a great many details which all turned out to be wonderful. I managed to capture some nice candid images of my family and street photography type images in Austin-Bergstrom International Airport. Black and white images are often much better able to communicate mood, texture, and “feel” than color images and several of the images below were converted to black and white using Silver Effex Pro.
Flying with Camera Gear
In order to protect my camera gear, I took everything from my Canon 600mm f/4 IS II L lens to the Rokinon 14mm 4/2.8 and lenses in-between. As this would be too large to carry-on and wanting to protect my camera equipment from the TSA agents and baggage handlers that have a lot to do and very little time to do it, I purchased a Pelican 1650 Case with foam to protect my gear. I got the Desert Tan color because I favor earthy tones. This case is amazing with plenty of space to hold a large selection of gear, wheels, powerful handles and a retractable handle. I purchased a couple of TSA locks and I was all set to go.
There was one image in particular from the ABIA that really caught my attention and it was an image of my brother-in-law, Trey and my youngest niece, Alexi. The lighting, textures, and tone really make this a stand out black and white portrait for me.
After a brief layover in Denver, we took off once again for Kauai as our next destination. I was sitting near a window per the norm as the geographer in me is too curious to sit anywhere else. Our flight path went over the Rocky Mountains, Yosemite National Park and San Francisco Bay and then many miles of nothing but clouds and Pacific Ocean. A young girl in the seat in front of me provide a photographic opportunity as her childlike wonder provided a special image (see down below). The next part of this blog will be our first full day in Kauai.
