Posts Tagged ‘Hyatt’

Sunday Photo: Me, My Son, and the Milky Way

Sunday, November 6th, 2011

Me, My Son, and the Milky Way

Taken by Kris Nelson on August 27th, 2011.

Location: Hyatt Regency Maui, Ka’anapali, West Maui.

Photo Story

Last weekend, our ‘ohana was visiting our 2nd favorite travel destination, Door County, Wisconsin, for our last vacation of the year. We were with my wife’s family – who are also huge Maui fans, by the way – and we spent one night that weekend shooting star trails in the state park.

As we talked, we began comparing the stargazing conditions we had that night in northeastern Wisconsin to those we’d seen in Maui on our many trips before. And that discussion brought me back to this photo here.

Family Star Portrait

You may have seen this week’s Sunday Photo if you were following along on our last trip journal entries. It was from the last Saturday night of our Maui trip this year, and I spoke about the significance of sitting under the stars with my son. Also, if you read that journal entry and saw this photo before, you’ll also notice this one is a much nicer, newly edited version. :)

How They Compare

Door County Star TrailsYou’d think it wouldn’t be a fair fight between Hawaii and the Midwest in terms of comparing stargazing conditions. Any you’re probably right, but it usually depends on a few factors.

For example, in more developed places like Ka’anapali or Kihei, there can be more surrounding light pollution from resorts and buildings that would damper your ideal gazing conditions. Being able to lay on a beach towel and listen to the ocean, however, can more than make up for that, though. ;)

There’s also the occasional vog or clouds off the mountains depending on which way the winds are blowing, too. Much of this can be averted, however, by getting up high. Like really high. As in, being up at the Hakeakala summit at night or camping out in the crater. On my bucket list, for sure.

So then, how about where we were last week in Wisconsin?

I’d have to say, from the time we’ve spent up there as well, the completely dark sky and surroundings we had last weekend seemed to be on the less frequent side. Not much of the area we stay at is very developed at all (as evidence of driving the unlit roads at 5:30am to the coast for the sunrise. It’s also a peninsula, with Green Bay to the west and Lake Michigan to the east. So, depending on the time of year, the weather patterns off either body of water can cloud up an otherwise clear sky in the matter of hours. That kinda closes your window of opportunity before it really opens wide enough.

More Maui Stargazing

Awhile back, I posted a Travel Traditions series at the blog, with one of my favorite entries being the stargazing post. While some of our trips have been busying than others, I always try to get out at least one night for a little shooting at night.

I had also started a Stars Over Hawaii group on Flickr for anyone that wanted to view more, or share their own photos the night sky above the Hawaiian islands.

And as always, if you wanted to Talk Story about your own stargazing experiences or tips while visiting Maui or the other islands, leave a comment below.

Mahalo, – Kris

The Early Bird…

Monday, September 14th, 2009

Trip Journal Entry for Sunday, September 13th, 2009.

An early start to our travel day, and 3 flights later returned us to the island that we love.

Things are going to get really, really busy once the Maui Photo Festival starts Wednesday night, so I thought I’d try to squeeze in a few journal entries before my free time goes out the window. Our travel day started earlier than most, with our first flight leaving O’Hare airport in Chicago at 7:30am. It was only the first of three flights for the day. Given the circumstances that made us wait until the last minute to book our flights, the 3 flight journey was better than not, but nothing something we’d volunteer for again.

The flights went off without a hitch, which was a welcomed change from last year. After about an hour getting our rental car, we made it to the Hyatt by around 5pm.

Aloha Hyatt
Regulars at the blog here now we’re big fans of the Sheraton over on Black Rock, so we knew it would be different coming back to Maui and staying at the opposite end of the beach. The Hyatt itself is a very lovely hotel, don’t get me wrong. We’re just not convinced yet, however, that it will overtake the one-and-only Sheraton in our hearts.

Because we booked our trip late, there weren’t any rooms available as part of the Maui Photo Festival rate. That didn’t turn out to be such a bad thing, however, since we were able take advantage of another one of the Hyatt’s current deals and score a deluxe ocean view room for only about $400 more for our week stay than festival rate. The deal included 2 nights free and breakfast for the week, so it turned out in our favor.

Our room is up on the 20th floor of the center building (aka Atrium Tower). Of course, I had to snap a shot before we headed out for the night.

View from Hyatt

The lighting wasn’t ideal, and I didn’t take the time to fuss around with it too much, but you’ll see more like this from the week, for sure. After unpacking, it was off to our arrival day tradition.

First Things, First
After a total of 17 hours from leaving home for the airport and getting settled at the hotel, it was time to eat. Since we were stopping at Safeway at the Lahaina Cannery Mall after dinner, we decided to return to Lulu’s for flatbread pizza. Okay, it was really for their malasadas, but don’t tell anyone.

We discovered Lulu’s last February and had enjoyed their malasadas for Fat Tuesday during Mardi Gras. In fact, it was around that time when my diet starting going to you know where. ;) In any case, Lulu’s might have just earned a spot in our arrival day tradition going forward.

