All summer long I took pictures, most of them while walking Buster on the trails along the Willamette River. Some were for fun, but most were Landscapes with a capital “L.” At the time I liked them well enough, but looking back I can see they were maybe just a little stiff, a little dull.

Then Mark and I went to Hawaii for twelve days, and something changed. Next thing I knew I was walking around Kona, taking pictures all over the place with my Galaxy Note 5. Maybe it was the relaxed pace on the Big Island, everyone in flip-flops, nobody giving me side eye for letting my hair get all frizzy in the humidity. Or maybe it was breathing in the refreshing sea air every day. Or drinking in the refreshing vodka martinis every night. Whatever it was, I didn’t feel the need to rigidly compose every shot. If something looked interesting I took a picture of it, whether I thought it would make “art” or not.

That’s how I got one of my favorite photographs, this shot of a banyan tree in downtown Kona. I walked by it three times, each time thinking its undulating trunks and silvery bark were just sumptuous, and that the amber leaves cradled in its roots were like perfect jewels adorning a lovely woman. So I finally went back and shot it, close up and without any game plan other than capturing its gorgeous texture and color.

Mahalo, Banyan Tree of Kona.