There are normally two seasons in Hawaii, a rainy winter between November and April and a dry summer from May to October, however, the dry season seems to be cancelled this year 🙂 The rainy weather isn’t really ideal for „classic” Hawaiian landscape and bird photography, yet it is perfect for rainforest photography. In the last few weeks, I hiked a lot in the Koolau Mountains on Oahu to find a nice composition which can show the essence of a rainforest. It is really challenging to get a clean composition in the green chaos that features a tropical rainforest. What I really wanted to picture is an epiphyte or a climbing plant, because these plants are one of the typical structural elements that makes a rainforest so special. Rainforests usually have a shady canopy of dense trees, therefore many plants in the understory are aiming to capture the sun’s rays and developed different strategies to do this such as bromeliads and vines. The Hawaiian rainforests like all tropical rainforests have a huge diversity and variety of plants, however, unfortunately there are many introduced species in the forests of Hawaii, especially on the island of Oahu, so, actually it is impossible to find an entirely natural ecosystem on this island.

Last week I hiked the Aiea trail when I found this climbing plant, called ie ie (Freycinetia arborea) that happens to be a native Hawaiian plant. This vine species is endemic to the Pacific Islands and found mostly in wet forests. This actual specimen climbs on an alien eucalyptus tree.

Gear: Canon EOS 7D, Canon 17-40mm F/4 L lens, Tiffen Polarizer, handheld