Splashdance Despite having constantly challenged myself in the outdoors (hanggliding, marathoning, sailing, etc) I have never seen my silly life flash before my eyes until the day this photo was taken. I had seen a picture of Keneola Beach(otherwise known as Shipwreck Beach) that was taken by a professional nature photographer and knew I had to go to that spot. As luck would have it, our hotel in Kauai was situated near this beach. I could tell the pro had taken this shot at reef level, so I was bound and determined to get down into one of the series of small coves at sunrise, and was salivating more than a rabid raccoon at the possibilities. As you can tell the cliffs are pretty straight up and down and normally repelling something like this would be the safe thing to do. But I had no ropes, and thus not one to recognize my numerous limitations, I found a way down a cliff during daylight. Stormy Weather The next day at 5 a.m. in the dark, I found my way down the cliffs with a headlamp, carefully watching for high tide as the cove I was in would be obliterated then, Waves were routinely high in this area, so I watched carefully for ocean swells since I was standing in about a foot of water. Sunrise was just so-so (we were there during tropical depression), and storm clouds were looming over the inland mountains. I kept checking a rock I had picked out for judging the tide...and during a glance back, quite by surprise, I saw a HUGE storm front slamming in over the ocean where just minutes before it was clear...I started jamming my gear in my pack to get the heck out, and the front was just yards away, I could actually see it. My pack was now off my back and over my head, because I was suddenly in water that was swirling up to my armpits, one riptide away from being sharkbait! I had to scale those cliffs which were at least 200 yds from where I was, and I found myself suddenly in the midst of a torrent of rain. I felt like I was in a car wash and needed to scale the wall to get out. I made it out and dang, I thought that pro earned that shot, and anything I snapped fell a bit short. Later that day, when the weather cleared, I was playing golf with a friend and I saw a cove down the way from the course, that was much more accessible...sheez. That night, on the news was a warning to watch for the suddenly changing weather, as the ocean was often underestimated on the island, and many people died each year because of suddenly changing tides....geez, it was like the newscaster was my mother scolding me....I could hear him saying Donnaaaaaaaa, Donna Marie!!! But next a.m., there I was on the golf course walking through 200 yds of waist high bushes to get there (thank Goodness, there are no snakes in Hawaii!) and I thought, geez the pro still worked for this, as it was still not easy, but this was most definitely the right cove...why I felt so compulsed for this shot I don''t know, but by then it was a mission (or a death wish)! Cotton Candy Sunrise During sunrise I was taking pics on digital and film on 2 separate tripods near the reef, with a gorgeous sunrise (usually I only use one tripod...but the part to mount one of my cameras broke,thus I had my digital on a cheap tripod and my film camera on a better version). I was working with the digital camera, but as usual, had already taken around 30 shots of the gorgeous sunrise using velvia 50 (and then moved to the dig. camera leaving the film camera on the tripod), when in slow motion I saw the film camera and the tripod go down into the deep blue sea...I rescued it, and put the film in a dark bag, but as expected,it was not wash and wear, and was ruined; the camera rusted shut by the end of the day...tighter than a safety deposit box! I packed up at that point, as the mood was gone, despite the great lighting, and then I saw it...a relatively easy trail in the sand that went up to the top of the cliffs and about 1/2-1 mile later I was on the beach by my hotel...surely the pro had this figured out....DOH, another brain dead moment brought from me to you....sometimes I wonder if I have an IQ higher than algae, uggggghhhh! So I hung my head low, took a deep breath, and headed back to the room and looked at the book I saw the original shot in, and dang if that picture wasn't in a chapter illustrating the benefits of single spreading legs on a good tripod for stability....here it is again Donnaaaaaaa, Donna Marie! Geez, I deserved that scolding too. Moral of the story: If you have the IQ of algae, Be careful out there folks, as no picture is worth this amount of stupidity, unless, of course, the light is good (algae never learns).