Oahu Photo Adventuring: Makapuu Lookout
The Makapuu lookout is on Oahu’s south east side, just off of Kalanianaole Highway. It has stunning views overlooking the Makapuu Beach Park, the sea cliffs, Kaohikaipu Island, and Rabbit island (also known as Manana Island). The pros: Its easy to get to. You can drive or catch an uber. You park in the lot and everything is easily accessible. There are great spots to get those perfect scenic photos. The cons: can get busy with tourist. What’s a little adventure without an element of danger? You have to go over the the rock wall and the ground is uneven from there on. I’m pretty terrible at walking on rocks. I’m not built for long hikes, but with comfortable sneakers I was sure footed!
There is a saying on Hawaii, more specifically in my neck of the woods, Oahu called “Explore your backyard.” It even has its own #hashtag! Sometimes people come to me with creative and fun ideas and I just can’t help, but jump at the idea for adventure. Actually, adventuring is one of the main reasons why I wanted to be a photographer, the other being travel! I love Hawaii, but every so often I experience a type of wanderlust. I want to see all the cool things, feel inspired, and then…I want to shoot people. Hah! It’s a bad photographer joke, I know.
Back on track, recent clients wanted some fun portraits and sent me an email of a few places that were off the beaten path. They were places that I’ve been to before, but just needed an excuse to visit again. I wanted to do some recon to map out the areas with the perfect photo spots because that’s just what I do. Also, logistics are important! What time does should we start shooting? How far away is one spot from another? How long will it be until the sun goes down? How much flash power do I need to bring with me? Will there be rain? If it rains then is there a place to take cover? What happens/What do I do if my couple is late? Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but this is only a fraction of the things on my mind leading up to the day that we actually get shooting.
I asked my boyfriend if he wanted to go on a little adventure date with me and killed two birds with one stone! SCORE! We drove down to all the lookout spots on the east side of Oahu…All of them. Among my favorites were Makapuu Lookout and the Hanauma Ridge Hike. I will talk more about Hanauma in another post.Stay tuned!
