We were staying in a small boutique hotel in Amalfi overlooking the Mediterranean.  Each night, the hotel's owners prepared a "happy hour" snack plate and we were enjoying the evening's treat before heading out to dinner.  We happened to meet another couple and were visiting with them when the storm clouds rolled in.  I saw some lightning in the distance and had to excuse myself from the conversation.

We had a balcony that was bigger than the room itself.  I set up my tripod and hoped the rain stayed far enough away to get a shot.  In order to shoot the lightning without a special "lightning tripper" attachment, you need to have some good timing and luck.  I left the camera shutter open for each shot about 30 seconds.  This means that I had a 30 second window and hoped that lightning struck somewhere in that half of a minute.  Most of my shots ended up to be pretty...but no lightning.  I was shooting film back then so I had no idea how the shots looked.  It is so much easier now with a digital camera.

When I returned home and had a chance to develop the rolls I found this shot.  It was one of the last pictures I snapped...right before I had to take cover due to the rain storm hitting the balcony.

All beaches in Hawaii are public beaches.  Well, most all of them.  I do know of one on Kauai that is controlled by the government.  They have some missiles or something close by.  It is one beach that I don't really want to be on.

This particular beach is one of those public beaches of Maui.  It is called Polo Beach Park...thus the creative name of the photo.   We parked on the side of a road in a neighborhood.  This was a pretty upscale place and once we made it to the beach we knew why.  What a pretty chunk of sand.

I set up the tripod and started shooting.  Directly behind me was a fence connected to one of those nice homes near the water.  The gate opened up and out came the home owner to check out his view.  Wine glass in hand, he shared how he enjoyed the view I was capturing most every night.  I felt a little awkward...like I had intruded into his space.  He assured me that he enjoyed neighbors and made us feel at home.

Hawaii is one of my favorite places to go.  In fact, I just returned from the islands two days ago.  If you like sunsets, this is the place.  I have blogged before about my less than desirable thoughts about Oahu.  Don't get me wrong, the place is drop dead pretty.  I just don't want to fight traffic while on holiday.

This is another shot taken close to home in our community of The Woodlands, TX.  Back in the 70's, a couple of visionaries drew a picture on the back of a napkin that would one day turn into Lake Woodlands with homes, shops, office buildings, and entertainment lining the shore.  This bridge is the most picturesque entrance into our community. 

 

Ohhhh, the memories of Italy.  I really think this has been our favorite country to visit so far.  I have many photos from this trip hanging in my home.  On the third leg of the trip, we stayed on the Amalfi Coast.  Our hotel was a small boutique hotel with a cute couple that owned the place.  He was the cook and she was the face.  They were a great combination.

Our room had a balcony that was bigger than the room itself...and the room was not small.  I set up the camera and tripod so that I looked down the small, two lane road that hugged the coast.  We chose not to drive this road and instead hired a driver to get us to and from the hotel.  It was much more enjoyable looking at the water while hugging the corners rather than trying to maneuver blind corners and hills with a cliff next to you that dropped down to a rough ocean.

I knew this shot worked when I took it.  I had to use a filter to darken the sky so I could get some detail out of the road and buildings on the cliff.  Some would do this in Photoshop.  My iPhone now has a function that attempts to pull off this feat with fancy electronics.  I think the fun new tools are neat and all, but I still try to do as much editing in the camera instead of spending time sitting in front of a computer.  I would rather know how to take a great photo than take a good one and really know Photoshop well.

Afternoon Clouds

Without leaving my table, without standing up, without setting up a tripod and doing all of the prep work that typically goes into a photograph, I snapped several shots.  I really did not think I had anything special until I looked at the shot after returning home.  It was a moment in time that I would have missed if we did not stop for lunch.