I visited Hawaii's garden island of Kauai for the first time last month. We planned a fun and relaxing family vacation that of course included plenty of shutter time in the early morning for me while the rest of the tribe slept. I took delivery on the new SMC DA 645 25mm f/4 lens for my Pentax 645D just a week before departing, so I was excited to try out the fully weather sealed glass on an island known for having the most rainfall on the planet. True to form, Kauai's weather included plenty of rain during our stay which helped me conclude that the gear could certainly withstand the elements a lot longer than I could.
So how does one shoot in inclement conditions? I can't say that I really figured that one out very well. Luckily the gear was fairly bullet proof, and my nifty North Face Gortex jacket did its job well, but the hard part was actually capturing images in the rain that would be worth sharing with you. We did get a number of breaks in the rain, but it often came when we had other family activities planned or during the harsh mid-day light that I don't find very inspiring. All this whining belies the fact that I'm really not that great a photographer - the best always seem to come home with the goods while I, on the other hand, come home with fancy excuses and fish tales (wink).
One shot I don't mind sharing is Taro Dawn Reflections. I found this spot exploring a back road near Hanalei Bay on the north side of the island. I hope the image conveys why I'm quite happy with the new lens. I'm a fairly ardent fan of HDR photography as this shot testifies. Five images were shot at various shutter speeds with the aperture set at f/16 and then processed using the Exposure Fusion feature of Photomatix Pro v4.0.2.
Joe Johnson Sr.
Camera Gear: Pentax 645D, SMC DA 645 25mm f/4 AL (IF) SDM AW Lens, Pentax internal circular polarizer
RRS Gear: TVC-23 tripod, TA-2-LC Leveling Base, PG-02 LLR Pano-Gimbal head, MPR-CL II rail
Exposure: Various shutter speeds @ f/16, ISO 400
