Our final shooting day was another long one, up before sunrise and out till after sunset. We started the day on the north side of Kauaʻi on Lumahaʻi Beach. This is where they filmed the “nurses beach” for the movie South Pacific. There was an interesting cliff structure, and some lava rock thrusting out into the bay. It was a short walk down from where we parked to the beach. We got some nice shots of the models on the cliffs and some shots of waves breaking over the rocks as the sun rose. Finally we got a good dump of rain before we called it quits, a frequent theme of this trip.
After a brief rest at the house, we headed towards the center of the island for two more shoots. The first location was in the Makaleha area, following a stream up to where Aaron knew of a bamboo forest. However, the stream was flowing too strong for us to cross where we needed to, and storms had kind of messed up the location. We did do some shooting in a small confined area, and Aaron again set off some smoke bombs for effect, but we were so far away from civilization it wasn’t a worry. After coming back we headed to Hoʻopiʻi Falls. The path turned out to be very muddy and slippery, and like last year ended with a steep climb down to the base of the falls. By the time we got there, we had a brief time to shoot before we lost the light. We again came back on teh slippery path in the dark, but at least this year I remembered to put on plenty of bug spray so I didn’t get eaten alive. Like last year we had our final dinner at Aaron’s friend’s restaurant, and we came in all covered in mud.
All-in-all I’m glad I came, but I never really seemed to get fully engaged on this trip. Aaron does a lot to fill the days with as much good shooting as possible, but at times it seems like overload. It was always good to work with Anoush Anou and Merrique, and I think I did manage to get some interesting shots. And for sure, I did get to see some beautiful sights of Kauaʻi.