This is photo was taken by Kevin Ford.

Kevin photographs people.

He’s an up-and-coming photographer with talent.

I know Kevin from the rock climbing gym here in Hawaii. Over the past few months Kevin has been building his photography portfolio. Much of it involved shooting photos of our rock climbing friends in Hawaii. Kevin doesn’t only shoot rock climbers though. His passion is photographing people in all types of environments. Kevin just launched his website KevinFPhotography.com and you can see his breadth of work there.

In this post, it’s my privilege to share a selection of Kevin Ford’s photos with you.

See more »

We hiked along a dry stream bed through Makaua Valley in Kaaawa.

At the end, a trickling waterfall chute.

Then the rains came and the trickle turned into this.

And on our hike back, that stream bed was far from dry.

There are many waterfalls on Oahu that only flow during heavy rain. Makaua Falls is one of them. When we heard a storm was approaching the East side of Oahu, Kaleo (Island Trails) suggested we hike to the falls. I had never heard of Makaua Falls but when I looked it up I saw some photos of it on Josh’s 808 Goonies blog. I could see that when flowing, this waterfall is huge and I was stoked to check it out.

Please note though that bad things can happen when hiking through valleys like this. Especially in the rain. So, here’s my disclaimer…

DISCLAIMER: This blog post is for entertainment purposes only. It is extremely dangerous to go searching for waterfalls in the rain. You can easily die in this valley. The valley is narrow and you can be swept away in a flash flood. Also, rocks are constantly falling from up above. Even a rock as small as a golf ball can injure or kill you if it’s falling from 200 feet above. Do not attempt what you see in these pictures.

See more »

No rain, no rainbows.

No rain, no waterfalls.

We got some torrential rain last week in Hawaii. When it rains this hard, hundreds of waterfalls appear across our mountain ranges. One well known way to see this incredible sight is to drive the H3 highway. On the windward (East) side of the tunnel, you can see this view.

It was absolutely pouring and we happened to be driving up the H3 last weekend. For the waterfalls to be flowing this hard, it has to be dumping. And, since these waterfalls are simply drainage chutes, when the rain is gone, they dry up pretty fast. But, if you get lucky and catch it at the right moment, you can be treated to some majestic views.

And of course, if you are the driver, please be safe and responsible. There are other places to catch this view. You don’t have to be on the highway.