HAWAI'IAN FLOWERS AND TREES

On our recent trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, I took some photos of both flowers and trees common to the island.  Here is some of what I got.

Hibiscus blossoms were abundant everywhere, especially at the resort where we stayed.  Here are a couple of the photos of those that I took.

These flowers are relatively difficult to capture in photography because they are relatively large (4 to 6 inches across) and are very "3-dimensional."  The consequence is that depth of field becomes an issue.  Unless the aperture is stopped way down, it is nearly impossible to keep the entire blossom in focus.  A greater depth of field also can bring background into play, creating problems with distractions.  It helped that the flower in the first photo was being backlit by the sun, allowing me to underexpose the background.

Another tropical flower that was plentiful was the anthurium.

I would describe these plants as ugly but interesting.  They also pose depth of field issues, but not as serious as those with the hibiscus, since it is easier to isolate the flowers from any background distractions.

Water lilies are not exactly exotic, but I did like the composition of the following image.  As my daughter said, "Aw, look, they are holding petals."

On the other hand, banana flowers are relatively exotic, at least to this Midwesterner.

Here is another common flower, the name for which I embarrassed to say I don't know, but the shot was a pleasant one.

As to trees, banyans were common and very different from anything in the Midwest.  Here is a photo of a very, very large banyan located in a city park in Hilo.

To give an idea of how massive this tree was, here is a shot of my bride standing in front of this tree's "trunk(s)."

Here is an example of a different variety of banyan (I think) that is much more "groomed."

And a closeup of the texture of the tree's trunk.

There were some wonderful umbrella-shaped trees in Hilo.  Unfortunately, I was not able to get a clear shot of any of them because of neighboring distracting elements.  I did take this shot where I could pose the branches against the featureless sky.

I liked the fractal quality of this black and white shot.

Finally, another black and white of a small gnarled dead tree on a knoll of volcanic debris.

John