Molokai, Hawaii, photography workshop – Day 4

Driving the red dirt road to Kamakou preserve on Molokai, one could easily mistake the landscape for western Tanzania. Grassy plains surrounded by wind sculpted trees make my eye look for the giraffe that will never walk into my frame. Today we found ourselves bouncing down this road in spite of the rain that insists on clinging to the hills in a shroud of ever changing gray. It has been at least two years since I last wandered into the preserve and I am excited. Dewitt speaks often about beginning ones day with a full cup, and as the four wheel drive vehicle I am piloting crawls through the mud into the cloud bank, I feel my cup filling with excitement. The road is a canyon surrounded by cliffs of moss covered trees reaching to the sky. When the caravan of cars stops, I feel that tingle of excitement travel from my right index finger, up my arm and around my body. The light is gorgeous. A giant soft box in the sky. So much biodiversity I can’t find the words other than to quote what one workshop participant said — this is what eden must have been like. My cup overflows.

So now I sit in front of my computer staring at the digital representations of what I saw, and although I am happy with some of the frames, the intense joy I felt while photographing feels muted. The inner dialogue starts. My inner critic that had been locked away by the beauty in front of me at Kamakou preserve slips out of his cell. He is gearing up for a lengthy discourse on better use of foreground elements, but before he begins, another voice quiets him. It says Its OK! The prize is the moment, not the photograph. And it is right. How often I forget. The prize is the moment, not the photograph.

Some short videos and of course photos from the day below.

Click HERE to watch on an iPhone or iPad

Red dirt road to Kamakou Nature Preserve, Molokai, Hawaii

Trees and fog, Kamakou Nature Preserve, Molokai, Hawaii

Leaf and moss, Kamakou Nature Preserve, Molokai, Hawaii

Biodiversity, Kamakou Nature Preserve, Molokai, Hawaii

Tree branches sculpted by the wind, Kamakou Nature Preserve, Molokai, Hawaii

Comments

One Comment

Steve Bunderson wrote:

Way to go Jonathan. Thanks for the videos and pics. Wonderful HDR images and others. So much fun to visually experience the creative juices flowing from the HUI this April. Hope you get to Moomomi this year. It was good to see our friend Dewitt. What a great team you have there.

Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 12:29 pm | Permalink

The Nomadic Photographer