The Story
I could tell you more about why we were on the Big Island of Hawai'i for a family vacation but that's not the exciting bit. Have you ever been on a family trip and you realize that you're close to something cool and you just can't get it out of your head that if you don't make the sacrifice to go experience it you will have missed a potentially amazing opportunity? Well, that's what happened here.
While staying at a resort in Waikoloa Village I knew that we were staying at the base of Saddle Road, which traverses the heart of the island and passes through the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. On the backside of Saddle Road is the city of Hilo and to the south, Volcanoes National Park. After a bit of exploring maps and running some Google searches about trail runs, I found the Puna Coast Trail. I knew that I had to give it a go. However, that meant that I would have to wake up at ~3:30am so I could get to the trail at dawn and avoid a long hot run on black Pahoehoe lava. Determined, I told my loving, understanding, but still not-quite-ecstatic-that-I-was-leaving wife what I was planning to do.
As planned, I woke up in the wee hours of the morning, grabbed all of my gear for a longer trail run, and hopped in the rental car to head into the unknown. It's one of the best feelings in life, not knowing what to expect from something new, maybe being a bit anxious about it, but at the same time being very excited to jump into the experience. Driving up Saddle Road that early in the morning was an interesting experience. It's dark, like really dark, except for a few spots when you're close to the Pohakuloa Training Area. There's also wildlife to watch for, including donkeys, sheep, and goats. However, the reward at the top is amazing.
When I pulled up to the saddle I was not prepared for the night sky that was staring back at me. It was incredible, I could have been on a distant planet, untouched by humans. The Milky Way was looming over me in a way that almost felt heavy, it was soo clear and dominant in the night sky. As it turns out, I was looking in the direction of Volcanoes National Park and Mauna Kea, which is renowned for it's dark skies. As I stepped out of the car to absorb the heavens I was immediately struck by how cold it was up there! You don't think of Hawai'i being cold but at an elevation of 6,600 feet it gets cold! Even though I wasn't dressed for the temperatures, I knew that I had to get a photo of these stars.
Luckily, I had brought my trusty little Olympus OMD EM-5ii on the trip to Hawai'i. Being a micro four-thirds sensor camera it tends to lack a bit over the full-frame big boys. However, Olympus has great technology and lenses that easily compensate for the sensor size to create beautiful photos. One of pieces of tech in their cameras is the Live View for composing long exposure photos. This means that you can watch the photo develop and easily stop when the photo is as developed as you want it to be. This is a tremendously helpful feature when you're not sure how long the shutter time should be for a long exposure. There's no guessing, just watch! After I setup my tripod with trembling and numb hands I set the camera for a test exposure. To my astonishment the first photo came out amazing. It wasn't quite level but it gave me a really solid idea of what the photo could look like. More excitingly, I noticed that I had left on the orange parking lights and, while they were relatively unnoticeable to me, they washed the lava rock all around me in a warm orange/red glow! I decided to use this as an important element of the photo because of how alien it looked. After a few different test shots, I captured the one that you see below. I was immediately in love with the photo.
Satisfied with my effort, I was ready to get back into the car, blast the heat, and head on down to the coast. The drive into Hilo was enjoyable, riding on a high of what I just experienced. It was so unexpected and such and exciting. Driving into Volcanoes National Park and down to the Puna Coast trail was also amazing, but that's a story for another photo.
This photo will always remind me of the adventure I had that day, taking me back to the excitement of driving Saddle Road, the unexpected cold at the top, the clearest view of the stars I've ever had, and the ensuing adventure running along the coast of Volcanoes National Park. Just another example of why photography is so beautiful and so important.
