Archive for the 'business' Category

Fifty and Fabulous!

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Arlene.  She wanted to celebrate the fact that she is in her 50’s with a photo shoot. Let me just say, if I look half as good as she does when I am 50 I am going to be a happy little camper!  Arlene and I had some time to chat it up while we were waiting for some good light.  Five minutes into our conversation I felt like I had known her my whole life.  Not only is she easy to talk to but  she just might be the sweetest women on the island.  She told me she is planning on cutting her beautiful long hair and donating it to Locks Of Love.  Having had long hair her  whole life, this will not just be a hair cut, but more like losing a limb.  I am in awe of her courage and her generosity.  I imagine she is both excited and scared to take this step but I think it is going to be gorgeous!  I told her we may have meet up again and do after pics!  Here are some of my favorite shots of Arlene being 50 and fabulous!

a25

 

a55

 

a33

 

a44

a95

a83

 

a75

 

a104

 

a17

Verdernikov North Shore Sunset Wedding

Tonight I was exposed to a new little piece of Heaven on Earth.  I was shooting a wedding on Papa’ioloa Beach on the North Shore and what a little hidden gem this beach is.  While googling this spot I discovered it was also the location the Lost crew first set up camp when their plane crashed!  How’s that for a little FYI!  The sea turtles love to feed in this area and I got to get up close and personal with this little guy while I was waiting for the bride and groom to arrive.

 

a23

 

Papa’ioloa Beach is the  perfect setting for a sunset wedding.  Absolutely breathtaking!

 

a16

 

Speaking of breathtaking check out this gorgeous couple!

 

a122

 

Kalona of A Rainbow in Paradise put together a very intimate sunset ceremony.

 

a53

 

After the ceremony we got some amazing pictures with some yummy sunset lighting.

a82

 

a94

 

a103

 

a74

 

a63

a113

Congratulations Alex and Alicia!  You are Stunning and Fabulous!

 

Happy Birthday Camryn!

With a family of seven it seems there is always a birthday party to plan.  Finding creative ways to celebrate being another year older just might be the bain of my existence.  I mean how many times can a child high five Chucky Cheese  before  the mouse just  dose not cut the cheese any more?  This year Camryn turned 9 and as she puts it,  she is a pre-pre-teen.  Seriously is pre teen not enough to worry about now there is a pre-pre teen?  No wonder I have been frequenting the hair salon for that extra color touch up.  Pre-pre teen or not my little Camryn turning 9 is something to celebrate , and celebrate we did!

Camryn has been sharing a room with her little sister for the past two years and in doing so has been over exposed to all things that are pink.  Londyn is in love with anything princess and girly.  Although Camryn went through that same stage she feels it is time to turn in the Cinderella slippers for some lip gloss.  So we decide it was time for a room make over.  Her walls were already a light purple and I really did not want to paint them again, but we really wanted to do a black and white themed room.  As always Pottery Barn Teen was an answer to prayer and we found black and white bedding with purple accents.  I could not have found a better solution to our problem if I had designed them myself!  I painted their beds black and stacked them back into bunk beds to give them more room.  I repainted their doll house to match the new colors, created some canvases to match their bedding, and bought some new accents for their shelves.  I finished off the new look with some bench window seating and throw pillows, slapped some flower decals on the wall and called it a day!  Check out the before and after picks.

 

h28

 

h29

 

Now check out these after pics!

 

img_2591

 

img_2592

 

img_2593

 

img_2595

 

img_2605

 

img_2594

I know what you are all thinking…..Martha Stewart step aside!  In fact I think that is what Camryn gasped when she saw it for the first time.  Needless to say she is very excited about her new “pre-pre teen room!”  She still has to share it with a four year old, but at least now it dosn’t look like she shares it with a four year old.

So once the room was finished there was only one thing left to do.  Wait for it……..SLUMBER PARTY!

Call me crazy, but 8 little pre-pre teens lined their little sleeping bags all over the floor of Camryn’s new room, and giggles to the wee wee hours of the morning.  It probably did not help that they went to bed on an extreme sugar high from the unlimited trips they took to the candy bar during movie time.

We started the party off with this game which was a total hit!

c46

 

Each girl got a part in the play and they had to read through the script to figure out the mystery.  I played the part of the grumpy old maid to a tee!

After the game the girls stuffed their faces with hot wings, and fries.  I set out a huge veggie tray but it kind of sat there like a shy nerd at a sock hop and did not get too much attention.  Who wants vegtables when you can eat things fried in grease and still rock skinny jeans?  Oh to be a pre-pre teen again!

 

c41

 

After dinner we opened presents and got into our jammies.  Here is Camryn with a few of her peeps!

 

c44

 

c45

 

c431

 

c42

 

I am sure you are wondering  who taught them those amazing dance moves in the above picture….that would be MOI!

After shaking our groove thing it was “Off To The Candy Bar!”

 

c40

 

c38

 

c39

 

Add some popcorn and a movie and you have the makings of a great night!  They got a couple hours of sleep and just so the parents don’t feel left out I heaped them up on more sugar with a homemade waffle bar before sending them home.  I am pretty sure that sugar + no sleep + more sugar = some pre-pre teens turning into moody teenagers all day.  My friends just love me when I do that to their children!

