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April 1, 2011

Hawaii Day 7 - Black Sand Beach (Canon EOS 7D Takes a Pill)

Above: The fields just east of Na'alehu, Hawaii.

Today, we drove down the Kailua-Kona coast of the Big Island to Punaluʻu Beach (Black Sand Beach) to snorkel and check out the Honu (Green Sea turtles). Along the way, we stopped in Na'alehu for lunch at the Punalu'u Bake Shop, the "Southernmost Bakery in the U.S.A" .

I setup my big lens on the Gitzo tripod and turned my back. Next sound I heard was the camera falling over. I'm not clear why this happened, but it did fall over. Zero wind. Brand new Canon EOS 7D no longer functions. :(

Fortunately, if I've learned anything about Canon it's that one camera is good. Two is better. Three is better still. So, I had 3 camera frames on the trip. Now I have 2. Also, my 100-400mm lens isn't working right. Autofocus won't lock and allow the trigger to release. So, it's essentially a Manual focus only lens at this point. So, basically, 1 week in the field, and I'm down from 3 lenses and 3 frames to 2 lenses and 2 frames. Ouch.

Update: Just for clarification, this is not an April Fool's joke. Just a bad day in the field. But I've had bad days before and, if you're going to take expensive gear into the field, it's going to get broken. It's just the nature of the beast.

Above: The coast east of Na'alehu, Hawaii.

Above: Between Na'alehu and Punaluʻu Beach on the Big Island.

Above: Jennifer at Hawaii's Punalu'u Black Sand Beach. She's sitting on lava in this photo, but the black sand beach is visible in the background.

Above: I believe this is a Zebra Dove. Update: Confirmed as Zebra Dove.

Above: Yellow shrimp plant (Pachystachys lutea).

Above: One of Hawaii's lava fields near the southern end of the Big Island.

Above: One of Hawaii's lava fields near the southern end of the Big Island.

Above: Yellow Mandevilla (Mandevilla funiformis).

Above: 'Barbados Lily' or 'Fire Lily'. (Hippeastrum striatum). The genus Hippeastrum encompasses 75 species; referred to as Amaryllis. Most are bybrids from tropical South America. Family: Amaryllidaceae (Lily family).

Above: The Swiss-cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa).

Above: Cup of gold (Solandra maxima).

Above: Orange trumpet vine (Pyrostegia Ignea).

Above: Memorial to Captain James Cook, discoverer of the Sandwich Islands. Had his brains bashed out by the natives here at Kealakekua Bay on February 14, 1779.

Above: Lobster claw, False-bird-of-paradise (Heliconia rostrata).

Plants verified at Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk.


Posted by Rob Kiser on April 1, 2011 at 1:28 AM

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