A Photo Chick's Journal in Paradise

Hōkūliʻi Images Wedding Tip: Metal Crochet Needle

2011-03-02T08:26:25-10:00

I get to see some of the most BEAUTIFUL wedding dresses ever created! All of them befitting for the anxious and excited wife-to-be! Some of these dresses require lacing or hooking on buttons. I donʻt really know what the professional term for it is but I do know that:

1) Having a crochet needle really helps to make the task easier

2) Having SEVERAL METAL crochet needles ensures that youʻll accomplish the job successfully since they wonʻt break and you can have someone else assist with the job.

Itʻs important that the preparation or Getting Ready part of your wedding day go as smoothly as possible so as not to impact your timeline with delays. Think of all the things you can to make it go as efficiently as possible.

So HOORAY for the simple metal crochet needles who do their part in helping my bridesʻ special day start off calmly!!! Chee-hoo!!!!

My Favorite Things: Something Blue

2011-03-01T12:20:22-10:00

I needed to share with you that this has got to be one of my very favorite "Something Blue" on one of my delightful brides! You can be really, really creative on your wedding day and I thought this was super cute!

Bloglovinʻ!!!!

2011-02-15T13:22:19-10:00

Follow my blog with bloglovin

Kara and Gabeʻs Engagement Session

2011-02-14T16:44:00-10:00

This upcoming Saturday, I have the great honor and pleasure to be documenting Kara and Gabeʻs wedding!

Back in August of 2010 I photographed them at one of my very favorite locations on the Windward side of Oʻahu - Kualoa Beach Park.

Sigh....Kara and Gabe....what can I say??? I canʻt say much with words however, I can share with you the love that they have for one another through their images...

Furfle 35mm Holga!

2011-02-06T12:39:02-10:00

Meet my Furfle toy camera:

Yes, her name is Furfle and sheʻs so much fun! Like life, the photos that are captured unpredictable, NOT perfect and fun!

Wedding Wire Brides Choice Award 2011

2011-01-31T10:05:22-10:00

MAHALO NUI LOA to my fabulous clients and their ʻohana and friends for this auspicious award!!! You are all so incredibly WONDERFUL!!! I share this with all of YOU!!!

Christmas Cards 2010

2010-12-31T17:13:47-10:00

Thank you to all my AMAZING friends, family, colleagues and clients for your wonderful Christmas Cards I received in the mail and via eMail! It was soooo nice to see all of your lovely, smiling faces during the holidays.

Thank you for your kindess and best wishes!!! I love them all!!!

Dearest Santa....

2010-12-20T20:33:56-10:00

Five days to Christmas!!! I donʻt think Santa would mind that my letter is running a little behind schedule due to the busyness of the holiday season. So in between editing and processing, I took some time to write my letter to Santa tonight!

I brought out my folder paper and Crayola Colored Markers and went to work....

It felt soooo great to write to the Big Man himself!

Remember, you are NEVER too old to put in your request to the Big Man! The Big Man who represents LOVE, JOY and all things GOOD! Sound familiar??? :)

Happy wishing, dreaming and MANIFESTING, my friends!!

Happy Holidays!!!

Thank you, Pear!!!

2010-12-13T23:11:00-10:00

I wanted to send a big MAHALO NUI LOA to Pear, on her birthday, for blessing her 'ohana with a most gorgeous sunset this evening!!!

So grateful that blessed ones can make magic from heaven... :)

Peggy Chun Gallery Closing...

2010-12-10T01:05:29-10:00

Yes, it's true! The Peggy Chun Gallery is closing...so now's the time to purchase and own a Peggy Chun artpiece!!!

Today, December 10, 2010, is the last day that this OPEN sign will be up.

Incredible SAVINGS on all kinds of Peggy Chun goodies, gang!!!

And even, Debbie Friedrich's Zenatona BLOOMIES are going to be making a very special appearance for all the Peggy Chun shoppers!!!

Thank you, Ali, for setting them up for sale!

Ali is doing his Happy Disco Discount moves because of all the SAVINGS that'll be going on at today's SALE!!! Go, Ali, go!!!

Yes, gang, get down to the Peggy Chun Gallery and purchase all you can at a very discounted rate! Fill up your red wagon, recycled shopping bags, or SUV for the holidays and support the Peggy Chun Gallery!!!

MAHALO NUI LOA, my friends!!!

Bloomies and Super Citizen!!!

2010-12-09T23:20:52-10:00

My dear Feng Shui Sister and friend, Kimi, introduced me to a fabulous store in Chinatown today called, Super Citizen!

It's located at 22 South Pauahi Street right next to Mark's Garage:

I was so excited just walking through the front door! Look at the graffiti chalk drawing of the STARS on the wall!! I don't know if this is supposed to be there or not. But I didn't care as seeing hokus (stars) are always a great sign in my book!!!

Kimi wanted to introduce me to her friend and fellow Chinatown shop owner, Sandra Fowler. Kimi had recently introduced my BSS and fellow artist, Debbie Friedrich's, special line of Zenatona products called Bloomies.

