Other thoughts on and pics from Hawaii: February 23, 2016

Other things I've learned

Adding to this.

7) The word "Hawaiian" has a really specific meaning. I had read, before I left, that the only people who use that word are the indigenous people of Hawaii. Other people who are from Hawaii generally say they "live in Hawaii" or are "from Hawaii."

In accordance with all that, one tour guide I met said that he has "lived in Hawaii" his whole life, and that his family has "lived in Hawaii" for four generations. Interesting, (in my opinion, anyway).

8) Apparently I like beaches. Beaches are awesome. Surfing is awesome.

9) I had also read before I left, that there is no night life outside of Honolulu, and that things start early in the day and end early at night because of surfing culture: the best time to go for the waves is in the morning. Now, I don't know if that's true--just reporting what I read, but sure enough, in Haleiwa, a surf town on the North Shore of Oahu, a burger place had breakfast at 7 AM but started serving burgers at 10 AM! Another place had all-day lunch and all-day breakfast.

Plus, the local NBC affiliate, and presumably the other stations as well, had a surf forecast every morning, predicting the size of the waves around the island.

10) Vog is a thing. Like big cities get smog, Hawaii gets vog. Vog occurs when gases and ash from the active volcanoes on the Big Island combine with the air, etc. I'm told that it was really bad one recent summer when the trade winds weren't active and the vog just hung in the air. It bothers people and some find it hard to breathe...like smog.

Pics

I may or may not add more photos as I go along.... I'm down to my last few days of leave from work, so not sure what I'll be doing...

Click to enlarge.

Halona Blowhole, Oahu, Hawaii. February 4, 2016 at 9:50 AM HAST.

More after the jump...

Kauai: February 11, 2016

Kauai really is beautiful.

Just FYI, locals really do that hand thing with the pinky and thumb to greet each other, thank each other while driving, etc. Hopefully you know the hand thing.

First view of Kauai from the ship this morning. Cellphone pic.

Kona, Hawaii: February 10, 2016

Just FYI: I have had to stop watching news from the mainland and looking at weather forecasts because my brain can't handle the cognitive dissonance between the weather here and the calendar date.

Sorry for the finger in the frame. Kona. Hawaii
 Pic from cellphone.

I found a cupcake place in Kona!!!

Pineapple coconut banana cake, cream cheese icing with coconut and macadamia nuts. Pic from cellphone. Kona, Hawaii.

Hilo, the Big Island (aka the island of Hawaii): February 9, 2016; looking around, a tip re Molokai?

Toured the eastern part of the Big Island. I asked the tour guide, who has lived in Hawaii for 15 years, about Molokai. (More properly Moloka'i but whatever). He also has never been. He added "You almost have to be invited).

Later on the hike, he added, " When you are driving, make sure you do the speed limit. The cops out there know all the locals and won't easily ticket them, but they have no problem giving a ticket to a tourist."

Anyway, hiked through a volcanic crater.  There was steam coming from the earth!!

Also, a beautiful waterfalls.

Pics:

Volcanoes National Park. Did not hike this crater. No one is allowed. Pic from cellphone.

Akaka State Park. Cellphone pic.

Ottawa: January 16, 2016; trying to get the iconic shot

An iconic shot of Ottawa

Is there an iconic shot of Ottawa? While visiting other cities earlier on my sabbatical, I tried getting what would be considered definitive skyline shots of each of the cities. Does Ottawa have an equivalent?  Is it this?

(Click to enlarge)

Parliament in the middle, Gatineau to the right, the Fairmont Chateau Laurier on the left.
Using my panorama setting. January 16, 2016 at 7:45 AM.  f/4, 1/60 at ISO 400.  

Or is this all that's required?

Photo (and concept) of the Day: January 12, 2016; faces everywhere

"As soon as the infant can see, it recognizes faces, and we now know that skill is hardwired in our brains. Those infants who a million years ago were unable to recognize a face smiled back less, were less likely to win the hearts of their parents, and less likely to prosper. These days, nearly every infant is quick to identify a human face, and to respond with a goony grin."
-Sagan, Carl.  The Demon-Haunted World - Science as a Candle in the Dark, (New York:  Random House, 1995) at page 45.

