Hawaii: Tropical sunset on the Big Island

A collection of sunset photos taken at various locations on my island home - the Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island. Some of the photos were taken in Puna district, along the wild and scenic Red Road and near Kalapana black sand beach. Others were on the west side of the island, shot from the mauka (mountain side) above Kona town and at Waialea Bay on the Kohala coast. Each photo captures the sunset in its magnificent yet fleeting moment at the end of each day in tropical paradise.

Clouds make the most spectacular - and most unique - sunset photo! I love the dramatic effects of the setting sun on the cloud formations. The more clouds the better, especially when there are dark stormy clouds rolling in from the Pacific.

No tropical sunset photo is without the classic coconut palm silhouette! To capture a perfect sunset photo I have to work fast with my camera because the light changes every second. And the sun goes down very quickly! One moment it’s hovering so gloriously above the ocean horizon, next it’s gone!

This photo was taken in my neighborhood. The setting sun was almost behind the mountain but it still lit up the cloud (and the cloud’s reflection on the ocean) with such vivid pink and orange colors. A half moon appeared high above in the tranquil early evening sky.

I love the pink glow on the clouds in the three photos above! The color became very intense for one split second and then faded away almost immediately. Just as with us humans, the life of a sunset is short and everything can change quickly.

If you look carefully there’s a sliver of moon on the dark sky above the sunset. This is my favorite photo in the collection. I wanted to capture the tiny moon and waited and waited for the sky to get darker and then held my breath (didn’t have the tripod with me!) to take the shot at the right moment. Peace and serenity are the two words I think about whenever I look at this photo.

This fiery sunset was taken in Kalapana where at the end of the road there’s a short trail that goes to an awesome local black sand beach! In 1990, a massive lava flow from Kilauea volcano completely destroyed and buried the original famous Kaimu black sand beach (and the old Kalapana village) under 60 feet of lava. Some twenty years later, a young beach emerged as the result of waves crashing relentlessly against the rocky shoreline, breaking large chunks of lava into smaller and smaller grains of sand over time. Just another amazing story of rebirth in nature that gives us hope and inspiration!

This hub is dedicated to Puna Keli’iho’omalu - acclaimed musician, gifted singer, beautiful dancer, gentle soul, loving friend, kind neighbor - who left us too soon and too sudden on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012. He was 44. Aloha Puna! The Kalapana community will miss you very much.

All photos were taken by the author with a SamsungPL120 DualView 14.2MP Digital Camera and SamsungDigimax 301 3.2MP Digital Camera.

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Copyright © 2012 Viet Doan (punacoast)