Kaua'i is a hiker's paradise and a photographer's dream vacation. The tropical greenery and unspoiled scenery of Kaua'i have made it a favorite location for Hollywood films. A number of movies have been filmed in Kaua'i - from South Pacific in 1958, to Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, and all three Jurassic Park movies in 1993, 1997, and 2001 - just to name a few.

Rather than fly into busy Honolulu and catch a puddle jumper to Kaua'i, we decided to take advantage of United Airlines nonstop service from California. We flew from Toronto to Los Angeles, where we stayed for three days, and then on to Kaua'i for a week. I had plenty of time for photography (and Janet was very patient with me for this), so I've posted my favorite shots on this page.

On the first day, we hopped into the car with no real destination in mind... just to explore. We saw a sign pointing to Wailua Falls, so we decided, why not? If you watched the TV show Fantasy Island in the 1980s, you might recognize these falls from the opening sequence. (Boss! De plane! De plane!)

Afterward, we drove up to Kapa'a, one of the larger towns on the island and home to our favorite restaurant, The King and I Thai. The next two pictures are pretty typical of what the view from the road was like.

We made two trips up the magnificent Waimea Canyon. It rained the first time, but we liked it so much that we returned a couple of days later to see it in sunshine. The red dirt is really something. It's like being on Mars, only with a breathable atmosphere. The road winds along a mountain ridge for a distance of 19 miles from the coast, and there are many opportunities for fabulous hiking. Driving along the ridge and pulling off at the lookouts is also an easy way to see the rugged, roadless Na Pali Coast.

We took a wrong turn one afternoon and ended up on a muddy road leading to a rickety bridge over a stream. But what a view from the bridge! This is what I like most about Kaua'i. You don't need to have a specific destination in mind. You can just follow the road and enjoy the scenery wherever it takes you.

We were treated with a wonderful sunset in Nawiliwili, on the way back to the hotel.

When we weren't gallivanting about the island, Janet and I enjoyed the occasional game of chess back at the hotel. In the background, you can see the 25,000 square foot hotel swimming pool. To the left is Kana'apali Beach and the ocean. We stayed at the Kaua'i Marriott Resort, which we highly recommend.

We passed this magnificent koi-stocked pond and garden in the hotel on the way to the lobby!

These next few pictures show some of the specimens on display at the National Tropical Botanical Garden.

Just down the road from there is Spouting Horn, a natural feature caused when a wave from the ocean enter an underground tunnel at one end, and push the air and water out the other end.

One morning, we had breakfast at Kalihana, which was once a sugar plantation but is now a historical attraction with galleries featuring works by local artists. The gardens at Kalihana were beautiful.

There are many waterfalls on Kaua'i. Not to be missed is Opaeka'a Falls. The first picture below is of the falls itself. Then we decided to hike down to the falls. The trails were very muddy from rain that had fallen the day before. I slipped and fell a couple of times before coming to my senses and turning back. But not before making this picture in the middle of a stream on the way there. This is where the monopod came in handy.

Another waterfall that we visited was Secret Falls. This is what the locals call it, because it is too small to appear on any map and not near any other destination. We followed a small foot path for about a kilometre off the road and were convinced we were lost when we suddenly reached it. This picture is a 6 or 8 second long exposure.

The north shore of the island is home to the town of Hanalei, as well as large fields where taro is grown. Taro is a root vegetable grown in shallow water. It is vaguely similar to a sweet purple potato.

On the last day there, a few hours before we were to head to airport for our flight home, we realized that we had not yet visited Queen's Bath. The wild rushing water turns the coastline into what looks like an enormous Jacuzzi, and forms pools of water that become home to a variety of sea and plant life.

One of the things that we found odd was the sheer number of wild fowl inhabiting the island. Apparently, there was a hurricane in 1992 which destroyed a chicken farm and scattered chickens all over the island. The chickens multiplied from there and soon came to be found just about everywhere. I'm not sure whether to believe the story (it's difficult to imagine the chickens surviving being picked up by the wind), but we heard it from enough different people to lend it some credibility.

All images copyright © 2003 Sassan Sanei.

For the technically inclined, the equipment used was a combination of the following: Canon EOS Elan 35 mm film camera (with remote release and mirror lockup), an assortment of lenses (Sigma 14/3.5, Zenitar 16/2.8 fisheye, Canon 20/2.8, Canon 28/2.8, Canon 35/2, Arsat 35/2.8 shift, Canon 50/1.4, Sigma 90/2.8 macro, Canon 100/2, Canon 200/2.8, and Canon 2X teleconverter), Canon 540EZ flash, Manfrotto tripod with pan/tilt head or Manfrotto monopod with ball head, Canon or B+W or Hoya polarizing filter, Singh-Ray 2S-SS or 3S-HS graduated neutral density filter. (Unfortunately I did not take notes on exposure data or which specific equipment with which picture, but I remember most of it so feel free to email me if you have any questions about how a particular picture was made.) I used Fuji Velvia slide film for its high colour saturation and sharpness, then scanned the images at 2720 dpi (9.9 megapixel equivalent) using a Cano FS2720U film scanner. I adjusted local exposure and colour balance using Adobe PhotoShop or Corel Photo-Paint. I used the full resolution for prints, and scaled down to 500 x 333 for display on the web.