So my little Cammy Cam, Hope your birthday was everything you wanted it to be, and more!  You are best pre-pre-teen on the planet and I am so lucky to be your mom!  Happy Birthday Fabulous!

 

c61

 

c32

 

c15

 

c28

 

c91

 

Ohana Means Family

Another one of my military clients will be bidding farewell to the Hawaiian islands.  I love being able to capturing this moment.  The moment where these families will look back at their time in Hawaii and remember it like it was yesterday.  When my clients look at these pictures next week, and years down the road I want  these images to be so vivid that they can almost feel the warmth of the sun on their skin as they think back to this time in their lives.  Jaqkee told me that getting family portraits has been on her “bucket list” for a long time, and I hope that when she gets her pictures she thinks it was worth the wait.  To help someone check a box in their bucket list is quite an honor, and I love that I got to help her do that!  It was so great spending the evening with this family and I wish them all the best on their future endeavors.  Thanks for making my job so fun!  Here is that sneak peak!

 

j81

 

j13

 

j9

 

j51

 

j101

 

j2

 

j6

 

j7

 

j4

 

j3

The Bennet family Hawaiian Christmas!

I had such a blast with the Bennet family who were gathered in Hawaii from all over the mainland for a big family Christmas!  We headed to Ko Olina for a beautiful sunset on the beach!  I wish I had time to write more but it is a busy holiday season so I am just going to go ahead and post the sneek peak that I promised.  I hope you had a wonderful Hawaiian Christmas Bennet family!

 

b11

 

b21

 

b41

 

b31

 

b51

 

b61

 

b7

 

b9

 

b10

 

b111

 

b13

 

b8

 

b12

Can you say Geocache Hawaii

Today we loaded up our kids (yes all 5 of them), a GPS, and of course my camera and went on our first geocache adventure. Never heard of it? This term was new to us as well. Apparently they can be found all over the country. People hide little treasure boxes called caches, and then list the GPS coordinates on www.geocache.com for people to look up and go hunt. Once you register on their site you can look up caches closest to you by entering your zip code. We were a little over zealous, and marked 5 different caches that we thought we could cover today. We headed to the first location and proceeded to fail for three hours! Of course since this was our first time it took us over an hour just to figure out how to use the GPS. Hey I never claimed to be tech savvy. What ever happened to the good ole compass. Oh, who am I kidding, I never really knew how to work one of those either. The next 2 hours were spent digging through bushes with pokey thorns, looking under shrubs, turning over rocks, and searching in every nook and cranny imaginable. Trust me I have scrapes from the knee down to prove it. This is about the point where the kids started complaining about being hungry and needing potty breaks, every 30 seconds. The competitive side of me ignored them and kept hunting. I refused to accept defeat, and was willing to go hungry for a job well done. However soon the whining got too loud to block out and we headed to my favorite all american restaurant to refuel on some Big Mac’s. We decided to try an easier cache listings before heading home. I was determined to peel back the lid of a cache before the sun went down on this day if I had to carry all five kids on my back to do so. Now that the kids, and my husband had full bellies I was able to pursued them to humor me one more time. I am so happy I am not a quitter because not only did we find our first cache, but I came across a great new photo shoot location. I can’t believe this little gem was just minutes away from my house and I had no idea. Can you say “way to go geocache master.”   Come on just say it.  Louder!   Give us the Turner shout out we deserve. Fine, maybe we are not the geocache masters, but we had fun, ok I had fun, and they were cute, and we like Big Macs! So if that is not something to shout about then I do not know what is. In fact you should not only shout but your should probably dance while you do it. Here is some photographic documentation of our day:

g17

Walking to our first geocache location.

 

g21

what a fun walk through the park!

 

g51

Of course we had to stop for some pictures because like I said they are cute!

 

g81

Corben was trying not to smile

 

g41

If there is a tree near by Camryn is climbing it.

 

g31

If there is a tree near by Addison is posing in it.

 

g71

Aven was content just to hang out and enjoy the fresh Hawaiian air!

 

g61

Londyn would rather look for rolley polley’s then caches.

 

g91

This is us on our fruitless bush hunting expedition!

 

g151

Finally 4 hours later we find our first cache!  This one was at the second park.

g131

 

check out the future photo ops that I could get here!

g161

lets check out the goods!

 

g171

what fine treasures!You can take an item from the box as long as you replace it with something else.

 

g18

Addison found a family coin from Missouri!

 

g19

Londyn wanted to hold the box before we returned it to it’s location.  Check out the camouflage on this baby!

Well there you have it folks!  The Turner’s go geocaching.  Who wants in on  the next hunt?  Stay tuned to find out if Alyssa Turner becomes the new geocache master!

