Category Archives: Photo Challenges

Well red

A red windsock at Upolu in Hawaii — The windsock at Upolu Airport with Maui in the background.

This month’s Sunday Stills Color Challenge is ‘Red.’ See more responses here. A variety of subjects for this one!

A red pencil sea urchin in Hawaii — A Red Pencil Urchin in the shallows off Kohala.

A portrait of a chicken in Hawaii — A Red Pencil Urchin in the shallows off Kohala.

That look

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Frosty.’ See more responses here.

Since there’s not a lot of frost on the ground around here, I thought I’d go with the frosty look I got when I pointed my camera at this green anole, which currently lives under the eaves.

A day on the tiles

I saw this mourning gecko on the lanai tiles of my neighbor’s now empty house. Mourning geckos are mostly nocturnal, but are sometimes seen during the day, though usually not in such an exposed location. This one is a female. I say that with some confidence because almost all mourning geckos are females. They reproduce by parthenogenesis, which is where an egg or sperm doesn’t have to combine with another egg or sperm for an embryo to develop.

Posted for Bushboy’s Last on the Card photo challenge. See more responses here.

Reaching for the sun

A tomato sprouts from the soil in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Seeking Light.’ See more responses here.

This seedling is coming up where some tomato seeds were planted, so it could be one of them or something else that’s volunteered there. We’ll find out in due course. Either way, the seedling is reaching up to the light to boost its growth.

Crossing the line

Late afternoon sun of the coast of Kohala, Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Silence.’ See more responses here.

The current eruption at Kilauea has been putting out a considerable amount of vog. This volcanic haze can make life difficult for people, causing respiratory and other medical complications. But it can also cause colorful skies.

I was driving home from work last week on a day when the vog was heavy and the sky glowed. There wasn’t much wind – another reason the vog has been hanging around – so the ocean was calm. I’d stopped to take photos once, but when I saw this little boat heading for this band of sunlight, I pulled over again.

I’d lucked into a quiet break in the traffic and was far enough from the coast that there was no sound from waves coming ashore or from the boat’s engine. I watched for a while until the boat crossed the glittering band, before returning to my car and heading home.

Turbines and clouds

Wind turbines under gray skies in Hawaii

This week’s Sunday Stills Monthly Color Challenge is ‘White and Gray.’ See more responses here. This photo of white-painted wind turbines under gray skies seemed to fit the bill.

My morning plunge

Morning coffee being made with a French press

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Plunge!’ See more responses here.

My morning plunge is not a dip in the water, but making coffee in a French press. Fresh ground coffee in the carafe, fill with hot water, and let it sit for four minutes. Then push the plunger down, pour the coffee, and add half and half. And another day gets underway!

Favorites from 2022

Surf crashes ashore on the North Kohala coast in Hawaii — January: High surf crashes ashore in North Kohala. (link)

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘Your 2022 Year-in-Review.’ See more responses here. Like last year, I’ve gone with a favorite photo from each month of 2021, with a caption and link to the post the photo first appeared in.