Morning Sky in Rural Hawaii

Sky Watch Friday

Morning sky

Location: Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii

Never go out for an early morning walk without your camera.  If you do, you'll surely see something worth photographing, and you will have to run back to the house for your camera, just as I had to do a few days ago.  Fortunately I had only walked about 200 meters down the road from my house when I saw this scene.

This was the sky I saw a little past 7 AM that day.  The sun had just cleared the top of Mauna Kea -- the mountain in the far left of this photo -- and was shining brightly into the clouds as if trying to melt them.   Indeed, the clouds overhead were starting to dissipate without giving us any rain again!!  We really, really need rain in my area.  If you don't believe me, look at the color of the grass in the field in the foreground.

In the center of the photo is Mauna Loa, the second highest mountain in Hawaii.  It was partly obscured that morning by a layer of "vog" that had drifted over from Kilauea, a volcano that is erupting vigorously at present.  "Vog" is what we call the haze produced from volcanic emissions here in Hawaii. (Kilauea is not visible in this photo.)

The mountain on the right hand side of the photo -- the one trying to hide behind the coconut trees -- is called Hualalai.   Later in the day, Hualalai became completely obscured by the vog, but at this point in the morning, the sky above it was clear and blue.

To see more SkyWatch images click here, or click the SkyWatch button at the top of this post.

33 comments:

Baruch said...

This is such a beautiful picture. I love the way you are drawn to the horizon

Anonymous said...

Oh Wow! That's sure worth running back for! :)
Cheers, Klaus

Pearl Maple said...

Wow, what a wonderul photo for sky watch friday. Thanks for sharing with us all.

Becky said...

Gorgeous photo Bobbie. I looks like it could rain, but from what you wrote it was only teasing you.

Indrani said...

Wow Shot!
I am glad you ran back.

Cathy said...

What a beautiful photo.

chrome3d said...

That´s right, never leave the house without a camera because it´s always needed sooner or later. Clouds look great and the fog in the ground adds a lot.

Anonymous said...

So beautiful! Lovely! :)

Suzanne said...

Wow that is a beautiful sky and I love the composition.
Thank you for sharing.
Happy SWF.

Carletta said...

If it weren't for the palm trees I would have sworn it was the prairie.
Beautiful sky!!!

Anonymous said...

This is a lovely photo, well worth enlarging. It's amazing to me that Hawaii (I've never been!) is browner than Seattle. You should see our lawns in the summer, they are quite brown. But now the emerald color is back. Thanks for visiting my Pike's Place SWF shot.

Unknown said...

Fabulous composition and the sky is amazing with beautiful cloud pattern

Tootie said...

Bobbie when I enlarged the photo, it looked like a beautiful painting. :-)

Michele said...

Gosh... impressive. I am so glad you ran back... WOW!! =)

~Michele~
Mountain Retreat- Canada

bobbie said...

That "vog" fascinates me.
This is a lovely photo.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Bobbie: I always enjoy seeing the skies from the islands.

Anonymous said...

That's a fantastic shot. So beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Dramatic white fluffy clouds scattered everywhere :)
Beautiful!

Dewdrop said...

VOG?! Awesome! Had never heard of it! I know what you mean about leaving without a camera... I do that many mornings while I am waiting on Mini-Dew's bus. Great shot!

The Good Life in Virginia said...

beautiful shot and even more beautiful when you enlarge it and see the mist along the side of the mountains.
thanks for sharing...
erin

Brad Myers said...

A great photo for sky watch Friday, the clouds are fantastic.

Louise said...

How beautiful. And the "vog" adds interest to the scene!

Jane Hards Photography said...

Such an open clear sky.

soulbrush said...

whew aren't clouds just amazing?

Quiet Paths said...

We here in MT do not have the monopoly on Big sky. Beautiful, sweeping shot.

Jim said...

Hi Bobbie, Hawaii (the Big Island) is so pretty and not nearly as commercialized as the others we visited. We went right past your place, I really like Mauna Kea. Thank you for this picture of the three mountains.
I was still running the time we visited, my morning runs (2-3 or + miles) for a week were along the foothill road of Mauna Kea. The atmosphere did not bother me then, it might now.
Happy SkyWatching, I have the foggy morning view from my back porch on today.
..

Anonymous said...

Wow! That's beautiful, brown grass and all. The mountains frame the distance so nicely.

Hope said...

Such a beautiful photo!

Kay said...

Love all your photos! I'm just amazed at all the gorgeous photos you're getting in Hawaii. We keep getting your vog over here on Oahu. Sigh... If it gets this bad over here, I wonder what it must be like for you.

oximoron said...

All your photos are beautiful. I like those.

Anonymous said...

I'm still playing catch up with everyone's posts. This is absolutely beautiful! Anyone who doesn't expand this for a larger view is really missing something.

It's hard to imagine parts of Hawaii that need rain but I know the feeling here in Southern Cal.
:-(

BNS said...

Thanks for visiting, everyone.

@ Quiet Paths - Funny you should mention Montana. Years ago we decided that this wide open area of the Big Island was "Montana with an ocean." ;-}

@ Jim - The vog was not much of a problem during the time you were here. It became worse over the past year since Kilauea began a much more vigorous eruption phase, and a new vent opened at the summit, pouring out tons and tons of emissions, day after day.

@ Kay - Sadly, the vog has been really awful here of late. And you are right: when it's voggie all the way over on Oahu where you are, you can bet we're in bad shape here on the Big Island.

@ 2Sweet - You and I have been following each other's rain-needy posts for months. We finally did get some rain here yesterday, but it still wasn't enough.

Bobbie

Jinghui said...

It's so beautiful out there in Hawaii ...... !!!

Amazing ...... Would love to go there 1 day !

JH
http://www.photojournalist-tgh.tv