Fields Of Green

Maui is an island with an area of about 730 square miles.  Most of the inhabitable relatively flat parts that aren't on the coast are filled with a bunch of green fields.

Green Field #1

Green Field #2

Green Field #3

The first field is a pic of me standing in the middle of an enormous sprawling sugarcane field. Ever see the movie Labyrinth?


The second field actually occupies some pretty prime real estate overlooking the water.  Probably make more selling houses on that land than growing pineapples...

The third field is, well, pretty obvious.  There are 17 golf courses on Maui!

The Coolest Fence On Maui

We all know of white picket fences right?  Well, how about a fence made of surfboards?

How appropriate for a property on the North Shore of Maui.  Located on Kaupakalua Rd in Haiku near Hana Highway, this domicile's fence has been photographed many times for postcards and books.  There must be over a hundred boards here.  Luckily, he's in my neighborhood. :)

The Young And The Old

Up until this point, I have always shot photos in color.  I looked through quite a few portfolios and books of several photographers and organizations such as Annie Leibovitz, Magnum, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and National Geographic to gain some inspiration and hopefully, to learn something.  I'm not even in the same league as the afore-mentioned, but one thing I took away after studying the photos was a large portion of the images were in black and white, or monochrome.  After downloading my own b&w images to my Mac, I realized monochrome photos possess a different appeal.  B&W seems less distracting than color and forces the eyes to pay serious attention to lights and darks, not just "things" to fill up the frame.

Today, not only did I shoot in b&w, but I focused on the two ends of the human population - the young and the old.  The two age extremes are comparatively easier to shoot than those humans in the middle, who to me seem quite a bit more self-conscious, judgmental, and reactionary - especially when there is a camera around.

These were taken at the Maui Mall in Kahului:

Then again, as I pulled over on the side of the road this afternoon on the way home from work to snap this photo, I realized color definitely has its place too:

For comparison, here's a black and white shot:

Maui Landfill Revisited

For those of you following this blog, you will most likely remember my first post about the Central Maui Landfill.  Well, I went back today and to my utter astonishment, what looks like a giant fence/barrier is currently being assembled.  At least I hope it's a fence - to catch all those plastic bags.

The famous tree decorated with wind swept plastic bags.

La Perouse Archaeology

La Perouse Bay is probably best known for its snorkeling and for the opportunity to swim with Hawaiian Spinner dolphins in the early morning hours.  Did you also know that there also exist very old Hawaiian structures and archaeological ruins there?  Check it out, its quite neat.

The structures are made out of stacked lava rock, and the sites are scattered around the Bay.

The cool part is just getting to La Perouse.  In order to do this, you need to drive through the last known lava flow on Maui.  The access road is the same one you take to get to Makena from Kihei.  If you go early enough, you will see the sun rising against lava structures such as this.

Instead Of A Military Base

Unlike on Oahu, Kauai, or the Big Island of Hawaii, there are no military bases on Maui.  I love this fact - another aspect which makes Maui so special.  The closest thing we have to an actual base is this thing (which upon first eyeing it after its construction, I believed to be a new mall):

I then realized its isolated location in the center of Maui amidst sugarcane fields on Mokulele Highway between Kahului and Kihei.  If you are going to South Maui from the airport, you will pass this structure on your left.

Here stands the Pu'unene Armory of the Hawaii Army National Guard.  Frankly, I don't know anything about this place, and I can only imagine what's inside.  The first images that pop into my head are those of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando where  as Col. John Matrix, the Governator breaks into a pawn shop with a bulldozer and goes on an arsenal free-for-all shopping spree.  I'm especially fond of the 4 tube rocket launcher which Rae Dawn Chong fires backwards.  That and the fact that in the movie, Ah-nold can fire a full-size Uzi one handed.  :)


What's the point of an armory?  If Maui is invaded and its citizen soldiers/National Guard troops on island need massive firepower to repel an attack?  Kick Ass!

Smart Ass Cars

This is a Smart car.  Do any of you have one of these cars?  Do you know someone who has one or have you ever been inside one?

I saw this one in Lahaina, and I've seen a few others zipping around Maui.  So far, I've only seen women driving them.  My Italian roommate back in college once stated that Smart cars are perfect for women in Europe to use as vehicles for shopping.  For example, a lady can squeeze in and out of tight Parisian avenues and roundabouts while parking in all but the tiniest spots - like above.  Beware - chauvinism alert!  I'm not sure what I would think if I saw a fully grown straight man driving around in one of these.  Gianluca would rather put around in a Fiat Uno than subject himself to the endless ridicule of his peers, let alone random strangers in Milan.  Then again, he's Italian...  :)

These tyke mobiles are gas powered, get 40 mpg, go a maximum of 90 mph, and possess a laundry list of safety features.  Is this the perfect Maui mobile?

Fuel economy is very important for us here in Hawaii, with regular unleaded hovering currently around $4.00/gallon - among the highest in the States.  The high fuel prices are nothing compared to Europe of course, where Smart cars were born, but come on, this is the USA - home of giant SUV's like the Hummer and Excursion, and giant jacked-up Toyota trucks are found all over Maui.  Some of those trucks must get around 6 mpg at best, but they're fu*&ing cool!  God Bless America!  Ha!

You know, perhaps if you jacked up a Smart car with some Mickey Thompson knobby tires, painted on some yellow racing stripes, and added a couple of NOS canisters, then maybe, just maybe will Smart cars become more popular in Hawaii.  Kind of like the Toyota Scion, which in the its stock form is quite lame, as the Scion's appeal for the Hawaiian market lies in the virtually endless mods and customizations that can transform it from ho-hum to Oh Snap!

In the meantime, I'll just keep my dumb ass pick up truck.