A Hui Hou

1072

Wonderful Waterfall 

Photograph by Jenni Matthews 

Nikon Z7, 1.o SEC, F/18  ISO 200, 25mm lens 

Professional landscape photographer Jenni Matthews knew she had found something special when she first visited a picturesque waterfall down a dirt road near Haiku in 1996. At the time she was only a teenager, guided to the spot by her best friend who lived nearby. The cascading waters enraptured her. In 2019, Jenni’s nephew came to visit Maui, on a mission to propose to his then-girlfriend. He needed a special spot, and Jenni knew just where to take him. 

As the couple’s wedding day approached, Jenni wanted to shoot and frame a photo of the waterfall to help the newlyweds remember where their journey together began. She visited the waterfall many times seeking the right water-flow and lighting conditions. Finally, Jenni captured the fall in all its glory, with tranquil blue waters, lush rainforest greenery and golden light courtesy of the rising sun. 

Jenni has been looking at the world through a viewfinder since she was 8, when she got her first camera – an old-school 110 film point-and-shoot. As a teenager, she started shooting with a 35mm film camera, then purchased her first digital camera at age 22. 

Finding waterfalls has become a part of life for Jenni and her husband, who go up nearly every stream on public land they can find. Sometimes the waterways lead to nothing; other times – such as this unnamed fall near Twin Falls – it’s a magical reward, “like hunting treasure,” she said.  

“A Hui Hou” is the editors’ pick of reader-submitted images. Send your photo submissions to photos@mauimagazine.net. The next photo contest theme is “Palm Trees” for Nov-Dec 2023, deadline Sept. 15; the Jan-Feb 2024 theme is “Whale Breaches,” deadline Nov. 15.  

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