A Photo Chick's Journal in Paradise

Monchichis on the Windward Side

2009-11-15T19:42:56-10:00

I LOVE living in Hawai'i.

I most of all I LOVE living on the Windward side of O'ahu! If my clients are from the Windward side there's a good chance that they'll want to shoot in their home town. You can't go wrong with the Ko'olau Mountains as your backdrop.

Meet Michelle, Mat and their two little Monchichis.

I was referred to this lovely family by my friend (and talented videographer), Reggie Dela Cruz of Heart to Heart Video.

Here's our big brother -Maika (Monchichi #1)

And his little sister, Makamae (Monchichi #2)

With her, you guessed it, MONCHICHI!!!

Awww...

Sometimes it super comical trying to get two siblings in this age range to come together. Let alone stand or sit still and SMILE!

Makamae and Maika did an awesome job! After getting the sibling shots its time for the solos.

The best shots to me are always when the kids are allowed to just be...which normally means a lot of chasing and running around for everyone involved!

And sometimes, they just need to take a break!

MAHALO NUI LOA to Mat, Michelle, Maika and Makamae for a wonderful 'ohana shoot on the Windward side!

And to Makamae, I LOVED meeting your Monchichi.

It brings back fond memories for me. I love the Monchichi song!

Gotta love our island keikis!!!

An Anti-Static Home

2009-11-14T21:58:36-10:00

Discovery! I finally found a home for my SATA Hard Drives which have been sitting in anti-static bags!

I found these anti-static storage boxes at www.meritline.com.

Whew! I'm so happy to have found these as I was getting tired of my hard working drives sitting in bags. At least this way they'll be secure and hopefully won't fall victim to the Kane'ohe mold!

Friday the 13th!

2009-11-13T20:14:00-10:00

I love Friday the 13ths! Nothing ominous about it to me except another wonderful day of discovery and opportunity to create!

Today, I chose to take my latest little love from Photojojo (one of my very fave sites!), the Digital Harinezumi, out and about this morning during my walk with Na'u. Oh the fun we had!

These images are pretty much straight out of the camera. No tweaking with Photoshop Actions. Just a whole lot of wholesome goodness that reminds me of the 110 style of photos from my childhood.

I shot this one with my Abalone sisters in mind...

Cinco de Mayo Crocs with my Zumi!

Hillary the hen posed for me even!

I love this shot as it totally contradicts what all the weather reports have been. No thunderstorms to me!!!

I am thoroughly in love and smitten with my latest Toy Camera and can't wait to take her out on more of my adventures! Wait til' you see the video...Super 8 relived!!!

Hope you all had an awesome Friday the 13th! Make every day the best it can be!!!

Maile's Mano

2009-11-12T19:03:28-10:00

I am blessed to be surrounded by such creative people. Most of them I can call my close friends. One such artist is my dear friend, Maile Ka'ai.

I have admired her work for many, many years. I was so elated to see this beautiful piece which is a black and white graphite drawing of a shark. I love the detail...like the reflection of the water on it's topside!

Maile is blessed with a very special talent, using her hands and eyes, to reproduce life on paper and canvas. Not an easy task however, she does it so easily and so well!

I'm hoping to get this shark (and many of her other pieces) as wearable art! If you're interested in also wearing Maile's art please contact me. I will be posting more of her images from time to time so please check back.

Remember, the holidays are here and artwork is always a great and unique gift to give your loved ones!!!

11/11: Part 2

2009-11-11T23:11:00-10:00

The next stop on my 11/11 journey, takes me to a special bamboo forest with three special little kids.

Yes, it was time for the annual holiday photo with Carlene and Ian's keikis!

Last year's shoot was at Diamond Head Beach. The kids have grown quite a bit and are as cute as ever!

I was sooo impressed with Flora's climbing skills!

Here's Ben, Flora's twin brother:

And like his sister is a great climber!

And then there's our little Matilda...she always makes me smile!!!

Again, so glad that they're canine siblings could make it this year to join in on the fun!

Despite the rain we were able to capture everyone's smiles and had a great time together.

MAHALO to Carlene, Ian, Bertha and the entire clan for another fun shoot!!!

See you again next year, gang!

11/11: Part 1

2009-11-11T23:10:00-10:00

11/11. One of my very favorite dates!!! So what's a girl to do on Veteran's Day, November 11, in addition to acknowledging our Veterans who fight and have fought for our freedom? Have a photo shoot, of course! In fact, two photo shoots to be exact!

According to various weather reports, we were all told that there would be thunderstorms. I rely on these reports to plan for my day especially when I'm shooting. I really expected that we would have a downpour but for most of today it looked like this:

Whew!!! Thank you!

So I spent my morning with my very dear friends, The Wangs.

