These are hapu'u (tree fern) fronds, out behind the house. A healthy hapu'u will have fronds in all stages of development. I was struck by the shape and subtle color variations. I made some images with a greater depth of field (more in focus) but then I focused on the dying frond, opened up the aperture, and made this shot, which I prefer to the others. Interestingly, I made no adjustments beyond cranking up sharpness a bit, to make the edge of the dying frond pop a little more.
A couple of minutes later, full sun hit this hapu'u, offering a very different scene. I wouldn't have taken it. Yesterday there was a hapu'u with interesting fronds in the front of the house, but by the time I was set up, it was lit by full sun and no longer interesting. So I went inside and did the feather lei instead.
Almost all the Hilo Daily Images are from the morning. It's going to be a rare day when one isn't. Part of the reason is that if I'm going to have a practice that gets me ready for the day, it ought to be in the morning. I'm usually up before sunrise, and I like to shoot then, but I think a series of pre-dawn low-light shots wouldn't be interesting to people looking at the HDI site.