There were two hurricanes that recently blew through the Pacific passing the Islands fairly close and bringing the gifts of radical amounts of rain. Schools were canceled and fun was indeed had. In fact on of the best days I can remember since being on the island was just laying listening to the howling rain and winds for hours. The sun was nowhere to be seen or felt only the cold downpour.
One night there was a decent amount of time between the waves of precipitation and mild lightning shows, so I decided to venture around town and take some photos, something that hadn’t been done for sometime. The Canon 7D had been somewhat put on the back burner and now that I think of it I’m really not even sure why. Perhaps it was a matter of convenience? The Panasonic Lumix that was being used was quick to pull out and shoot with. Always able to have on hand and wasn’t making it so obvious that I was shooting. Especially in video blog type situations. People get awkward really quickly.
Now, on this night shoot there wasn’t any specific destination of which was chosen to drive to. All that was done was simply park in downtown Hilo and walk around. Earlier I had been staring at a bedsheets that was hanging on a wall, specifically a spot that looked like a lighthouse. This brought to mind the small lighthouse that is just across the street from the shops of Hilo. Not being exactly sure if this would be a good subject for night photography, the curiosity took over and I was standing just below it. A few long exposures creating a panoramic and the excitement and forgotten fire of night photography was burning back inside my heart. Back on the mainland some of my night owl days were spent climbing cranes, pretending that my main occupation was a secret agent or spy and sometimes I still do. Tonight was one of those nights. A ladder bolted to the lighthouse’ belly side called my name and soon I was shimmying up the wall to grab hold of it. The soothing crashing of waves behind me with the occasional flash of lightning giving life to every concrete detail in front of my face made the scene that more of a action movie. At the top a bright green spot light points to the endless ocean, giving yield to all the ships coming toward land.
My tripod left below on the deck, the 7D is placed on a flat platform reading “USCG” (United States Coast Guard) and a few more long exposures are taken. The time came around 3 A.M. when my eyelids finally began to get heavy enough to call it a night. The town was empty minus the occasional straggling homeless person. Fading into the fold out mattress in my car, not but two minutes passed then the clouds burst open with every spare drop of rain they had to give. My view from sleeping.
Two hurricanes rolled through back to back, the storms brought torrential rain, to the point that the talk echoed around town about how they hadn’t experienced that type of rain here for sometime. All that and the light house still stood tall and shone its light for any ships at sea.
No matter the storm we should be strong and willing to shine our light. Like the city on a hill or lamp stand in the night. We stand tall and let the Lord shine through us to those lost ships at sea.
– ArrowAhead
