The rain forests on the island of Maui were something I was not prepared for. They give direct and immediate meaning to the phrase, ‘you can’t see the forest for the trees!’ The clutter and disarray was at once both beautiful and daunting. Finding detail everywhere made the seemingly easy job of composition almost impossible. The deeper I went into the forests, the more difficult it got. I set this task aside until the end of every shoot in hopes the answer would appear. I thought of Ansel Adams as he described his affinity for Southwestern landscapes that were naked and exposed rather than here where they were camouflaged everywhere. There was simply too much of everything. My answer was to step back! Starting at the base of this waterfall was fun but cluttered. Climbing to a vantage point above proved more productive but it felt sterile in the sense that it looked for all the world like every ad photo in the magazines I saw on the flight coming over.

Photographically, it presented big problems. In the gentle but constant breeze, I realized that all the surrounding foliage was moving and would be impossible to stop. Even if it were possible, it would look like a hand grenade had gone off! My answer was a great new tool from Singh-Ray. The 10-Stop Mor-Slo Neutral Density filter. Quick and easy to use, I took note of the existing shutter speed, placed the filter on the lens and added 10 stops of exposure time to my shutter setting… and fired! The light gathered during the 50-second exposure produced the glow. Note that NOTHING in this image is sharp!