Random Stuff

Just a quick (ha!) post about random stuff. 

Let me begin with a sunset. 

I still don’t think the P900 captures sunsets as well as my D7000. I think at issue is the fact that I’m getting JPGs out of the camera and that means the camera processes the captured image for me. I mean, I tell it to leave most of it alone, but when it comes to rendering colors, it has to do something. I wish it would just give me the RAW file, but that’s neither here or there.

To be honest, high contrast images with strong light sources are difficult for any camera to handle. It’s just that with a RAW capture I have a better chance of rendering something closer to what I see. 

To be sure, it’s not as bad as my first few sunset photos where a strong magenta/red tint ruined the image. At least, these meet the expectation of what a sunset might look like. 

It’s also nice that I could watch the sun actually touch the horizon. Usually, the sun goes behind a band of clouds a few degrees up from the actual horizon. 

As usual, you can click on the individual photos for a larger version but I didn’t bother with a SmugMug gallery. 

This next photo is from a drive we took about a week-and-a-half ago . . . 

Those are the observatories atop Mauna Kea. The P900 certainly has the zoom to “bring them closer” but the rising heat messes up any clarity I might achieve. 

Truthfully, I don’t get much better from my regular rig. I took those photos from the car and I also liked a scene across the road from me . . . 

You can’t see it in the photo, but it was very windy . . . wait, I might have a video laying around somewhere. Ah, here it is . . . 

But, really, I had stopped because of this view. 

Like I said, I’ve gotten better, but this is close to the usual resolution on hot days (nearly every day). 

On the other hand, the wind was blowing such that Maui — specifically, Haleakala — was visible above the clouds. Usually, the Vog-induced haziness and heat and moisture hide Maui from view. The best view I got was while on the old section of Saddle Road.

From where I was, Haleakala is about 70 miles away, or for the metrically inclined, 112,654,080 Millimeters, give or take a few millimeters. I was leaning into the wind, so it might be a few millimeters closer. 

Trying to zoom in still get you the breakdown in quality due to atmospheric conditions, but at least it’s visible. I can count on one hand the times we’ve been able to see it, but then, it’s not like we’re always driving around. 

But when we do drive around, I’m always on the lookout for the goat on the hill against the sky. 

Did you notice the other goats? Me neither. It’s only after I processed the photos that I realized I was looking at a small herd.

On that same day, we went to the Waikoloa Shops, a small mall that has a local eatery with fish-n-chips that we like. They had some display boots set up and also entertainment for the tourists. 

That’s a tourist partaking in a quick hula tutorial . . . if only I had video . . . 

You can hear the explanation for the hand movements, namely depiction of trees and waves and mountains. 

The mall has interesting decorations . . . 

I’ve seen one owl while driving around (on Saddle road) and would like to photograph an actual bird in the wild. One of the many birds that so far have eluded digital capture. 

There are also murals depicting Hawaiʻian life prior to the coming of the white devils. 

Somewhere, I have the whole series of these murals . . . I’ll have to dig them up or recapture them. For now, I only snapped two murals. This next one has three (or four, I’m not sure) generations of Hawaiʻian women. I think it’s three . . . but it could be four.

I think the artist is pretty good considering the medium and the simplicity of the drawings. I say that because of the amount of life and character they put in the depiction of the faces, and especially the eyes.

It’s these kinds of depictions that want to make me draw. These seem like simple lines with a bit of shading and yet convey a complexity of information. I mean, I look at that, and I think I could draw something like that. Except, mine comes out as some sort of drunken ghouls convention . . . which, you know, could also be interesting to some.  

And that’s it for the photos . . . but I have a few more videos. 

That’s a bird picking at one of them fruits/seeds that look like popcorn balls. As usual, it was breezy, so the image jumps a bit. 

I take these movies to practice handholding the camera.  Here’s one of a gecko on the pool deck below us (we’re on the third floor).

Notice how difficult it is to hold the camera steady when zoomed at the maximum. The balance of weight makes it difficult to control and thus maintain the object in the frame. Still, not bad. 

Here’s one more video of my favorite sponge. You heard right. We don’t replace these that often because they last a long time, and I finally got to film one (camera on a tripod).

That’s it. This post has ended . . . except for the stuff below.

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