Standing Guard at Pu`uhanua O Honaunau

A wooden figure stands, watching the bay at Pu`uhanua O Honaunau National Historic Park, Kona, Hawaii.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Transmogrify

These fiddleheads remind me of an animal embryo.  I suppose in a way they aren’t that different; newly forming leaves that aren’t fully developed yet.

This seemed like an appropriate post for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Transmogrify.

New Land

Lava flows directly into the ocean at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii.  This is the newest land on earth as the island continues to expand.

If you click on the image you will see a larger version of it and can see more detail.

Mountain Stream, Dark Hollow Falls

The fixed, hard stone provides an ideal path for water to rush down the mountain.  The stone may seem immobile and rigid but in time it will be defeated by the steady pounding of the water and the quiet, patience of the moss.  For now they share this space and offer a beautiful, peaceful spot to sit and rest.

Ferns, I

This post was inspired by Brenda of A Meditative Journey with Saldage.  When I saw these ferns they reminded me of the type of image she frequently posts.  That being said, I’m sure she would have done a far better job with them than I did.

Canada Violet

Canada Violet

This Canada Violet was growing along a hiking trail in Shenandoah National Park when I was there last May.

Mountain Pool, Dark Hollow Falls

I love these mountain pools in Shenandoah National Park.  This one is downstream from Dark Hollow Falls but you can find scenes like this throughout the park.

Click on the image to see a larger version of the photograph.

Daisy Fleabane

Daisy Fleabane

This daisy fleabane was blooming along a hiking trail in Shenandoah National Park at the end of May.

Knowing “bane” loosely means something that is hated by or makes something’s existence more difficult, I thought fleabane was an interesting name for a wildflower so I looked it up.  Folklore has it these plants can be dried and used to keep fleas away.  That explains the name.

Dark Hollow Falls, 50mm Challenge

When my friend and I reached the bottom of Dark Hollow Falls I decide to challenge myself a little.  I switched to a 50mm prime lense, rather than the two zoom lenses I had been using all morning.  My challenge was to only shoot with the prime lense for the rest of our hike.

When we arrived at this spot I immediately found myself frustrated because I couldn’t frame the entire waterfall with a 50mm lense.  It was simply too big and we couldn’t get very far away from it.  Knowing my wide angle zoom would easily frame the scene only made the whole situation more annoying.  Sticking to my self imposed challenge I started looking for different perspectives and ended up with this.  I am absolutely certain I would not have taken this photo if I was using the lense I normally shoot with.

Sometimes forcing yourself to do things differently can lead to different ways of seeing things.

Blackberry Blossoms

Blackberry Blossoms

The bees in Shenandoah National Park were busy pollinating blackberry blossoms growing along the Dark Hollow Falls trail when I was last there.