Click to enlarge.

Ryerson University.  Monday January 11, 2016.

Photo (project) of the Day: January 11, 2016

22 days until I'm off to Hawaii.  Maybe it's because I'm going somewhere warm, but I kind of like this cold right now.  Having said that, I plan on staying inside all day Wednesday when it gets colder.

I came across a blog that suggested taking at least three photos of an object, to try different angles.  So one object, three angles.

Walking around today, near Ryerson University, I saw a bike rack.  I kind of liked one photo I took.  One I deleted but I've got the other so you can see what I was photographing.

Here's the bike rack.

I like the triangles lined up in a row.  Actually I kind of like this photo now.  I could probably crop it into something, I think.  Here's the photo I like.

Photo of the Day: January 10, 2016; macro around the condo

The temperature is dropping. I didn't do much but decided to pull out my camera and try some macro photography. I had to pull out my tripod to get this shot clear, given the low-ish light level.

Click to enlarge the photo.

I used my macro filters on this, all three, so the magnification level was +7
(the total of the +4, +2, +1). f/5.6, f/15 at ISO 200.  

Apropos of nothing, I have the Golden Globes on in the background.  Has all been forgiven in regards to Mel Gibson?

Photo of the Day: January 9, 2016

It's global warming warm today in Toronto!  Remember winter?  I hear it's cold out west, though....

Anyway, I haven't done much today other than a lot of napping.  That's a lie--I also walked around a lot.  It seemed everywhere I went, there were two or three people with serious cameras taking pictures.  Some art class must have a project due.  I saw two people photographing things around a construction site and I wished I had my camera with me.

Here's a photo from Tuesday.

Blue skies in Toronto.  The CN Tower and Ripley's Aquarium.  January 5, 2016 at
11:00 AM. f/18, 1/60 at ISO 100.

Photo(s) of the Day: January 8, 2015; Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

I took the Chinese Casino bus (not the official name, btw) to Niagara Falls today. There's a tour bus that leaves from various places in Toronto to the Fallsview Casino a few times each day.  It seems pitched to Chinese speaking (not sure if it's Cantonese or Mandarin or some other dialect) but everyone is obviously welcome. A bargain at $20 roundtrip, but only $7 if you have a Players Advantage Card from the Casino.

The other options, besides driving yourself, are VIA or GO Train, which do not drop off close to the Falls.

It was an easy and inexpensive way to travel. It would have been great but for the ride back and the guy sitting in the seat across the aisle who was "mumbling," loudly enough to himself for people a few rows around him to hear, about Lady Di, Jews and healthcare, or something. There was some grand conspiracy that he was telling an imaginary person beside him (?) and even though I couldn't stop listening to it, I couldn't follow it.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Winter at the Horseshoe Falls (I think it's the Horseshoe Falls).
January 8, 2016.

The weather was relatively warm for winter (around 1 or 2 degrees celsius) so there was melt, but still cool enough for some areas to be frozen.

Photo (lesson) of the Day: January 7, 2015; lens flare

Like J. J. Abrams, (I hear), I like lens flare.

I just read on how to do it.

1)  Raise the value of your f-stop (so the aperture is small).

2)  Aim directly at the source of light.

3)  Move camera around to see what angles create a lot of flare.

The photos below were taken Tuesday as I left Ripley's Aquarium.  They're not really great photos, since I was just seeing if I could create flare.  I learned pretty quickly that the amount of flare isn't immediately apparent in the small camera display.

Click to enlarge.

Outside Ripley's Aquarium, looking south.  Toronto. January 5, 2016 at 10:59 AM. f/22, 1/125 at ISO 100.

More after the jump.

Photo of the Day: January 6, 2015

Photo of the Day

Click to enlarge the photo.

Cold sunrise this morning.

Toronto, looking east. I darkened the exposure a bit to get the colours of the sky.
January 6, 2015 at 7:34 AM.  f/4, 1/50 s at ISO 100.  Maybe next time, if I'm not
feeling too lazy, I'll pull out my tripod and see if a smaller aperture but longer
exposure makes a difference.

