I spent eight days in Hawaii -- mostly for vacation and as a gift to my mother for her 60th birthday, but I did manage to pull the camera out a few times. I was mostly interested in sunrise and sunset, given that the Kilauea Volcano, on the nearby Big Island of Hawaii, was pushing plumes of ash into the atmosphere and the trade winds blowing to the west made for spectacular and colorful sunsets.

I also made the two-hour drive from Kapalua (where I was staying) to the top of Mt. Haleakala, which stands 10,023 feet in elevation. It's an amazing drive with an even more amazing view from the top. Watching the sunrise from above the clouds is not something everyone sees in their lifetime -- I've had the good fortune to do this three times now; twice on this trip and once on a Maui visit a few years ago. If you ever get a chance to go to Maui, do it...you won't regret it. (But dress warm, it's 30 degrees up there!)