Pacific, a photo from Cook Islands, Other Islands

Photographer's Note

The written history of the Cooks began with the sighting of Pukapuka by the Spaniard Alvaro de Mendaña in 1595 followed by a landing on Rakahanga in 1606 by another Spanish explorer, Pedro Quiros. The British arrived off Pukapuka in 1764 and named it Danger Island because they could not land.
Between 1773 and 1779 Captain James Cook sighted and landed on many of the southern group but never came within eyeshot of Rarotonga. The infamous Captain William Bligh of the Bounty landed on Aitutaki in 1789 – he is credited with importing paw paw trees to the Cooks – and in April of that year the mutineers of the Bounty appeared off Rarotonga but, contrary to popular belief, probably did not land. Cook named the islands the Hervey Islands. In fact, he gave this name to the first island he discovered – Manuae. The name "Cook Islands" was given to the group by the Russians in honor of the great English navigator when it appeared for the first time on a Russian naval chart in the early 1800s.
The first official European sighting of Rarotonga was from the Endeavour in September/October 1813. The first known landing was by the crew of the Cumberland in 1814.
There was none on Rarotonga.
Instead, trouble broke out between the sailors and the islanders and many were killed on both sides.
The bluestockings and Rechabites were next to arrive the missionaries.
John Williams of the London Missionary Society landed on Aitutaki in 1821. Williams used Tahitian converts to carry his message to the Cook Islanders and they took to this task with great enthusiasm and were extremely successful. Williams was later killed and eaten on Erromango in the New Hebrides, now known as Vanuatu, but by then his work had been followed up and the gospels were well and truly embedded in the people's psyche.
The missionaries were responsible for the discontinuation of cannibalism. They also tried hard to fence their island converts off from the influences of European and American ships' crews and introduced schools and written language so their charges could read the scriptures. However, they also supported rigid police supervision over the people's morals and activities considered by them to be dubious.
The early missionaries estimated the population of Rarotonga at between 6000 to 7000. The impact of contact with the wider world was devastating. Western diseases spread like bushfires through the islanders and their numbers reduced dramatically during the mid-19th century to probably fewer than 2000. Since then periodic additions of people from outer islands have built Rarotonga's population back to about 10,000. In 1923 the population was reported by Stewart's Handbook of the Pacific Islands to have been '3287 natives and half-castes living as natives, and 200 whites and half-castes living as whites.'

The rest of the History

*Scanned image*

Voltri, zeca, ramthakur, siolaw, feather, fayeulle, Wirraway, yogi32, atus, jrj, Quentin, eleparc, Henryk_Bilor, jhm, bibiweb, starbug, rafelito, RGatward, thaprem ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

Voltri (1777) 2006-05-12 4:02

Paolo, nice shot with wonderful colors!

zeca (19762) 2006-05-12 4:03

Pacific in all aspects..well captured! The most beautiful of the Oceans! Colours are great, lights are wonderful! Nice silhouettes!
Regards!
Zeca

ramthakur (1559) 2006-05-12 4:07

A beautiful sunset image from Cook Island, Paolo.
This is a very good scan in which you have retained the original look of a photo print; it lend the image a degree of originality.
TFS.

jinju (14265) 2006-05-12 4:13

Hi Paolo,

this is an excellen shot. Such magnificent view, beautiful colors. What I like is when you get people into your land or seascapes, I think it livens up such shots.

rbcy1974 (20758) 2006-05-12 4:36

Hello Paolo
A very beautiful view. Nice shadows and silhuettes beautiful coloured sky,
well done
Regards
Daniel

sebinho342 (19329) 2006-05-12 4:44

Hello Paolo, this is a spectacular shot that you are sharing with us today :)) I love when you publish pictures from your marvelous travels, sometimes i love surfing in your gallery but just in your marvelous trips in hot islands cause it's one of my main interest on this earth, it's wrong that we all born equal : i feel less lucky to be born in france than those who were born there, in cook island for instance ;))
I will come back to read your note cause that interests me and don't have that much time this morning, i would like o much one day to go there, and i notice that there are few pics from there on TE.
Have a good day Paolo :)

barrufeto_77 (28888) 2006-05-12 4:46

Hi Paolo.

