If ever there was an image that was simply a matter of “f/8 and be there,” this would be it. Being there, at sunrise no less, means leaving the comfort of your hotel bed at about 4 am (depending on where you are staying) to drive 50-odd miles and 10,000 feet up the side of Haleakala on the island of Maui. All this to arrive in advance of sunrise, which on this day occurred around 6:30 am
Arriving at this dormant volcano’s summit, you’ll be greeted by several hundred of your closest friends — this is a very popular activity on Maui. The altitude here takes a bit of acclimation, and you would be wise to give yourself some time before engaging in anything strenuous.
I chose to shoot his with a now-long-discontinued 15mm fisheye lens, thinking the lens’s curvilinear barrel distortion helped enhance the otherworldly landscape inside the crater. This lens’s vision of the world also closely aligned with the emotional impact of seeing this sight as the sun rose over the distant horizon.
I no longer carry a fisheye lens since my current camera system does not offer one. Back in the day, I carried it mainly because no one else did, and it offered a unique perspective on sights like this. An added “benefit” of this lens type is its extreme depth of field. At a modest aperture of f/9, focused manually at 1 metre (about 39 inches), DOF extends from less than 1/2 metre (18″) to infinity! You almost don’t need to focus at all — at least with subjects like this.
Now, I’m not suggesting you run out and buy a fisheye lens. It is a bit of a niche tool, but sometimes, it provides a unique perspective on subjects that have been shot to death in more conventional ways.
