Okay, something funny is going on here, but I'll get to that later...
First off, thank you for the votes and all of the comments. Honestly, I never expected this. With a 6.6 I expected maybe top ten...but a Blue?
On Memorial Day in Honolulu they have the tradition of releasing thousands of Floating Lanterns into the ocean. I don't know the exact history behind it but this was the 10th anniversary of the ceremony.
We just moved to Hawaii last August. My wife had heard about this and suggested we go. I had no idea what to expect at all.
We arrived early and found a nice spot on the beach. About 30 min. before the ceremony started, people started crowding the edge of the water. There were so many people with SLRs, I felt like I was at a photographer's convection.
I decided to stay further back from the water and wait until they started releasing the lanterns. During this time, an old Hawaiian man next to us, in his 70's or 80's, collapsed into the sand. My wife called 911 and it was a good 10 minutes before paramedics arrived.
I don't know what happened to him but I hope he's okay. He was attending the ceremony all alone and I kept thinking that his wife must have passed away and he was attending it in memory of her.
Anyway, just as the light started fading, they released some 2,000 lanterns into the sea. I made my way up to the edge of the water and tried to get a few shots. It was difficult to get a good composition as it was so crowded.
I ended up knee deep in water when I saw these two boys playing and thought it would be a good shot. After taking a few I looked up and saw about 3 other people with SLRs photographing them too and I decided I'd stop.
I almost didn't enter this challenge but I figured I'd give it a try. I've always had a tough time deciding what pictures to submit. Usually pictures I like don't do well at all. I'm just glad I decided to give this one a shot! I'm shocked!
For post processing, I didn't do anything special. I just made your typical contrast, brightness, shadow, highlight recovery, white balance and sharpening adjustments - complete basic editing rules set.
Again, thank you!!!
Statistics
Place: 1 out of 109 Avg (all users): 6.6923 Avg (commenters): 8.7500 Avg (participants): 6.1500 Avg (non-participants): 6.9740 Views since voting: 6971 Views during voting: 273 Votes: 117 Comments: 25 Favorites: 22 (view)
Wow! How cool is THAT! I so love the human element you gave to this instead of just showing those amazing lanterns! Congratulations! This is a great choice for first prize :)
The lighting on the kid's face is superb, making him (her?) glow like one of the lanterns. I guess you are hammered for the kid in the background, but don't pay attention. It is a great find and a great capture. (not voting)
Floating Lanterns
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