The colours are...wonderfull. It's a pity that the image was scanned.

Anyway, I like it.

Rgs, Oscar

fabio_ts (13696) 2006-05-12 5:04

Un'altra bella foto Paolo, suggestivi i colori, ma specialmente ben composta, l'includere l'uomo sulla sinistra non solo non disturba ma altresì regala "vita reale" alla scena.. bravo!!

buon weekend,
Fabio.

PixelTerror (0) 2006-05-12 5:08

Ciao Paolo,
This was one of my dream destinations when I was travelling, not sure I'll ever see it with my eyes (and lens) but I appreciate your offering of this typical paradisiac view, just a plain lovely moment and exactly what I need right now, grazie !
have a nice day,
Jean-Yves

Gerrit (62042) 2006-05-12 5:44

Hi Paolo,
I like the tiny silhouette in the left against the overwelming but calm sea and sunset.
Beautiful picture.
Thanks and regards, Gerrit

bantonbuju (51815) 2006-05-12 5:51

ciao paolo,
lovely, spectacular, another sunset masterpiece from you,
just a bit pitty the onlt man on the image is so close to the left edge of the image;
best wishes, j.

feather (51130) 2006-05-12 5:52

I could tell from the thumbnail this was going to be special. The pastel colours and reflections are wonderful and the silhouettes have lots of interest. It looks like its reputation -idyllic
Kath

fayeulle (27827) 2006-05-12 6:40

Hi Paolo
Very good scan here and marvellous colors. I like the clouds from the bigger one to the smaller one.
Cheers
JP

pastadog (13111) 2006-05-12 6:49

Ciao Paolo - a beautiful shot, well composed, I like the unusual cloud formation. The foreground is pretty with the shadows and the ripples. The colors of the foreground in black and blue cannot be a coincidence - congratulations for the Coppa. Regards, Daniel

Wirraway (1985) 2006-05-12 7:16

Great shot, informative note, what else is there to say that has not already been said, excellent work.

Regards Ian
Nth Queensland

atus (15878) 2006-05-12 7:55

Ciao Paolo,
really well composed clear shot with nice silhouettes especially those of the boat and the man. The colors are beautiful...e mi sono appena reso conto che sto scrivendo in inglese. Meno male che é venerdí e allora buon fine settimana!
Attila

Graal (103040) 2006-05-12 8:05

Hi Paolo,
nice sunset, pleasant view, good composition. Interesting history of Cook Islands. Good work and well done photo.
Rgs, Aleksander

blue-velvet30 (6524) 2006-05-12 9:05

Hello Paolo!
Great POV, colors, light and composition! Well done!
thanks for sharing
regards
Dorota

jrj (34843) 2006-05-12 9:57

Hi p.
Dream landscape and dream setting with the excellent sunset mood. Good use of the few details included.

veronika (6058) 2006-05-12 10:13

Oo lalaa beautiful one Paolo, you are genius :))
Colours are wonderful, like in my dream, WOW and interesting note!
ciao and stay well
Vero

capthaddock (28790) 2006-05-12 10:16

Hi Paolo - aah, fantastic, I keep forgetting there is a very tropuical side of NZ, very appealing combination of warm & cool tones, perhaps the water should be less green and more blue, but I think this is because of the scan, I remember a similar effect on one of your Maldive shots a while ago.

delkoo (68) 2006-05-12 11:20

HI paolo
joli coucher de soleil, les couleurs sont belles et la photo inspire la quietude

amicalement
didier

Floydian (30970) 2006-05-12 12:11

Hi Paolo,
What a scene, what a colours, really impressive.
you caught this one very good, excellent work.
It could be a bit sharper, but considering it from a scanned picture than you did well..!!!
Have a nice weekend, Henk

Quentin (5280) 2006-05-12 12:19

Ciao Paolo
Superbe sunset with some great colors. I really like the
saturation here. The sky with its clouds is very nice too.
Well done. Bye
Quentin

eleparc (24063) 2006-05-12 12:41

i had a dream to go to New zealand and Fidji one day... Paolo made it happen;-) nice shot my friend!
Eric

gaby (19819) 2006-05-12 13:45

Paolo bonsoir - ces couleurs sont absolument splendides (tu es vraiment un grand maître dans cette matière), la compo excellente et le paysage vraiment joli -
très bien fait
Merci et bon week end
Gaby

Fis2 (169791) 2006-05-12 14:31

Witaj Paolo!
Very good work. Artistic photo. Super colours. Good composition and frame. Very impressive picture.
Regards
Krzysztof

anesugur (18789) 2006-05-12 16:37

Very beautiful picture.Great colors and composition.
I like it. Well done. Uğur

Henryk_Bilor (20803) 2006-05-13 11:48

Hello Paolo
Very nice image. So calm. Beautiful colours and composition.
Regards

jhm (211734) 2006-05-13 12:53

Hi Paolo,
What a beautiful picture certainly for a scanning image, wonderful colours in a very nice composition,lovely contrasts.
Best regards,
John

cherubin (1971) 2006-05-13 13:50

Hi Paolo,
very nice composition, with an ambience of tranquility...
cherubin

bibiweb (8) 2006-05-13 14:30

Ciao Paolo,
A beautiful sunset! The compo is simplistic but the colours are beautiful. I like the three clouds on the right that make for an interesting sky. The silhouettes of the boat and and the man on the left are very good though I think it might have been better if you could framed a bit more towards the left as I feel the man is a bit cramped against the edge of the picture.
Have a nice Sunday.
Brigitte

tinamunk3 (6408) 2006-05-13 15:26

Ciao Paolo,

Havn't spent much time on TE lately and missed many of your shots. I have just seen them all now and I can see that you are keeping your high standard - that's just great :O)

I love the light in this shot and I love the composition. The man on the jetty just adds everything to this image.

:) Tina

leo61 (0) 2006-05-14 3:27

Hi Paolo!
Beautiful sunset and good composition.To include the man on the left side was a good idea.The silhouette looks great.The colors ,especially the weater looks verry good too.
Thanks and regards,
LEO

starbug (6924) 2006-05-14 4:24

Hi Paolo, a return to your gallery after a longer time offers lots of nw beautiful views. New Zealand- out of my reach for now, so I'm attrracted to it even more- especially if a romantic view like that invited me there...beautiful shot.
best regards
A.

rafelito (3648) 2006-05-14 15:39

Hola Paolo, esta foto me parece genial por los colores y la composición, me encantó la silueta del hombre en el extremo izquierdo, le da vida e importancia.Un fuerte saludo, Rafael

RGatward (20108) 2006-05-14 16:27

Fabulous seascape, and useful compo devices int eh foreground, making more of the setting.

Cricri (176) 2006-05-15 9:33

Bonjour Paolo,
Trés belle image, joli reflet du soleil dans l'eau, beauté de la couleur et des effets du ciel, félicitation
amitiés
cricri

Bluejeans (64251) 2006-05-22 13:06

Ola Paolo muito belo o por do sol , muito bonitas as cores parabens !!!

thaprem (2566) 2006-05-31 6:55

Beautifully done paolo trademark shot!...
Every time I look at your shots, I wonder how do you reach at the right place at the right time!!...
A fantastic shot.
Thanks,
Prem.

eza1701 (3345) 2006-06-06 4:22

This is a wonderful picture, sunset is one of my favourite times for photos. You have caught the sun at exactly the right time, just before it dissapears from view and the silhouettes along the shoreline complete the composition. I particularly like the inclusion of the man on the left hand side.