Brendon Purdy | Photography | Blog
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2010 Calendar’s
Full sized 20" x 24" poster calendar are now available! Done with a metallic sheen they really pop off the wall for family or friends. This one's a little sample of Amelia and parents out in Ottawa.
Posted on Jan 04, 2010 - 07:02 PM
The Season
Posted on Dec 30, 2009 - 04:53 PM
Maui in 3.5 days
Hawaii had never really been on my "list" to go to. I'd always thought it would be like Cancun or Cabo San Lucas where the Mexican culture has pretty much been eradicated leaving you with an exotic type of disneyland. But when a friend of mine Sarah Wells who works for Westjet gave me a "buddypass" and the only option really was Maui, it was a clear and exciting time to test that resolve. And how wrong I was. Maui was mind blowing. Full of contrast and every bit of it beautiful it was an amazing place to go especially without a plan or any knowledge of the place. With our dollar almost at par I rented a car, bought a map, and circumnavigated the island camping as I went. And for me this kind of solo adventure is so exciting, as travel and landscape photography was what initially drew me to the camera.
One of the nights I camped at the top of Haleakala National Park to catch the morning's sunrise. It's over 10,000 feet at the top and I was so not prepared for the cold. It dropped below zero and when my water bottle froze I decided it was time to get in the rental car and treat myself to a drive at 5am with the heat cranked. At 5:30 this was the soul-warming view. That's Hawaii's big Island Kona in the distance.
The conical shadow is Haleakala's covering Maui's northern peninsula
And looking into the crater itself that's large enough to fit all of the island of Manhattan.
The southern part of the island reminded me more of Ireland with it's tall dry grasses and mostly treeless vistas.
On my last day on a whim I decided to jump the tourist fence in Iao Valley State park, follow a deeply gouged river upstream to then break trail and bushwack to the top of this needle mountain. Doesn't that just sound simple? It looks so close from this viewpoint too. And since I figured it would take about an hour tops round trip, who needs water!
After leaping and scrambling up river for 40 minutes I guessed I was far enough and made a 90 degree turn towards the sun and the peak. For the next straight hour this is the view I had in all directions. I'm looking up at about a 45 degree angle and that is my trail dead ahead. Can you see it... I couldn't!
It's hard to tell but I'm standing here straight up and I've got about a 20ft drop below me with just guava trees to swing from. Shrubbery was abundant but all of it would uproot with a slight tug, meaning I couldn't trust it. There were many moments of "hmmm, this probably wasn't so smart..", or "hmmm, nobody knows I'm here..". On the plus side, if anyone's seen me climbing rafters or trees at weddings, this is how I hone those monkey skills. Pure fear baby!
The contrast my body went through on this hike is a good reflection of the range of scenery to the island of Maui. I started out as a dry, clean, ambitious hiker, and returned soaked, torn up and completely battered mentally and physically. It was on these slopes on the edge of that needle that I finally admitted defeat and turned back. I vow to return and conquer this monolith oneday, as obviously I should have tried the north side. There's probably an escalator over there!
After this final sunset and a snooze on the beach it was time to catch the red-eye flight home. The funny thing is I was almost kicked off the plane as my shoes were still soaking wet from my adventure a few hours earlier.
So I did none of what this guy below was doing while I was there, and in actuality largely removed myself from the pace of a north american town. But this I think was part of the accessible gift that is Maui. There's very few tropical countries you can tour spontaneously on your own budget while completely feeling safe. If I'd wanted to I could have had my cell phone on and continued working on my mac in the evenings. But remaining unplugged by choice and just following the sun with a map was what made this trip so peaceful and refreshing. And of course getting my butt handed to me on a hike helped too!
So thank you, thank you, thank you Sarah Wells!!!
Posted on Dec 21, 2009 - 04:47 PM
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BIOGRAPHY
Brendon Purdy is a Vancouver based photographer specializing in weddings, portraits, sports, and travel photography. In his spare time Brendon likes to cycle as fast as he possibly can.
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