View of Koko Crater

Pulling over along Kalanianaʻole Highway gives you a striking broadside view of Koko Crater, the ancient tuff cone whose deeply ridged slopes and sweeping grassy flanks make it one of Oahu's most textural subjects. The crater's corrugated surface, carved by erosion into dramatic vertical grooves, photographs best in the early morning or late afternoon when raking sidelight throws those ridges into sharp relief and adds warmth to the golden grasses covering the slopes. A telephoto lens in the 70-200mm range lets you compress the scene and fill the frame with the crater's face, isolating its geometry against the sky. There is a wide shoulder along the highway where you can safely stop, and shifting your position even a few feet changes the sky-to-crater ratio considerably, so take time to explore the framing before settling on your shot. (Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii)