around Mokapu Point

for a couple of months now.

I finally did this week.

The ocean has been a bit stormy

the past few weeks.

High winds, cloudy days,

passing rain showers…

I know what you are thinking!

Poor Thereasa!  Living in Hawaii!

Brings to mind Conan O'Brian's Sketch

with Triumph the Dog.

"Oh!  Poor Hawaii, a little cloud!"

Well, I happen to like the stormy seas.

They have a beauty and majesty of their own.

It boggles the mind with how strong the waves are

and all the different directions the water can move at once.

I am in awe.

This crab was being battered by wave after wave

and yet was never washed away!

Talk about strength!

On my way back to the car,

I saw this post

and it made me chuckle!

I had to share.

Isn't it amazing where trees and plants

choose to live?

This one has been here

for quite a while

judging by it's size!

Edited to add new versions of the above images

after playing with some different processing.

I like the images above,

but for me

they just did not "wow" me

and so I was a little disappointed in myself.

I kept coming back to them,

trying to figure out

just what they needed.

They needed to look like what I see

when I look at the scene

in real life.

These are MUCH closer

and I am much happier with them.

I hope you are, too.

of these cutie patooties!

This morning while waiting out the Tsunami Warning,

I let the girls outside to play

since I didn't know how long they'd be allowed to be out there

before having to possibly stay inside and safe.

Next thing I know, my eldest is running inside with a slug on a stick!

I told her to take it back outside but that I'd come take pictures of it

IF they would leave the poor thing alone!

Here he is with his entourage.

Anyone who lives on MCBH and in Hawaii knows these birds! 

I was out mowing the lawn (finally) yesterday afternoon

and, of course, these guys show up.

They like to pick off the bugs that are kicked up by the mower.

They are Cattle Egrets but we like to call them "Lawn Mower Birds."

I guess this guy didn't like me stalking him!

Talk about "ruffled feathers!"

I was so stoked to have caught this picture!

I just wish it had more pixels to be enjoyed large.  

This is cropped out of a 300mm image.

But, it's so nice for me to look at.

Don't forget that,

to find nature,

you don't have to look farther

than your own backyard!

I thought I'd concentrate more on some detail again this week.

These buds just begged for a texture treatment!

This Moss just fascinated me!

Something we don't see much in Hawaii

is long prarie-like grass.

and just for fun

my friends son taking a Polaroid 

of the girls

who are on vacation here on Oahu

with their Mom.

We played in the water, 

looked at outriggers, 

and watched the gorgeous sunset

in Waikiki.

I hope y'all had a wonderful time the rest of this week!

Ulupo Heiau

and what a wonderful experience it was!

The Heiau is a sacred site to the Hawaiian people.

It has been used an Agricultural Heiau

to honor the Gods and insure fertility of the crops of

Kalo, Sugar Cane, Sweet Potato, and Bananas.

Here you can see the Kalo Lo'i that have been recently re-cultivated

through the efforts of Hanaloa Helela (pictured below) and many students and schools.

In later times, this Heiau may have been used as a luakini heiau dedicated to success in war.  

This massive stone platform was built by the people

and stones were probably passed by hand from as far away as Kualoa (10 miles away!)

Structures such as an altar, thatched hale(meeting houses), and an oracle tower

were then built on top of the platform

The rocks used to be terraced but

in the early 1900's a Cattle Pen was built atop the heiau

and that probably hastened the collapse of those terraces.

Below, you can see the massive stone structure, the children playing in the a'wai

and the students working to build a new lo'i as it's being flooded.

I couldn't resist posting this of my daughter.

She is so drawn to the water wherever we go!

This is the poor little frog that the children were chasing around the grounds.

While walking around the grounds,

Mother Earth wanted to remind me that

she shows her love for us

everyday.

The offering we left in thanks to the 

Spirit of the Spring

after washing the mud off the kids' shoes.

If you visit Ulupo Heiau,

Please remember that it is a sacred site 

and show respect for the Aina and the Spirit of the Sacred Spring.

 Yes, I am changing my name from

At Last Photography

to

Thereasa Gwinn Photography! 

 I really wanted At Last to work for me,

but after watching my Google Alerts,

realized that there are way too many At Last Photography's out there. 

 No one else has my name with my spelling.

I now have

http://www.thereasagwinn.com 

pointing to this site.

Please bear with me while I make the adjustments to accommodate this change.

This week, with the adjustment of becoming a single parent again,

I've pulled a few of my old pictures out of my archives and re-processed them.

This image I actually never processed because I just didn't see it's beauty before.

 It amazes me how my eye changes with time.

This is one of absolute favourite images that I've ever taken.

 You can almost feel the wind blowing the sea spray through the surfer's hair.

Doesn't this remind you of the dancing flowers in Fantasia?

This orchid image has been one of my favourites since I took it 2 years ago.

 I ruined it with a horrible crop then.

 It's much better now!

This image sums up the way the whole 20 minute session went.

I was told to take a picture of this guy by both girls.  One thing you will notice if you ever visit the Hawaiian Islands, is that there are TONS of wild chickens everywhere.

And here is my attempt at capturing those gorgeous mountains covered by clouds. This is a stitch of 4 images.