And here she is! Super citizen herself, Sandra Fowler, owner of Super Citizen!

You guys, this store is sooooo cute! It's a Sustainable Lifestyle Store which means that all the products that Sandra carries are eco-friendly, handmade, organic and most likely one-of-a-kind! Her store reeks of wholesome goodness!!!

She is the first local retail store to carry Zenatona's Bloomies:

Ooooooo....Bloomies!!!!

Sandra showed me some really cool earth friendly items like these biodegradable cloths that are made from wood pulp. They can replace 60-90 rolls of paper towels!!!

And these organic dolls!

She supports local artists by purchasing locally made items such as handsoaps and jewelry.

And these cool R.E.U.S.E. jeans!

Several things really caught my attention such as this cardboard airplane that was hanging from the ceiling!

At first I was like, "whaaaat???" But then, I noticed this on the showroom floor...

OMG!!! Some company was BRILLIANT enough to take cardboard into creative forms of pretend transportation or how's this!

I remember being a kid and my sister and I had hours of fun playing with empty cardboard boxes. Isn't this soo dang clever??? Sandra has the Lemonade Stand, Airplane and ROCKET in stock at her shop. This is so awesome and I want one. One of each!!!

Loved these 2 Tier lunch containers!

Ooo...ahhhh!!!!

And they are on SALE!! In fact, check out the sales too!!!

What I've shown you is just a snippet of all the wonderful products and alternative choices to your every day needs. Super Citizen is a really super cool store which you should all check out! Especially for the holidays, folks!

Take a trip into Chinatown and explore the great local shops that are there. Stop into Super Citizen and tell Sandra HI!!! And pick up a Bloomie or two while you're there, will ya?

Peace out, my friends!!!

Blessings 365: Day #4

2010-11-28T22:10:00-10:00

Where I live there are rainbows....and this morning, after an exciting and successful TV interview on KITV with Jodi Leong, I was blessed with this beautiful sight! If you look closely, itʻs a double delight!

MAHALO, Ke Akua!!!!

Blessings 365: Day #3

2010-11-27T18:31:16-10:00

How neat to be able to live in this day and age where you climb on board this thing called an AIRPLANE and fly to another destination just for the day?

Blessings 365: Day #2

2010-11-26T11:11:00-10:00

What a delightful Thanksgiving! Iʻm soooo happy that I consumed a turkey that didnʻt have any antibiotics or hormones and stuff plugged into it....

Thank you to this turkey for involuntarily giving itself up for Thanksgiving!

What are you grateful for?

2010-11-26T01:47:08-10:00

Now hereʻs a great way to spend my Thanksgiving with friends! I asked each of them to jot down on my old skool chalkboard what they are grateful for and hereʻs the final product!

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Remember to make Giving Thanks a daily practice! Itʻs so much fun!!!

Blessings 365: Happy Giving Thanks Day!

2010-11-25T12:35:59-10:00

Oh happy day! One of my most FAVORITE days of the year is here! Actually, for me, every day is a Giving Thanks Day . There is sooo much to be grateful for! Why only ONE day out of the year, right? We should be counting and mentioning our blessings EVERY day!

With that being said, on this Thanksgiving Day, I am starting a Blessings Day Photo Journal: 365. I was inspired to start this by my dear friend The Kitchen Goddess, Fortuna Cooley Arai, who was inspired by someone else who is keeping a Gratitude Journal on-line. But of course, for me, in true Photo Chick style, my blessings need to be accompanied by a visual aid.

Like I said, every day there is so much to be grateful for. I am going to journal at least ONE blessing every day.

So here we go!!!!

I am thankful for....

Maude, the very friendly and pretty Plymouth Rock hen, for NOT being a turkey!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and your loved ones! THANK YOU for visiting my blog and for doing what you're doing on your end to keep the love flowing....

Blessings to all of you!!!

A Haiku for our beloved City of Kāneʻohe

2010-11-23T15:38:29-10:00

Today is such a beautiful day in Kāneʻohe! I was feeling so inspired by the gorgeousness AND a Facebook post by my nephew, Maikaʻi who is snowed in in Washington State. I responded to his post by telling him that I would share a little bit of WARM aloha by going out to capture what today is like here in our islands.

So with that I put on my Vibram KSOs and did a quick trek out to a couple of my favorite places to give thanks and to capture the beauty of today.

During this little adventure I was inspired to write a Haiku about this special city I have the great opportunity to reside in:

"Our Kāneʻohe

Reminds us to breathe...deep breaths...

Thank you for the peace...."

This last photo was actually taken specifically for Maikaʻi and also my dear friend, Package A, who resides in another cold state.

You know what was so cool? While I was shooting this last image, playing on the radio was Brother Cazimeroʻs "Home in the Islands." It was perfect!!! I was overwhelmed with so much joy and gratitude for this special place we live at and are from. Iʻd love to leave you with a few lines from this very catchy well loved Cazimero tune:

"Thereʻs no other place

that Iʻd rather be

than home in the islands in the middle of the sea

Keeping real close, to family and friends

And taking it easy in the tropical breezes...

