Tag: Mauna Kea

Chasing Fogbows

I have been flying a lot in the Saddle over the last few months. It helps that I can simply leave for work early, stop off and blow through some drone batteries, before heading on to Hale Pohaku where I meet the rest of the crew for a day on the summit. The process can be reversed on the way back down the mauna in the evening after work.

On these short days late in the year this means flying right at dawn and sunset, creating very dramatic light. The rich colors are simply great for photography of this beautiful area of lava flows and cinder cones.

What makes the are even more spectacular is the cloud layer. As you drive up the mauna you pass through the clouds. I love to stop and fly right at the top of the cloud layer, where the fog lays in against the mountain. I am sorely disappointed on those mornings that the fog is not there!

The result of these flights is lot of great video, I just need to put something together to share it.

Of course a good video needs great music. I am indebted to Chris Stark, a local artist who graciously allowed me to use his track Dancing in the Rain as the backdrop for the video. I encourage you to head over to his website ChrisStark.com to check out his albums.

Chasing Fogbows from Andrew Cooper on Vimeo

Editing Video

It always amazes me how much time it takes to edit video.  Hours of fiddling little details, tweaking, or ripping it out when you decide you got it all wrong.

Editing drone video in Premiere Elements 2018
Editing drone video in Premiere Elements 2018

I am editing drone video, material from mornings and evenings flying in the saddle region of Mauna Kea.  I did do a quick video from my first footage in the area, but that was really a learning experience, just seeing what worked and what did not.

This time I am striving for a polished product, not a quick experimental video.  That means taking care in selecting each clip, and blending it in properly to the soundtrack and surrounding clips.  I am also applying more post processing effects; panning, rolls, and color corrections.

Music is always an issue, the soundtrack makes everything work.  In this case I already had a piece of music in mind, a track by a local artist who has graciously given permission to use his artwork.

In the process of editing I end up watching the video hundreds of times, often in little pieces.  If I find myself enjoying the product, it might, just might be worth the effort. So far.. So good.

A Calm Night at Kaʻohe

It has been too long since I really got out with a telescope.  The ‘scopes have been out, but usually doing public work like last weekend’s Winter Star Party at CFHT in Waimea.  Time to get a good night for myself.

Awaiting dark with the 20" telescope
Andrew Unger beside the 20″ Obsession while waiting for properly dark skies at Kaʻohe

As president of our little club I make the schedule and choose the night.  Last month was a bust, bad weather rolling in both weekends either side of new Moon.  Thus I was pleasantly surprised when this particular Saturday I had chosen looked perfect, not a cloud in the sky over Mauna Kea.

It was the wind that was likely to spoil the night.  In Waimea and Waikoloa strong trade winds roared and rushed.  A pall of dust could be seen over the whole area from Waimea to the sea.  The Kaʻohe site has a particular blessing, it is directly in the lee of the mountain when the trades come out of the nor’east.

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Justice Wilson’s Dissent

In the wake of the supreme court decision on the TMT conservation district use permit last month, many like myself have been reading the opinions of the court. I was pleased to see that the justices were very clear in their views, there is very little room for any future legal steps in this case. This decision sets clear precedents for future land use cases that will certainly occur over the same issues.

Aliʻiōlani Hale
Aliʻiōlani Hale housing the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court. CC Image by D. Logan/Wikimedia Commons
The majority opinion is a systematic refutation of each argument made by telescope opponents. This is particularly true in the numerous trivial matters that opponents attempted to inflate into major issues. Issues like Judge Amanoʻs ʻImiloa membership, or the brevity of some responses to the absolute snowstorm of submissions in the contested case.

In addition to the majority opinion you may read the quite interesting concurring opinion by Justice Pollack. He agrees with the majority on the final result, but promotes using existing frameworks to judge land use cases such as this. It is also interesting the dissenting Justice Wilson joins in this concurring opinion, at least for the first three parts.

The dissent written by Associate Justice Michael Wilson was published almost two weeks later than the majority opinion. The reason for this delay is not given, it is possibly a result of Justice Wilson analyzing the majority opinion and responding to it in his dissent.

As is often the case with decisions like this, it is more interesting to read the dissent than the majority opinion. Any flaws or weaknesses in the case can be examined and can be more informative. This case is an exception to that, the dissent is interesting, if for somewhat different reasons.

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