After the yummy food, we hit Safeway and headed back to the hotel. After we parked, Cindy looked up and noticed the stars were out on a very clear summer night. Sure enough, right above us was the Milky Way, and my tired body started wondering if it could stay up for a few hours of nighttime shooting. It turns out I was able to get a few shots before the clouds rolled in, one of the better ones is below. These clear nights have been hit or miss for me on our trips in the past, so I try to take advantage of them whenever I can.

Milky Way over Maui

Once the clouds started rolling in, I turned my aim lower and grabbed a few shots of the nicely lit Hyatt grounds down below. From 20 floors up, and with a few tweaks, I got a few photos to be proud of.

Hyatt at Night

I’ve always been a big fan of Maui at night, and given that the night time temps will be warmer this week then during our trip back in February, you can be sure we’ll be down there enjoying a stroll or two this week.

All in all, a great first evening on the Valley Isle. Looking forward to a lot of fun on this bonus trip for us this year. Be sure to stay tuned.

Mahalo,
– Kris

Let Trip 5 Planning Begin

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

High above HawaiiIt’s now official, we’ve booked our airfare for our upcoming trip to Maui next month, and the planning can now begin.

Back So Soon?
It wasn’t exactly easy to squeeze in a second trip to Maui this year, but not soon after I found out last February about the Maui Photo Festival being organized for this September, I knew we had to find a way to make it there. After a summer of tightening our belts, and quite a bit of help from a second job, we’re counting down the days with less than 3 weeks to go.

The Timing
One of the big draws with the Maui Photo Festival was that they had a really great rate at the Hyatt Regency Maui, where the event is being held. Sure, there are still better deals to be found on Maui, but we’ve admired the Hyatt from afar on those long walks from the Sheraton, and have had friends that have stayed at the Hyatt with nothing but great things to say about it.

Something I overlooked initially was that the great deal being offered by the Hyatt was available 3 days before and 3 days after the festival, which is being held Sept. 16th-20th. Which was great, since flying out for just 5 days would have felt sorta like a drag.

So, we jumped on that option and extended this late summer vacation to 8 days, 7 nights. We’ll be leaving during our normal Sunday morning timeframe on the 13th, but flying American this time instead of United. Our red-eye back will be Sunday night the following week, giving us more than enough time to say Aloha to some friends before we go.

Time For Ourselves
With us arriving Sunday afternoon and the festival not officially starting until Thursday, we’ll have 3 full days to do whatever we’d like. That doesn’t seem like much at all compared to our normal 2 weeks, but it’s enough time to catch up on a couple of spots we missed in February. Here’s the working list right now:

Westin 015Cindy in Spa Heaven
So, what will Cindy be doing while I’m off doing workshops and hanging out of helicopters (more on that soon)? Well, the Hyatt has a really great spa that I’m sure she’ll want to visit. There is also the newly opened Black Rock Spa at our very favorite Sheraton Maui Resort that she just missed earlier this year. And, we can’t leave out the great folks at the Heavenly Spa at the Westin. Could she do all three spas in just one week?  I don’t know, we’ll have to ask her. :)

More to Come
With less than 3 weeks left, we don’t have that much time to get things scheduled and planned out. Never fear though, as all that activity planning will be shared right here on the blog. It should be fun.

That’s all for now. Be sure to stay tuned for all the latest.

Mahalo,
- Kris

Event: Maui Photo Festival – Sept. 16-20, 2009

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

I stumbled across this last weekend and was instantly interested.

Maui Photo Festival & Workshops – Sept. 16-20, 2009 – Hyatt Maui Regency, Ka’anapali
A photography workshop, lead by professional photographers, on one of the most beautiful islands in the world. Why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?  Well, these folks are aiming to be the ones to pull this off, the first of it’s kind and scale as far as I know.
Here’s a quick list of what’s planned for this event, and visit the website above for full program details:
  • Optional Early-bird/Golden Hour excursions with hands-on instruction from professional photographers
  • Morning keynote sessions 
  • Breakout sessions on three tracks: Novice, Advanced, and Digital Darkroom
  • Optional afternoon excursions, including helicopter tours, photo safaris, underwater shoots, and more. Full details of excurions are still in the works.
  • Outdoor evening cinema, with photos from the day’s sessions displayed on the big screen, as well as additional presentations from the pros
The Maui Photo Festival is being hosted at the Hyatt Regency Maui, and they’ve extended a great discounted festival rate. Again, see the site for details. Space for this event is limited to only 350 attendees, so spots may fill up pretty fast. To make early registration even more enticing, they’re offering a $100 discount off the festival fee if you register before March 31st.
Maybe We’ll See You There?
If we weren’t already leaving for Maui ourselves in 8 days, I would have signed up right then and there.  This event looks like it is going to be a blast, and once we get back from our trip this February, and we’re going through those “I don’t want to go home blues,” you can bet we’ll be crunching numbers and budgeting out this trip in September if spots are still available.
Be sure to check out the site for all the details, and Talk Story here if you have thoughts on this event or are thinking of attending yourself.
Mahalo.