 

 

 

Jarred and Alison Hawaiian Wedding

You might recognize this awesome couple from the engagement pictures I shot a few months ago.  Alison and Jarred tied the knot on October 16th at Queen Emma’s Summer Palace.  What a gorgeous location for a wedding.  The grounds are just amazing!  My head was spinning with all the photo opportunities!  Alison rocked her wedding dress like no other.  Speaking of rocking, the wedding party rocked there way down the isle with their crazy dance moves.  It looked like so much fun I was tempted to put down my camera and join them!  Alison and Jarred’s love for each other and God radiated like sparks in the quaint garden area.  Family came from all over the mainland for the occassion, and I was blessed to be a part of it.  Alison and Jarred I am so excited to have gotten to know you both, and I hope we continue to grow as friends.  I wish you a life time of happiness!  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day.

m271

 

m15

 

m18

 

m17

 

m161

 

m191

 

untitled-1

 

m110

 

m232

 

m7

 

m4

 

m291

 

m9

The Faydo Ohana Hawaiian Photography

I love when you come across those moments when you realize it really is a small world that we live in. Having a photography business in Hawaii means that 80% of my clients are people who are on a family vacation in Hawaii or people who have come to Hawaii to get married. Because of this only 20% of my clients come to me through word of mouth. Not that my clients don’t love to share their pictures with all their friends and family but when their friends and family live in the mainland they can’t exactly jump on a plane and fly to Hawaii for a photo session. This being said I was excited to meet the wonderful Faydo family through a word of mouth contact. I had a friend in Hawaii who I met because our girls were in scouts together. She left Hawaii two years ago and moved to California. She lives in the same neighborhood as the Faydo family and they have since become friends. While these two neighbors were hanging out she noticed some prints hanging on my friends wall that I had taken and voila that’s where I come in. I had done a photo session of my friends family before she left the island and the Faydo family just happened to be planning a family vacation to Hawaii and when she saw the photos she emailed me to set up a photo session of their own. Small world right? I don’t normally blog about my scheduling but I just thought that was a neat little connection. Almost as neat as the Faydo family themselves. We had such a fun session I did not want the sun to set. We hunted for fish and hermit crabs, played in the water, and chatted endlessly! I am the luckiest girl in the world to have a profession where I get to hang out with such great people and just have fun! So Faydo family, here is a little sneek peak of our photo session at the Ko Olina Lagoons.

g3

 

g5

 

g7

 

g10

 

g11

 

g12

 

g15

 

g1

 

g2

 

g9

 

g14

 

g8

 

g13

 

g6

 

g4

 

g16

Jabbar and Kayatana Wedding

After a year of emailing back and forth I was so excited to finally meet Jabbar and Kayatana!  They had spent the last year planning the perfect Hawaiian wedding, and that is just what it was…..perfect.  From the pillows that they hand sewed for all their guests to the flower she wore in her hair, Kayatana planned the perfect day.  I was told by a close friend that she was a perfectionist and she lived up to her reputation.  Not one little detail was missed.  She just might be the most organized bride I had ever met.  It obviously pays to be organized because while most brides are running around behind schedule in a frantic mess Kayatana was relaxed and peaceful.  Everything was running so smooth that we had plenty of time to sit back and chat  and she told me all about her romance with Jabbar.  How they met at a conference in Texas and how they now work just one floor apart for the same company.  It was a perfect fairy tail  and now they were going to have a prefect fairy tail wedding.  You are an amazing couple with fabulous friends and family and I thank you for letting me be part of your day.  Here is a little sneak peek of what is yet to come.

 

kj16

 

kj4

 

jblog3

 

kj2

 

kj14

 

jblog2

 

kj3

 

jblog1

 

kj7

 

kj18

 

kj8

 

kj9

 

kj15

 

kj20

 

kj17

 

kj19

 

Love that goes the Distance

I know that I have said it before but women who support their military men should be up on  pedestal.  We are all well aware of the sacrifices our men and women of duty make for us while they are deployed and away from all who love them but I do not think we give enough credit to the loved ones that are left behind.  It takes a strong women to be married to a military man.  It never ceases to amaze me how these militray wives can put on a brave face as they send their husbands off to far away places knowing they are going to be in the face of danger.  How they are crying inside but they still pull up their boot straps and take up their own battle on the home front.  The bills do not stop coming, the cars do not stop breaking down, the grass does not stop growing, the dinner still needs to be made, the circus we call life still goes on and they do it all.  Not only do they do it all but they do it with poise and dignity.  They do it because they have to.  They do it like no one else can.

When my good friend told me that her husband was due to leave for another year long deployment I shook my head in disbelief.  Again?  Really?  Didn’t he just get back from his last 15 month deployment?  He literally had been home for a short 18 months and now he is off for another year.  I seriously do not know how she does it.  She is a better women then I.  I would be stomping my feet and whining and well pretty much throw an all out temper tantrum that would put most three years olds to shame.  It takes a strong kind of love to survive that much time apart.  And a love like that needs to be celebrated.  So a few weeks before he left I got the honor of capturing that love on camera.  It makes me sad to look at these pictures knowing that there are many miles separating my friend from her husband but it also makes me happy to know that such a love exists.  In a world where divorce has become a common household word there is a love that goes the distance.

us67

 

us097

 

us53

 

us91

 

us82

 

us217

 

us211

 

us0100

 

us216