Away from the crowds but not too far away. Clear water and white sand. The texture of all those beautifully weathered boards. The Makai Research Pier near Waimanalo has become a popular place for senior portraits, modeling shoots, even wedding photography.

The top side of the pier has been used in many movies and television shows. It’s sturdy and wide enough for vehicles and has a walking-on-water effect as you face the wide horizon. But under the pier, where the space is sheltered and defined, it has a look all its own.

Professional photographers have known about the Makai Pier for years, but posts of the pretty pictures on social media have given people the idea for the setting, while cellphones and digital cameras have made everyone feel like they can shoot pictures.

Professional photographer Ryan Sakamoto says he first shot under the pier in 2008 and has shot several senior portraits there.

“There is a sense of peace and serenity during the day’s first light,” Sakamoto said. “The perspective of the pilings lined up in a row surrounded by water that’s the color of jade. The textures of the wood beams that make the pier what it is. The weathered barnacle and moss covered piling that hold the pier up. But I think the part that attracts photographers is the way the sunlight hits the white sand that reflect back under the pier during the day, it acts like a natural softbox.”

The pier is part of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaii-Manoa. Marcie Grabowski, outreach coordinator for SOEST, says the folks who work at the pier agree that it’s a very popular photography spot, but so far, it hasn’t interfered with their work topside.

Paul Hayashi, a professional photographer who owns Hayashi Photo, said, “It seems to have gained in popularity as more and more people are posting images from that location. Personally, since I live in Wahiawa, there has to be a good reason for me to go there, like if the client lives on that side or if I’m on that side for another assignment. I think it’s getting to be overused.”

Hayashi said he primarily does model photography under the pier and occasionally a senior portrait. “But the last one did not want to do photos under the pier because it looked like her friends’ photos, and she wanted something different,” he added.

It is currently senior portrait season – the time when 12th-graders get their highly planned and beautifully stylized “casual” pictures taken for yearbook glory – so the pier is a busy photo spot. Sakamoto says photographers do a good job of waiting their turn.

“Most photographers will work with each other, shoot, then move to a different spot. There’s also the beach that can be used, or one photographer can be using the pier as a backdrop, and when the other photographer is done, we can switch to shoot under the pier,” he said.

The setting conveys an island feel without the cliche of coconut trees, and perhaps the pier is a symbol, for graduating seniors and couples getting married, of starting off on a journey, but that might be overthinking it. Mostly, it’s just a pretty place to have your picture taken.

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Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@

staradvertiser.com.