Nothing like waking up, snapping some photos, then going back to bed.  I didn't do that, but there's always tomorrow....

Photo(s) of the Day: January 5, 2016; Ripley's Aquarium adventures...

I have to say, $33.88 for general admission at Ripley's Aquarium is waaaay too much.  However, before the school trips and families arrived, I had the place all to myself, except for staff, from 9 AM to around 10 AM.

I took the opportunity to experiment with the camera again.  Light levels were low, so I boosted the ISO levels.  I had to work without a tripod because tripods are not allowed at the Aquarium, as I expected. However, I used my macro filters which allowed me to get closer to the fish and still stay in focus.

Click to make photos bigger for inspection and more fun.

  Clownfish sure are cute.  f/5.6, 1/30 at ISO 1600.

More photos after the jump.

Photo of the Day: January 3, 2016

Photo of the Day

Click to enlarge.

It was cold, and cloudy.  

Yonge St, just south of College St, Toronto. January 2, 2016 at 4:59 PM.  f/3.5, 1/10 s at ISO 320.  

Photo of the Day: January 2, 2016; also, Aretha, Natural (Wo)man

Photo of the Day

A rare deserted street in downtown Toronto, just north of Dundas, facing south on Victoria St.
January 1, 2016 at 8:20.  f/3/5, 1/40 s at ISO 320.  

Photo of the Day: January 1, 2016; Happy Doomsday; end of the season

Happy 2016.

What I like about New Year's Eve.

The best thing about New Year's Eve?  The doom prophets come out.

[Click on photos to enlarge].

Sign in Yonge Dundas Square, Toronto.  New Year's Eve.

I like that the sign on the left includes witches on the list,
and even "liars" are going to hell.  Interesting. The guy with the
yellow sign on the right started turning away from me when he saw
me taking pictures.  Shouldn't he want to publicize his sign?  How can
I be saved if I can't see his sign?   Yonge Dundas Square, Toronto.  New Year's Eve.

Photos of the day, and Good bye to all that: December 31, 2015

Photos of the Day:  fake faces

There's some sort of theme, I think.

St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto.  November 30, 2015 at 2:45 PM.  f/5.6, 1/50 s at ISO 100.

St. Paul's Basilica Parish, Toronto.  December 3, 2015 at 7:17 AM.  f/5.6, 1.0s at ISO 100.

Romulus, Michigan.  December 15, 2015 at 8:27 AM.  f/4.5, 1/125 at ISO 200.

(Ugly) Photo of the Day: December 30, 2015;

Is it cold enough to make us long for summer?  Probably.  Maybe.  But you're probably thinking of that fake summer no one has, in which we all frolic at the beach, have picnics without mosquitos and everyone is buff and/or beautiful.

Well, then, here is a photo of fake looking flowers to go along with your longing for fake summer.

This photo is so bad, I won't even give details on how it was taken.
Suffice it to say, I'm pretty sure these colours aren't found in nature.
In fact, they were found at my local grocery store.  (Loblaws, for those
of you keeping score.... And why wouldn't you??)

Photo of the Day: December 29, 2015; snowy rainy day, Chia

Winter finally hit Toronto last night. Then it just got rainy, as the temperature warmed.

View from my window.  Manual focus, obviously.  It's raining in my heart....
Toronto.  December 29, 2015 at 7:40 AM, f/ 3.5, 1/6 s at ISO 200.

I'm starting to work on the list of stuff to get done, finally, now that I've been on leave for 1.5 months.  Here is something I've started to contemplate...

Photo(s) of the Day: December 28, 2015: reflections

I'm about one and a half months into my extended leave from work.  At this point, I'm kicking myself for not getting enough done.  I woke up at 8 AM today.  8 AM!  Feels really late.  I am a bum.

At this point, I might hit a Canadian city for a weekend trip in January.  The Canadian dollar is doing so badly against the American dollar, that it seems not worth it to head south right now.  I have my trip to Hawaii in February, so I think I can wait until then before heading to the US.

Anyway...  here are some photos from earlier in the year.