Parade/Zoo-3/17, Sunset-3/25, Macro-3/26/14

Life has been good. Jon and Casey stayed at my place while they were here from March 11-15. Sorry no pictures.

Monday, March 17...

Erick, Shun Wah and I got together to enjoy the St. Patrick's Parade and the Zoo. It really has been a long time since we have gotten together to take/make pictures.

Saint Patrick's Day or the Feast of Saint Patrick was well celebrated during this parade.

Even the Royal Hawaiian Band participated and they wore these shirts. Usually their colors are yellow and red.

Knowing that the parade was going to end at Kapiolani Park, we decided to go to the Zoo which is near by. Only draw back was that most of the animals were having an afternoon snooze. Hense, not many pictures.

I had no idea that the gibbons had a baby. I thought the female was sleeping but turned out she was nursing her baby (which is what a baby Gibbon is called). Baby seems to have enjoyed his/her meal.

Tuesday, March 25...
Erma also got to stay with me for about a week. On her last day, she finally got to enjoy malasadas and Dole soft serve Pinapple ice cream from Leonard's bakery. I was pleasantly surprised about the pineapple ice cream being there. What a great send off plus the following pictures of the sun setting.

I was hoping for a green flash but this boat approaching completely blocked the sun as it was going down. Uggh. (Lol, maybe there was no green flash.)

Wednesday, March 26… (State holiday Prince Kuhio Day, in honor of Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole)
Our photo assignment for this week is macros. I am really enjoying Scott Kubo's class. We have experimented with different filters. (near infrared, polarizer and neutral density)

I was able to trade in my 60mm macro at Lighthaus Camera and pay the difference for the 100mm macro. Yippee. They even said that my Canon T5i has enough megapixels to allow me to crop and get clarity. It worked!!! 

Also at  Foster Garden, I was happy to see this plant, Titan Arum or Corpse Flower. See the link for more info. bioscigreenhouse.osu.edu/titan-arum-faqs

Ka`ena Point, 2/17/14

Minori, Linda and I are members of Eyes of Hawaii, a photography club.  Although the weather was iffy, we still wanted to go despite the club cancelling this outing to  Ka'ena Point. This link describes the 2 ways you can get to the most western part of Oahu. We chose the Wai`anae side instead of the Mokule`ia side.

We did have to dodge mud puddles. 

Almost there...

 Yay, we saw albatross

 And this bunker

 Yay a monk seal, what a life!

 Make that another monk seal.

 Lol, took this from Minori's FB page.

 Just trying photo effects.

Heading back.

We had so much fun!!!
We have another outing planned for the Waianae coast with more members. Yay!!!

(disclosure - the pictures getting to Ka`ena Point were taken with my iPhone - much easier to make photos with)

Foster Botanical Garden, 2/8/14

This is my second attempt to use a flash to capture the botanical world. My other one was at Lyon's Arboretum

Derek again helped me while Milton S., Roger, Curtis and Dewey enjoyed going on their own. Kudos - Derek. Actually everyone has their own style so it was easier learning from one person.

This shows I need help. The flash won't even reach the hibiscus. I think I will have to get a flash bracket/grip or either become an octopus. It is not necessary to use a flash but if you want detail you need a small aperture which means you need help to make the shutter speed faster. Greek talk, huh?

I did not know there are white ohia flowers; I thought they were only red. I then made this picture into a black and white.

It is not your eyes, this is a blurry picture but lol, I like the effect. It also shows that it takes practice to do it right.

I am impressed that my son, Jon got many pictures of butterflies. Here is a link to his trip to Costa Rica: Monteverede.

Lunch was followed by at Nice Day. We enjoyed Angie's mochi, thanks Dewey. Sorry no picture.