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Lana’i from Maui

Taken from the grounds of the Sheraton Maui Resort in Ka’anapali at a scenic lookout point that is next to the Hale Moana building which has all the deluxe ocean front rooms.

My wife and I have been fortunate enough to spend the last few of our vacations in beautiful Maui, and we go all out, too. This photo was on the grounds of the Sheraton Maui Resort, our hotel of choice when visiting. We opt to pay extra for the deluxe ocean front rooms, which are in a separate building on the other side of Black Rock where most of the other rooms are.

The photo was taken near that building behind Black Rock, so most people that have walked past or through the Sheraton, or have even stayed in one of the main buildings there, might not normally see. There is a small walkway from the parking area and the elevators that leads to a lookout point where you can see the island of Lana’i in the distance with it’s telltale white puffy clouds hovering overhead. The reef area just below in the water is also where most of the snorkelers go when that disappear from behind Black Rock. We spent many a morning watching from our lanai (the Hawaiian term for balcony) as they swim and watch the green sea turtles among other fish and treasures.

The colors of this photo are in true Maui form. The bluest of blue skies, the luscious greenery, and just an overall vibrant feel to a place you would call paradise. I don’t recall exactly, but I believe this photo was either taken just before noon or maybe after lunch. This was one of the first photos I took when testing out a new circular polarizer for my DSLR, so I was able to dial in the colors as perfectly as we were seeing them with our own eyes.

When showing photos to friends and co-workers, this one is usually on the top of everyone’s list. In fact, earlier this year we were talking about how boring one of our office conference rooms was and decided to redecorate. A few of us took our favorite photos and had them enlarged to 20″ x 30″, and this was one of the ones I made. Now, after we left that office building, it is hanging beautifully on the wall in my home office. It has actually been the desktop wallpaper for one of my PCs for probably the last 2 years now.

Things to Note

As mentioned above, this view from the Sheraton is a little different from most people would see, since it is on the other side of Black Rock from where the beach is. If you look to the left of the reef in the water, that cliff is actually the back side of Black Rock in this photo.

There is a small, yellow object floating above the horizon just to the left of the clouds. That is the chute of a parasailer that was enjoying a thrilling ride on this perfect day. Cindy said she wanted to try that, but I wasn’t too sure about doing it myself.

Lastly, we liked this photo a lot after our first trip and decided to go back the following year. The tree there in the foreground on the right was actually moved! I think we have a photo from ‘07 without the tree, but I have to go back and find it to compare it with this one.