It was a busy holiday season and processing and posting new photos has been slow for me.
I haven't been to the lava flows since my last update since nothing much has changed and mostly due to the great weather we've been having here on the Kona side of the island.
Also, it rained for nearly a month straight on the Puna side of the Big Island. The lack of are usual trade winds is the reason for Kona's vog free great weather during this time.
Most of the new images are of the great scenery on the Kona side. I'm now able to have direct links to each gallery or even individual photos.
I've listed the galleries below and each has it's own direct link. Also, there are links to some of 2008's most memorable galleries for those who may have missed them.
Publishers and advertisers take notice. Time to replace those old photos of the Kona area.
Honokohau Harbor. I hiked in to surf and almost stepped on this junior Monk Seal as it was sleeping under a small tree right where I put my gear. The seal wasn't harassed to get the photos. He was sleeping soundly and snoring quite loudly. A couple of hikers did come along with 2 dogs that weren't on a leash and one ran up to the seal barking momentarily waking it. The seal barked back and the dog ran off. The seal was back to sleep in mere seconds. After my surf session the seal was now in the rocks with it's head in a small tide pool. It would doze off and it's head would go under water waking it up as it blew the water out of it's nostrils. Other then the dog no one harassed the seal and a park ranger was notified of it's presence.
This gallery is loaded with a mix of images from the Kailua Kona area shot in Dec 2008. Vog free weather in town by the peir both during the day and at sunset. Long exposure shots from both Banyan's and Lyman's surf locations at sunset. A beautiful day and evening along the hwy on the Hualalai volcano 1801 flow. Sunrise over Hualalai on a very clear morning. Full moon over town.
Easily the most stunning day I had ever seen in the area since 1991. Not that it was just vog free, the sky was amazing as was the contrast and detail of everything you looked at.
My day started before sunrise on a friends boat. (Thanks Pat!) There were views of the fresh snow on Mauna Loa volcano and the south Kona coast. After some successful fishing we made our way along the coast into Kealakekua bay. We continued along the coast back to Keauhou bay. Nice photos of the Keauhou Sheraton resort with Hualalai volcanoes summit in the background. Keauhou bay at it's best. The Sheraton viewed from the Kona Country clubs Vista restaurant. Pahoehoe county park.
The snow fell heavily from one large and long lasting storm at the end of the year. I made my way up to the summit just before sunrise. It was what I'd call a muted sunrise due to the heavy layer of high altitude clouds. There was a heavy layer of clouds bringing a steady rain to the Hilo side of the island. The sun gave a sliver of color for a very brief amount of time between these layers of clouds. The high clouds helped even the lighting and also caused the lighting to change constantly. I had the mountain to my self until an early morning snowboarder made his way up to the summit. There are two sequence's of photos of the snowboarder making his way along the ridge and then down the bowl of soft snow back to the road below. After about 8 hours I made my way down the volcano and back home.
Links to 2008 galleries from the lava flow activity.
It was an exciting year with the new summit eruption and the new ocean entry at Waikupanaha. The large explosions at the ocean entry in July allowed me to capture images with the exploding lava along with large waterspouts.
| Volcano Waikupanaha July 19-20 2008 Volcano Waikupanaha July 4th 2008 Volcano July 2008 Royal Gardens HVNP Halemaumau Eruption 2008 Royal Gardens Lava flows Waikupanaha Ocean Entry Flow |
It's already been a busy start to the new year and I have a lot of catching up to do.
Thank you and Mahalo to everyone who purchased prints of my work from either the galleries or directly from me in 2008! It ended up being a great year! Be sure and visit Krazy About Kona in the Kona Inn shopping village on Ali'i drive (808) 329-4749 and Trudy's Island Arts in the Kona International Market in the old industrial (808) 329-7711.
The new issue of Big Island Travel & Lifestyle is out and it features many of my images and stories along with my cover shot.
Don't forget to select the maximum number of images viewed per page with in a gallery and to view all the pages. The slide show feature is great for viewing and you can stop it at anytime to view specific images just by clicking on them during the slide show.
Aloha,
Bryan Lowry
lavapix.com
Bryan Lowry
lavapix.com
