Kauai Bound

This Halloween we're headed to one of my favorite places on earth: Kauai. The north shore of this island ignites my creativity. Waterfalls, epic ridges, pounding surf, tiny winding roads, one lane bridges, epic beaches, crazy volcanic rock formations and very little development. This is old Hawaii and it's so fun to photograph and film.

Years ago my grandmother (Nana) managed a beautiful beachside resort near the end of the road on the north shore. Nana was an adventuresome woman who traveled the world from New Zealand to the Arctic, but she loved Kauai more than anywhere. It's been several years since we put her ashes in her favorite bay.

I'll be doing a fair bit of work on the trip; what creative professional wouldn't? What I'm most excited about though is watching our now 8-month-old Pike Henry crawl around this epic place. Yeah, he's crawling now and he's headed to one of the earth's most spectacular sand features... 

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Kalalau Beach, Kauai (Nikon D200)

Gearing Up: South Padre Island with Pike

This Tuesday Stacey, Pike, a few friends and I head out for a Kitesurfing and photo adventure on South Padre, a barrier island just off Texas. It's a place with warm water and steady wind. At seven weeks old it's Pike's first big trip and I'm stoked to capture not just landscape and action photos, but also of  to document his first beach island experience. How much gear do we need for this? We made this one minute video to highlight the challenge of packing for air travel with photo gear, kite gear and Pike's accessories. I'll be posting on Facebook and Instagram along the way.

NEW PRINTS AVAILABLE

I just posted some new images to the print gallery. Here are some new ones from Patagonia.

EUROPE 2015 SLIDESHOW PART II: ITALY (Stromboli & Amalfi)

Stromboli Fire

Strombolian eruption just after sunset. Those are boats on the Mediterranean below.

Stromboli Hydrofoil

The boat that took Stacey and I from Naples to Stromboli.

Stromboli Sunset

We arrived just in time to watch the sun set behind the island volcano.

Stromboli Bluehour

Sailboats anchored off Stromboli at dusk.

Mediterranean Sunrise

Sunrises behind two sailboats anchored off Stromboli with clouds.

Climbing Sromboli

Stacey heads up the dusty volcanic trail. Boots like this are available to rent on the island.

The Fast Way Down

A motorized paraglider launches off Stromboli

Perfect Timing

Stacey watches Stromboli erupt as the sun sets over the Mediterranean.

Stromboli Smoke

Stromboli blows smoke as the sun rims down.

Stromboli Fire

Strombolian eruption just after sunset. Those are boats on the Mediterranean below.

Our Pad

Our cute Airbnb flat on the Amalfi Coast of Italy.

The Beach Itallian Style

The beach at Amalfi

Hiking the Amalfi Coast

We loved hiking the ancient trails above Italy's Amalfi coast.

The spectacular Amalfi Coast

Looking West high above Italy's Amalfi Coast toward Positano. Ridge after glorious ridge.

Atrani Sunrise

The sun rises over Italy's Amalfi Coast. The chairs are set for the day's beachgoers.

Amalfi Kittens

We found these adorable little cats in Amalfi, Italy.

Leaving Italy

Boarding the plane for Paris.

I'm writing this from a cozy rooftop Airbnb flat across the street from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris. Italy is in the rear view mirror.

What a fabulous time Stacey and I had there. The beauty, the craziness, the food... Pizza in Naples, adventures on busses on insanely narrow mountain roads, climbing Stromboli, the shellfish linguine in Amalfi, hydrofoils and hiking the Sentieri Degli Dei (Pathway to the Gods). Looking back -- the past week feels like a lifetime; it will take more than 1000 words to tell the tale. Instead I'll leave you with these snapshots while we explore France...

-Hudson

EUROPE 2015 PART I: TURKEY AND GREECE

We have to leave the windmill tomorrow... Stacey and I've spent most of the past week in this amazing windmill high on the Island of Mykonos in Greece. The view is breathtaking. How amazing is Airbnb? We have so loved staying here; it will not be easy to leave behind.

Above is a short slideshow of the trip so far.

Tomorrow we head off to climb Stromboli, the constantly erupting island volcano off Sicily. We take a hydrofoil from Naples! I hope you’ll join us for this adventure on Facebook and/or Instagram. I'm posting updates daily.