I am proud to say that I have known Pat and Rose for over 20 years now. It is such a joy to photograph them with their two beautiful daughters who I will name in this post Fighting Irish One and Fighting Irish Two.

Yes, daddy is a HUGE Notre Dame fan!!! And yes, he's also alumni. See what I mean???

Okay, anyways, here are my two Fighting Irishes:

Loving sisters. Sooo cute!

Let's not forget where it all began...

Happy 11 + years Pat and Rose!!!

Fun! Fun! Fun!!!

MAHALO, Pat, Rose, Fighting Irish One and Two for making one of my favorite dates very memorable!!!

Next time, I'll be sure to join you for the loco moco and kim chee!!!

Love you guys!

Temporary

2009-11-10T11:44:34-10:00

Back in September I photographed Jasmyn and Aikane's spectacular wedding in Kona on the Big Island. Fortunately, while I was there, I was able to take some personal time to explore this part of the Big Island which I've grown to really love.

There is something extremely special about the Big Island...the energy there is so magical to me. It is the youngest of our island chain and yet so ancient in it's history and ways. It's really hard for me to describe. I do know, though, that the "mana" (divine power) is dominant there.

One of my favorite discoveries were these beautiful tide pools at Honaunau Bay which is located right next to Pu'u Honua O Honaunau or The City of Refuge. I enjoyed sitting on the lava boulders in the crystal clear ocean water while watching the evening sunset. It was so beautiful!

I decided to visit the same tide pool two days later to enjoy the same experience again before leaving for O'ahu. I discovered that it was low tide and most of the tide pools were empty.

As I sat there, in the same tide pool that I recently happily soaked in, I thought to myself that this was a great reminder how temporary things can be. We shouldn't assume that life will always be the same.

People, places, things change.

The reminder here is to really take in and enjoy every single moment, every single person and every place that you are experiencing. Be mindful and treasure it.

The Hokuli'i Surboard

2009-11-09T20:53:48-10:00

How sweet is this! My darling niece, Angelica Mae, who resides in California (and loves all things Hawai'i) had a Sean Johnson custom surf board made for her with my Hokuli'i Logo! I had heard about it while it was being made and finally got to see it in person during my trip to Cali in July.

Sweet!!!

Mahalo, Angelica, for making me smile!!!

Canon Professional Services

2009-10-29T22:09:00-10:00

To my surprise, I received a big ol' box in the mail today!

It was my goodies from joining the Canon Professional Services. As you know I am a Canon girl. I just recently stumbled upon this program for pros so I thought I'd give it a try.

As a Platinum member you get all sorts of benefits and goodies. I was really impressed with the Think Tank Glass Taxi and Chimp Cage (worth about $180) bags that came with my membership. Part of the $500 I paid as a Platinum Member.

I'm a huge stickler for making sure every piece of equipment functions in tip top shape and is clean, clean, clean! After looking at how much I spent last year in repairs and maintenance of my equipment (way over $500) I thought it would be worth it to give CPS a try and see if it saves me some $$$ in the next year. I've already experienced some savings with the recent cleaning of my Canon 5D sensors! Hooray!

In the long run, if it doesn't turn out to be as valuable as I thought it would be it's totally okay with me as I get a couple of cool Think Tank bags, CPS camera straps (not too girlie but it's sturdy), extra lens and body caps, the latest EF Lens Work III Book, cleaning cloth, tripod pad and a cute CPS pin which I have no idea what to do with!

The Gold $1 Coin

2009-10-27T00:10:00-10:00

Another miracle today! Look at this cool gold $1 coin I received from a parking lot machine. I have never seen one. It's so pretty and it made me so happy to receive something so unique!

Today's gift!

2009-10-26T19:20:28-10:00

I look forward to receiving or witnessing something miraculous every day! EVERY day we are blessed with some token of beauty and joy however, we need to be awake and aware in order to enjoy these gifts that are bestowed upon us.

During my power walk this evening I was overjoyed to see this:

I'm soooo glad I had my iPhone on me during my walk. WOW! It made me feel so warm inside as I was reminded once again of the goodness that life has to offer. So appreciative to be able to witness something so spectacular while doing something much needed for myself. Yipppeeee!!!!

Time for Holiday Photos Peeps!!!

2009-10-22T12:11:16-10:00

Now's the time to start booking your 'ohana's shoot just in time for the holidays! Please contact us at:

www.hokuliiimages.com

Look forward to hearing from you soon!

Happy Henna Birthday!

2009-10-16T23:13:41-10:00

My niece, Thing #1, turned 15 last month. FIFTEEN!!! I cannot believe how quickly time has flown by. And taking with it my little sweet innocent Precious Moments Adabada...

who was now a...TEENAGER!!!