At home in the islands

in the middle of the sea..."

And Kāneʻohe is only ONE town that depicts the beauty of our ALOHA State!!

So lucky we live Hawaiʻi!!!

Hokuli'i Tip #4: What if we don't have time to do our engagement session BEFORE our wedding?

2010-11-17T21:42:02-10:00

So sorry for the long Title on this one, gang! Let me explain....

Several of my wedding packages come with an engagement session. Sometimes, I have clients who are flying in for their wedding and don't have time to do an engagement session from the time they've made plans for their Hawai'i wedding to the time they fly in for their big event. My advice would be not to stress out about it unless you're using the photos for the reception at your wedding day.

For instance, my lovely couple Amy and Bernie flew in just a few days before their 10/10/10 at the beautiful Moana Hotel. They opted to use their engagement session AFTER their fun filled event since they had a few days to chillax as husband and wife here on O'ahu.

Check out how cute they were on their wedding day!

How's their 10/10/10 Sunset photo!!!

Fortunately, like most of my couples, Amy and Bernie are a sweet laid back couple so they were open to shooting their engagement session post wedding day.

I suggested that we contrast their wedding day and do a SUNRISE shoot at Makapu'u Beach Park. They were totally gung-ho with the idea!

Here are a few images from their engagement shoot at Makapu'u...

Good morning, Sun!!!

Oooo! Wait! Before I go on...just a quick commercial break here...

This was the shoot where I "christened" my new Vibram FiveFingers Treksports! These "shoes" are AWESOME and totally perfect for running around on all them lava rocks! I purchased mine from the historic, Uyeda Shoe Store at University Square!

Okay, back to our sweet couple...

There is nothing like morning sunlight...and just so you know, when we do a sunrise shoot WE MUST BE ON TIME as the sun does NOT wait for anyone!!! Once she's up, she's up! So sunrise shoots don't last for very long as the light gets more and more intense and becomes less flattering.

Fortunately, when it started to get this way I found a little shaded "nook" that I could tuck these two love birds in.

MAHALO NUI LOA, to Amy and Bernie for their flexibility and their smiles.

And MAHALO NUI LOA to Vibram Five Fingers for making feetware that makes total sense! Especially for this island-trekking-documenting gal!!!

FYI...I bought these in black so that I could also wear them to some of my wedding shoots. Not for all! Just some!!! :)

Hokuli'i Tip #3: What Do We Wear?!??!?!

2010-11-16T22:16:08-10:00

It's that time of year, gang! Gratefully, this is when 'Ohana shoots start to fill up my calendar until the end of the year.

Much to my delight, there are families who have turned their picture taking sessions into an annual event. And then there are families who are brand new to a professional portrait session.

Usually there is one main question that is mind boggling to the moms (who are the ones usually in charge and requesting that this event take place much to the chagrin of her brood). And the question is..."What in the world do we wear????!!!!"

It's really quite simple and doesn't require you going out to purchase a new wardrobe for your photo session. The key word here is simple!

My best advice is to stick to solid colors. If there is a pattern involved, like say you just bought the newest and coolest Wahine Toa or Manuheali'i print, make sure that there are several members in your 'ohana to compliment the beautiful designs with SOLID colors. As seen here:

The solids really help to break up the design. This is also visually pleasing to the eye when you throw your images into Black and White or Sepia like this photo of mom and her two boys.

Now, with a family of maybe two to six members it's pretty easy to coordinate attire.

It does become a little trickier when you have several families getting together to take a photo.

Again, the same suggestion applies, keep it simple! For the big group shot, everyone can wear the same color scheme. And then later, when the families are broken down into groupings they can wear their own color.

OR you can all be in different shades of the same color. Or at least a color that compliments another color like so:

Even in Black and White it looks pretty cool!

After the big group shot, I then like to break it down to the mini families:

Hey!!!!! What up, Slavens!!!

This shot works with Kex's shirt having a design because it's subtle and his parents complimented it in solids.

Okay, hopefully this will at least give you an idea of how to deal with the wardrobe quandary for your photo shoot. Just keep it simple and you'll be fine!!!

Seriously folks, it's really all about the fun and the LOVE!!!

MAHALO NUI LOA for popping by!!!

Happy Six Year Anniverary, Mataeles!!!

2010-11-07T11:37:23-10:00

Six years ago from today, I was blessed to document the wedding of Mapuana Reed to Stan Mataele at the classic Moana Surfrider Hotel in Waikiki. And what a fantastic wedding it was!!!

I am so proud to say that since then, Mapuana and I have stayed in close contact and have become close friends and even colleagues as she too is a very talented photographer. She runs and operates Mapuana Photography!

Congratulations, dear friends! MAHALO NUI LOA for such a magnificent time at your wedding!!! I remember it like it was just yesterday....I love you both!!!