-Hudson

An Important Trip to a Special Place

As Stacey and I get ready to board a plane headed west this morning, my thoughts are turning back to 2013. Last year was a rough one not only for my family, but for a number of my close friends' families as well. It was a year that contained a lot of loss in my circle. Last fall, after the passing of my grandfather that summer, we lost a truly inspirational and incredible woman, my Nana Georgia Henry.

Nana lived, loved, laughed and left the world a better place for having walked it. Even in her final hours she showed strength, grace and an innate sense of what was most important. She loved a good adventure and understood my wanderlust like few others that I've known. Her favorite place on earth was the North Shore of Kauai, and since I first stepped foot there nearly 20 years ago, I have shared her deep respect and love for the power of that place.

Today we are honored to join family from as far away as Perth, Australia who are boarding planes bound for Kauai to bring her ashes home. Every trip to Hanalei is special, but this one feels doubly so...

-Hudson

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Georgia Henry (with my grandfather Gil on the left).

Hanalei Valley, Kauai: A Special Place

The north shore of Kauai is one of those powerful places that I can't stay away from. It is so lush, wild and full of it's own special energy. From the exposed trails of Na Pali to the island's amazing beaches and reefs, Kauai is the perfect place to have an adventure then relax and recharge all in one location; I keep coming back to find it fresh and exciting time after time.

Last fall I visited again on the final family trip with my ailing grandmother (Nana). She had lived in Hanalei when she was young and the place was very much a part of her.

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Technical Details: Nikon D800 Nikkor 14-24mm 11 images at F11 for 1/4th sec at ISO 100 (panoramic merger) (click image to enlarge)

As I drove into the Hanalei valley I noticed a freshly harvested taro pond and wondered if it might reflect Mt. Waialeale and the surrounding hills at dawn. I've seen many photographs of this view, but none reflected from this angle. My mother is an early riser, so she accompanied me on my dawn mission. 

As the sun rose, high clouds turned color and created lots of drama in the sky, but a low cloud bank to the east blocked the first dawn rays from lighting the landscape below. I created some images emphasizing the cloudscape while enjoying the antics of the shorebirds with my mom.

As the color left the clouds we started thinking about breakfast and coffee. Then the sun partially broke through the clouds to light the landscape just as a rainbow formed over the taro pond.

I quickly set up my Nikon D800 on a Really Right Stuff panoramic adaptor and shot a 32-image, multiple-row, panoramic merger of the scene (see the top of this post). I've just gotten around to assembling and editing this 300 megapixel composite image and I couldn't be happier with the result. It looks great printed huge and reminds me of why this amazing place evokes such passion.

My family will be returning here this year with Nana's ashes to leave her in this special place. I can't imagine a better spot to rest.

The Fire Maple

The Portland Japanese Garden is a source of inspiration for me personally and photographically.  Explosions of fall color, falling leaves, reflections in water, and thousands of tiny details reveal themselves to the open observer.  Of all the garden’s marvels however, this one maple tree stands out.  Every fall I find myself moved at the sight of this tree.  Despite being one of the most photographed life forms on the planet, I set out to create a new and iconic image of it.  It is always a challenge to photograph the familiar in a new way. 

The first step was to examine what it is about this tree that is so moving.  Of course the color is dazzling, but the underlying structure is what really captures my imagination.  There is something about the way that the strong base supports all those medium branches that lead to the smaller finger-like branches. It reminds me of the nature of life itself on both the macro and micro scales.  I see new young productive life supported and nurtured by the older and wiser that came before.  I also see nature's cyclical pattern of life, death, and renewal: the fallen leaves and the strength of that structure to withstand winter and start again in the spring.  On the micro level I see all sorts of vascular and neural systems alive within myself reflected in this tree.  

I really believe that my ultimate goal as a photographer is to feel something about my subject and find a way to use the tools that I have to capture that feeling.  In this case, I was patient for just the right light to silhouette that structure against the color of the leaves with perfect contrast for a digital sensor.  Other great photographers have photographed this tree, but my innovation was to use a wide-angle-panoramic technique to show a 180 degree view of its structure using soft overcast light in a crop that is reminiscent of the human field of vision.  It just looks natural and captures how this beautiful tree emotionally impacts me.

You may feel something completely different about the image based on your own experience and perception, but viewers universally seem to feel something.  A photo is successful when it makes you stop and take notice.  A photo fails when it fails to convey a feeling or a story.

-Hudson