From the Ocean.

I'm left in awe. 

Hows that? Snorkel trips on Maui.. wide open ocean, and your work place is a boat. Some days we see nature just being natural, actually, everyday we see that. Today was another dolphin day. Yesterday we saw all three types of dolphins here in the Islands. We saw Spinners, Bottle Nose, and Spotted dolphins. Today we saw spinner and spotted. The photo above is a large pod of spotted dolphins either being playful with the boat or engaged in feeding. I think they were feeding because there were a lot of birds around... Who cares, the amazing part was looking up to see a school of a few hundred dolphins start launching into the air! Discovery channel has nothing on this. That is real life happening right in front of our eyes, epic. 

and of course a Honu. :) 

never get sick of these guys. Its as cool seeing them today as it was seeing my very first one. 

thanks for checking in. 

-nh

A few waves.

Morning time on Maui. 

:) 

Looking towards the Island of Lana'I. 

lil nugget. 

A lot of waves, but too many people.. 

So, check out a spot that few can handle. 

Peahi on a medium sized day. 

I didn't see anyone drop into the waves this last saturday, but these guys were out there looking at it. 

I saw the surfer consider paddling into a few but he let them all pass. At that size I'd let them pass also. 

Spending time with the babe. 

thanks for checkin the blog. 

-nh

At Work...

Self Portrait. 

Hahah. Oh man... how would you feel about being chased around all day long by a guy who looks like me? I feel like I'm somewhere between Irish and Surfer, just got lost in that transition somewhere. 

So! My New JOB!!! Kinda a big deal.. :) 

For the past few days I have been taking photos of folks going out on snorkel trips with the pacific whale foundation. My goal is to capture those priceless moments and send them home with images they would never be able to capture themselves, portraits underwater. It's been such a challenge for me to begin figuring this one out... I have the privilege of creating the program for the foundation so it's kinda up to me on how these things go. Crazy huh? I'm poor at business.. I just think everyone should go home with a million photos for facebook. Anyways, It has been one of the biggest challenges of my life but I am loving every minute of it. 

Here are a few images that I shot today while in the water with the passengers. 

I sometimes wonder how many people will ever get this view. 40ft under the surface really isn't that deep considering that people can dive 300ft + under the surface. But, its still quite a challenge and I don't see many people getting these views, so i thought i'd share. 

Taco Blast! 

This Octopus didn't want his photos taken so he blasted me a good one and dipped out of there. His techniques worked too! this was the last any of us saw of him. 

I'm pretty sure this is the same eal I've been shooting photos of for the past few days. He's not to scared to go swimming around in the day. 

And lastly.. I didn't see a honu today but I did get to see this spotted eagle ray. 

He was just swimming out of there... going to some place I couldn't follow. One shot was good enough for me. 

I love my new job!! such a blessing. 

I look forward to the next day I work. 

thanks for checkin in!! 

-nh

Some shots from work... :)

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty neat little gallery from today and yesterday.

I've been working on a new project with the Pacific Whale Foundation to start making on deck and underwater photography available to the passengers. Its been a lot of work and totally confusing but I think we will all get the hang of it, and of course, it'll be the sweetest job ever. Shooting photos on Maui!! Ok!

 

Amped.

 

thanks for checkin in!!

 

-nh

Surfing Honolua Bay with Coconut Willie.

First glimpse wasn't too bad.. As soon as I got there I was itching to shoot and see more. 

Willie Hunt aka 'coconut willie'. 

He took me out to show me the bay and to hopefully score a few photos for him. 

this was one of the better sets I saw go through, there were only two or three waves that had this size. 

Lucky to be on one. 

Willie. 

Willie's little bro. 

the one that escaped. 

few waves went unridden.. i don't know how this one crept through untouched. 

pounding of the day! 

My favorite angle from the day. 

Willie probably scored a shot or two from the photog in the water. 

Jealous! and working on fixing that problem. :)

...and what a hike out. 

Good day out there. So amazing to watch that surf sesh. 

Thanks Willie for showing me around. 

-nh

Beauty.

Honolua Bay Today.

Good swell from this morning. I have a lot of images to go over and share.. I'll post more later. 

till then, 

-nh

North Swell Strikes!

from Ho'okipa this afternoon.. some large north swell is beginning to fill in!! :D 

Maui is going off! 

it'll be an early start for me tomorrow morning as I go to visit a few of the most famous surf breaks in the world. At least to of the top 10 breaks are within my reach tomorrow.. I hope to get some good work done. 

thanks for checkin in and make sure to check back and see if I get to experience my first xxl swell in the Hawaiian islands. 

-nh

Sweeet.

Swell Cast.

Looks like things are going to get real fun here for a bit! 

whoohoo!! 

A good use of a photo.

check out the site. 

Interior Plain Project. 

Porter In Mex.

MexicoShort from surfsounds1 on Vimeo.

South Swell.

Swell at a well known, but tucked away surf spot on the south side of Maui. 

We got lucky and experienced it with very few people out.. here's the shots from our last south swell. 

Jacob Randall relaxing on a nice left. 

there were a couple locals out who were ripping hard!

 I didn't get their names.. I just know that I wish I could surf like they can. 

big left. 

Goats are pretty common here on Maui. They aren't very shy either... If you ever brought a packed lunch I suspect that it and your backpack would be mowed down before you came back in to the beach. 

scenery shot. 

I love the water here on maui. It's pretty epic to be out surfing diving under waves and seeing clear through them. Pretty neat. 

thanks for checkin in. 

-nh