The warm sun hits a colorful building in Trinidad, Cuba

Two weeks ago, as everyone on the east coast was suffering from record low temperatures, snow and ice, the theme for #FriFotos was WARM.

It was fun to look through my photos and see which ones depicted a warm-feel. The first photo above is from Trinidad, Cuba. This colonial town is bathed in beautiful light early in the morning, which is when two of the travelers in our group and I took a taxi into town ahead of our guided tour so we could wander the streets and take photos. The lighting was just right, and the colors of the town popped everywhere we turned.

When I visited Rome in May of 2013, it was a bit cooler than I expected. I ended up wearing several of my t-shirts at once to keep warm. But the warmth of the sun on this bright day, showcased the beauty of the city. We were at the top of the Vittorio Emanuele II monument when I took this photo.

Rome on a warm, sunny day as seen from the Vittorio Emanuele II monument (aka The Wedding Cake)

One of my favorite places in the world is the island of Kauai in the state of Hawaii. We always stay on the North Shore, where there is beautiful scenery and lush vegetation. This photo is of the Hanalei Valley lookout – there are always cars here stopped to take photos of this scene overlooking the taro fields.

The Hanalei Valley on Kauai’s North Shore.

We were in Buenos Aires in May of 2014, and as it is the start of winter in the part of the world, the weather was cool. But the lighting at the end of the day warmed up the luxurious Hotel Alvear.

Hotel Alvear in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In December, I flew to Honolulu to meet up with my friend Rosemary who had traveled to Hawaii for the very first time in order to attend the opening ceremony of, “The Eddie.” This annual invitational big-wave surf competition was celebrating it’s 30th year, although the event has only been held nine times. Waves need to reach a certain height for a sustained period in Waimea Bay on Oahu’s North Shore in order for the competition to run. At the beginning of the holding period each year (usually from early December through late February when the North Shore waves are the biggest), there is an opening ceremony with the Aikau Ohana and the invited surfers and alternates for the competition. After the opening ceremony, the surfers paddle out to the ocean for a ceremony. You can see more photos from the opening ceremony, which was on December 4, 2014, here.

Paddle-out for the opening ceremony of The Eddie in Waimea Bay, Oahu.

The sunsets in Hawaii are always spectacular, and on my last night there in December, the sunset in Waikiki did not disappoint. It was a warm aloha before my flight home that night.

Warm Waikiki Sunset

About #FriFotos on Twitter

Here’s a quick guide of the rules by Jeffrey Epstein.

#FriFotos was started on 15 October 2010 by Jonathan Epstein (@EpsteinTravels). Jonathan is the President and Owner of Celebrated Experiences, a company focusing on travel to the UK and Ireland. He is passionate about photography, his favorite hobby. Each week Jonathan cohosts #FriFotos with Stephanie Diehl (@TravelDesigned), Charles Yap (@CharlesYap), and two guest co-hosts that change each week. Jeffrey Epstein (@jeffreyinmotion), CEO of HBIM was a key advisor in the creation of #FriFotos and continues to assist in the Forum’s growth and success.