Big Beach Bliss

Big Beach in Mākena has a way of making your eye travel. In this photograph, I start at the rock and palms close to the camera, follow the curve of sand around the bay, and end up well out at sea. Molokini sits low on the left, small enough to remind me just how much water this view holds. The midday light lets you see into the shallows. Dark patches appear beneath the turquoise water, and the shoreline shifts from clear blue-green to the deeper color farther out. Up close, the rocks and vegetation interrupt the wide sweep. Farther away, beachgoers become tiny marks along the sand. I love how many versions of Mākena fit inside one frame: the intimate edge of the shore, the full reach of the beach, and the islands beyond. The first glance might be all color and open space. Stay a little longer and the place gets more specific.