Iao Valley

The most common thing to photograph in Iao Vally, Maui is Iao Needle (below). However, if you go to the valley at sunrise, and point your camera down the valley, you’ll be rewarded with a beautiful view. This image was taken yesterday morning just as the sun peeked around Mt. Haleakala and struck the opening of the valley. The contrast was intense, so it required a number of different exposures to capture all the detail. In this case, I used 9 stops to capture everything from the clouds to the valley walls.

Iao Valley is frequently shrouded in clouds because of its location on Maui. It is also one of the wettest regions on the island. Because of this, I recommend shooting early so you can capture the early morning sunshine. If you wait, then you are likely going to be photographing the rest of the day with overcast skies like the photo below.