On the big island of Hawaii, the local photographers call the Kohala Mountains the "cloud factory". They are a volcanic range on the island's northern side extending from Wiamea to Upolo Point. The range is made up primarily of an eroded dome and reaches a height of 5,480 feet.
This particular vantage point is on the western slopes of the range, which have thin soil and show signs of erosion from a lower vantage point. While not as lush as the eastern slopes, this location remains quite lush from the rain, which falls often.
My original destination was the coastline closer to Kailua/Kona, but the lack of clouds told me to head north to the cloud factory for sunset. This particular tree was pointed out to me by a local friend on the island, so it seemed to be a prime candidate for the evening shoot.
The tree is not far off the road, which runs across the mountain range, but unless you are paying close attention to the landscape, you will not see it. What has always caught my eye with this old soul is the twisted nature of the trunk, with the branches reaching out into the sky.
While on location, the clouds built up as usual and eventually reached the image's backdrop. While at times it turned into a foggy mist, causing the need for constant cleaning of the lens, when the actual show of the sunset began to show color, the cloud bank receded toward the ridge allowing the lush green pasture land to reveal itself in the foreground. The colors of the tropical sunset never disappoint me when I am on the island, and in this case, the range of colors from the blue sky to the warm clouds stand in contrast to the lush green undergrowth.
While this is not a classic tropical image, those of us who spend time on this island know that these gnarled trees appear in the landscape around the island.
After capturing this image, I turned around, and the top of Mauna Kea peeked out from above the clouds wrapped in the low clouds turning magenta. But that image is for another time.
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Dimitri Vasileiou • Editor