Sigh...after swallowing that dose of reality, I decided that I wanted to give her something special for her birthday this year. I knew that anything related to Blues Clues was out. No more Barbies or Disney Princess shoes, bags or tiaras...I really wanted to prevent any kind of eye rolling if at all possible.

Fortunately I was blessed and honored to meet Rebecca Braun of Lotus Palm Caravan at an O'ahu Wedding Association meeting that I attended recently. Rebecca was demoing her "Timeless Art of Henna" where I of course, became a canvas for her. Well, actually my left palm did to be exact. She created a beautiful Mehndi which symbolized balance and new beginnings. I loved it!

With that in mind, I knew what I wanted to give Thing #1. A gift that symbolizes her rite of passage of turning 15. Brilliant!!!

So this evening, Rebecca worked her Henna magic on my teenage niece.

Here they are discussing what kind of design Thing #1 would like to have...

A clean canvas!

Rebecca begins her magic...

Thing #1 takes advantage of this quiet moment.

Please keep in mind that Rebecca is free hand drawing this! No stenciling or anything, peeps.

And voila!

I'm looking forward to seeing Thing #1 on Sunday some time to photograph her Henna in her prime.

Mahalo nui loa to Rebecca Braun of Lotus Palm Caravan (808-277-0738) for making my 15 year old niece, smile instead of roll her eyes!

And thank you to the JF, Thing #2 and Thing #3 for another delightful evening at their hale. I just love sunsets at the Freitas'!!!

The Holiday Inn Express!

2009-10-16T22:05:09-10:00

During my visit to California in June, my cousin hooked me up at the Holiday Inn Express in Lake Elsinore.

May I just say "WOW!!" Holiday Inn has done an incredible job rebranding itself!

Check it out:

This is a brand new Holiday Inn Express and if I remember correctly a prototype for many others that are popping up all over the country!

Loved the colors and decor of the lobby:

LOVE that they have complimentary breakfasts. And the really good kine too!

They also have a Business Center...

My fave, a workout room!

Indoor pool!

Their rooms were nice, clean, and modern!

As you can see here by our model, she is having a delightful time in the sitting area of her room.

Truly a happy guest!

As a Kanu Hawai'i Member, I really appreciate that Holiday Inn is doing their part in taking care of our environment!

If you're in need of accommodations when you're far away from home, I would highly recommend you check out the new Holiday Inn Express and Suites. They are clean, modern, reasonably priced and I think you get more bang for your buck!

MAHALO NUI LOA to Emil, Breanna, Retha and the staff of Lake Elsinore's Holiday Inn Express and Suites for making my stay so comfortable and fun!

A Columbus Day Gift!

2009-10-12T21:33:24-10:00

This evening at sunset, while I was shooting at Point Panic, this beautiful anuenue (rainbow) displayed herself in all her glory! In fact, if you look closely, it's a double rainbow. What a wonderful gift! And what a fabulous way to end my Columbus Day!!!

Mahalo for this gift...

Beltran 'Ohana at Makapu'u

2009-10-07T21:08:27-10:00

The Beltran 'Ohana really rocked it at Makapu'u this afternoon! What a fun loving family! Despite the humidity that caused us all to sweat, it was picture perfect weather at one of my favorite O'ahu spots.

MAHALO NUI LOA to the Beltrans!

Childhood Goodies

2009-10-07T10:12:27-10:00

A good friend of mine sent me this link this morning. A link to great childhood memories!

For those of you out there who remember this, you know what I'm talkin' about. Wholesome goodness!!!

Mahalo Nui Loa, Kev!

Cup of Love

2009-10-06T09:27:58-10:00

This cup of morning coffee is dedicated to my Abalone Sister, Debbie Friedrich, who's cup is always overflowing with so much love and care for others!!!!

Abalone Sisters' Photo Shoot with :Dave Miyamoto & Co.!

2009-09-23T15:12:24-10:00

Abalone Sisters' Photo Shoot with :Dave Miyamoto from Hokuli'i Images on Vimeo.

What a great way to start a fun filled weekend with my bestest Soul Sisters, Arna and Debbie!

Thank you to Dave and Michelle Miyamoto for the documentation of our sisterhood!

MOTIVES Cosmetics with Jon Freitas

2009-09-23T14:16:05-10:00

Hi Gang!

Just wanted to share my purchase of MOTIVES Cosmetics from my talented bro-in-law, Jon Freitas!

I'm not a big makeup person however, with a few simple items he was able to make me look glam for my photo shoot with my Abalone Sisters last Friday. High quality cosmetics at a reasonable price!

MAHALO NUI LOA, Jon Freitas, for your awesome artistry and your cool MOTIVES MAKEUP Toy Box!

(Follow Jon and his makeup tips, tricks and adventures on Twitter.com/jonfreitas)

You ROCK, bro!!!