Penning Photography Daily

Good Morning Sunshine! The Earth says Hello!

Well worth the time to get up at 2AM and travel 2+ hours to get to see this, Nature’s beauty from above the clouds.

At 10,000 feet high, the air was thin, but our spirits were filled with wonder.

We woke up at 2AM to get to the top of Mount Haleakala before sunrise.

The things we do while on vacation. =)

The winding, twisty road, goes about 40 miles, but takes over 2 hours to navigate, there’s so many hairpin turns. Once in the National Park, the guardrails disappear too. We didn’t notice how scary that was until we came back down!

The temperature at the summit was 48F with a 25 mph wind – chilly. Hence, the blankets. We both work many layers of clothing and as a result were fairly warm except for our hands.

A fellow traveller, and there were about 100 of us up there by sunrise, took this in exchange for us doing them the same favor. Easy enough to do. That’s the shadow of the mountain behind us, covering West Maui.

When we arrived at the summit, the sky was magnificent. Not a cloud to be seen (we were above them!), and the galaxy spread for our delight.

Well worth the effort. Highly recommended travel treat.

Sunrise on top of Mt. Haleakela Maui, Hawaii from Matt Penning on Vimeo.

Karen took this one of the start of the sunrise over the volcanic crater at the top of Mauna Haleakela on Maui, Hawaii. September 29, 2008.

We awoke at 2AM for our 2 hour drive to the 10,000 foot peak. The stars were out as the sky was completely cloudless this morning. After about an hour, we started to see the horizon appear, with the beginning light of the new day’s sun. Sunrise was at 6:10AM.

This was taken about 10 minutes before the sun peeked above the clouds below us, and ultimately lit those clouds with a golden glow.

Worth the twisty, winding road up in the total darknes, the cold wind – it was 48 and gusting to 25 miles per hour up there – and the twisty, winding road with bunches of bicyclists speeding down the mountain to avoid. I’d do it again, as I know the light is different each time.

Even the 20 year veteran Park Rangers remarked at how clear it was today. They could see the Big Island – Hawaii, 100 miles away.

Remarkable!

Taken from a park in Kula, Hawaii.

The elevation is near 3700 feet, a bit more than one third the way up Mount Haleakela which peaks at 10,000 ft.

You can see the isthmus between the other mountain, Mount Kahalawai, with the peak of Pu’u Kukui.

In the center where the land narrows between the Pacific, is Kahului, where the main airport is located. To the left is Kehei then Wailea, where our hotel is located. Sugar cane fields fill the rest of the lowlands between the mountians.

This was a spectacular perspective, to be able to see all that land, having been driving and walking around like so many ants from this high up.

The temperature dropped 20 degrees from 90F in Kuhului to 70 in Kula.

Tomorrow, we get up at 2AM to make the pre-dawn trek to the top of Mount Haleakela. The temperature at 10,000 ft. should be about 40F. Brrrrr.

Karen took this one.

We’re in Kula, Maui, Hawaii.

Kula is part of the Upcountry region, very agricultrual. We saw sheep, cattle, horses and houses, clinging to the side of the dormant volcano.

I asked Karen to get into the photo tonight.

We were sitting out on the patio of our room, enjoying the setting sun. We grabbed cameras and ventured forth, just literally a few feet to get this photo.

We had taken bunches of other photos as the sun was setting. We were accompanied by many others, flashes going off like popcorn popping. Thankfully not many got in our photo frame.

After sun had set, the sky started it’s fire changing act. The rays of the sun, beyond the horizon were casting spectacular glowing onto the clouds.

Karen stepped into the frame for me, and I popped up my on-board flash, pumped up the power by +1EV and took this one frame. Just enough light to illuminate my bride, while leaving the rest of the sunset landscape as an ambient light delight.

She got me.

I was working on the photos and video from yesterday, and Karen was out exploring.

Karen came in and grabbed this one.

Another of me.

Both of us like the reflected head shot of me in the TV screen. Serendipitous goodness.