Comments on: Hawaii Pics, a short travel note

By: matt g

matt g — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:46:25 +0000

Yeah, the d200 is huge. It’s still in Nikon’s DX series, so its not full-size. There’s a 1.5x crop factor on it, so its hard to get super-wide lenses if you want them. But that’s the case with all digital cams right now unless you spend HUGE money.
It’s a solidly-built camera. The body is some kind of magnesium, not plastic. The 18-200 lens we have feels solid as well. All of that is good, but when you’re hauling it up a mountain that you’re really pretty out-of-shape for, you start to reconsider that.
We brought along an extra battery, a UV filter, a polarizing filter, a sunflare thing (came with the lens, didn’t really use it), and a cheap monopod. The polarizer was really nice, and helped with a lot of those really nice blue skies and warm tones in some of the sunset photos… Also helped cut out glare from the water a lot in the shot of the turtle…
We used the monopod for the low-light shots. A tripod would be best, but they’re heavier, bulkier, and more expensive. Plus I didn’t have time research them or anything… Our lens had a Vibration reduction feature, which I think makes a difference, but low light and long shutter shots are a bit of a crapshoot. So we just took a bazillion photos and hoped that some of them at least would turn out good.

By: Dave S

Dave S — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 09:20:05 +0000

Nice, Nikon D200, one sexy beast.
My Nikon point and shoot has a big sensor but not 32mm big. I’m going to try and bust out a Nikon N60 Film camera for a trip to Florida. Hopefully I get equally sexy results, although not new age and digital.

By: Dave S

Dave S — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 09:14:45 +0000

Matt, your shots are super sweet. What camera do you have? The low light ones look extra awesome.
I’ll have to go investigate, I think you posted the camera on here a while back.

By: jen

jen — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:57:02 +0000

well we are going to go somewhere for our belated honeymoon, and i’d like to go to hawaii. it’s not TOO far from phoenix so the flight would me much better than one to the carribbean. anyway, i like beaches. i’d be happy just sipping a cold beverage and laying on the beach all day!

By: joel

joel — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:17:53 +0000

Recipe for you. Just put it in some tortillas… make some guacamole. Add some cilantro… delicious.

By: matty

matty — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:37:22 +0000

It wasn’t trail mix, it was dried mangos. That help?
Though I did eat a couple of cliff bars that day…

By: kate

kate — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:59:16 +0000

wait…was that matty in a wide-brimmed hat munching on trail mix?
i am having a lot of trouble processing that. a lot. of trouble. a lot.
my perception of you is shattered.

By: matty

matty — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 06:23:11 +0000

Jenny, are you going to hawaii?? It’s gorgeous. You should definitely make sure you hit up the Big Island if you can, because it’s completely different experience than something like Oahu. It really depends what kinds of things you like to do, but I would definitely hit up a coffee plantation around Kona, and check out Hilo. If you like astronomy you should head out to the Imiloa Astronomy Center, and then go to one of the stargazing events every night at the Manua Kea visitor’s center. Volcanoes National Park is an absolute MUST SEE. If you like fish at all, I’d rent a canoe and go snorkeling at Captain Cook – its freakin world-class. All you have to do is look down and see awesome stuff. That’s all big island junk….
Oahu is cool too. It has way better beaches than the big island. There’s pearl harbor. Waikiki is… Well, I was not a fan. You couldn’t pay me to stay there. I very much did not enjoy it. I did buy a ukelele there, and well, that was pretty awesome…
There’s a lot to do, and it really depends on your interests. Get a good guide book and check it out. We used Lonely Planet. We’re usually big fans of that series, but this one was not quite as good as usual. Still good, just not quite as much. If you wanna know anything specific, I’ll try to give you an answer.

By: jen

jen — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:03:50 +0000

your pics are amazing!!! where do you recommend going and not going?

By: holler

holler — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 23:45:53 +0000

awesome shots. i like the firework one. looks like some sorta magical being