Description
found this location on Google Maps while looking for a good sunrise view of Honolulu and Waikiki. The spot was Magic Island at Ala Moana Beach Park, a small peninsula that reaches out into the water and gives a clean view back toward the city, the harbor, and Diamond Head. I had a flight to American Samoa later that day, but with a free morning available, we took an Uber over before sunrise and walked out in the dark to find the best composition.
I expected the park to be quiet, but even before dawn there were already people jogging and walking along the paths. What surprised me even more were the feral cats. There may have been twenty cats for every person we saw that morning. After walking around for a bit, we found a strong viewpoint with a bench nearby, which almost felt like cheating. I set up my camera, framed the skyline and Diamond Head, and photographed the scene from early blue hour until the sun was well above the horizon.
This final image is a time-blended photograph. I used the city lights from the earlier part of the morning, when the buildings and harbor still had that pre-dawn glow, and blended them with the warmer sky and clouds from later in the sunrise. The result captures the feeling of that morning better than a single frame could: the quiet water, the waking city, the soft tropical light, and Diamond Head sitting calmly in the distance.
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