I moved to Hawaii six years ago and spent the first year entirely underwater working on a scuba dive boat as a Divemaster, which is where I first fell in love with photography. Since then I've had a camera with me nearly every day. It didn't take long before I went from photographing turtles and octopus to families and weddings - but I'm still not entirely sure how that happened! Along the way I've accumulated photos of some Hawaiian wildlife (mostly by chance, while I was at a photo shoot or going to or coming from one.)
While going thru my numerous multi-gigabyte backup hard drives lately, and transferring images to them to clear off my nearly full laptop, I became aware of a number of things:
Holy smokes, Batman, I have thousands upon thousands of photos!
But wow, look at all these cool kids photos buried in here!
I really need to share them!
Most people are utterly shocked to realize how many 2-4 gigabyte hard drives I have that are filled with nothing but clients photos. I have taken so many thousands of photos that within just a few years as a working photographer, storage of all those photos starts to become a real management issue. :-) My point to all this is that as in my work with thousands of people of all types, shapes, sizes and colors, one common reoccurring theme I see on nearly a daily basis is a fear or discomfort with being in front of a camera. I've literally lost count of how many times I've heard, "I'm not photogenic."
Three generations of the Jones family got together to visit Maui for their first Hawaii vacation in June of 2018 and they wanted beautiful family sunset beach photos since they were seldom all in the same place at the same time. I flew over from Oahu that day and met them at Po‘olenalena Beach Park an hour and a half before sunset.
You came all the way to Hawaii for sunshine, blue skies and warm sand between your toes. Then you saw this website and thought to yourself, "Self, I LOVE this guy's photography and I want photos just like that for me and my loved ones!" But naturally, of course, the very evening of YOUR photo session it's gray, overcast, dull and threatening rain! Geez, why even bother?
If you're in the market for a photographer, one of the first things you'll encounter is some marketing themselves as "natural light only" photographers. At first glance, that seems a bit noble, maybe somehow superior. In this article, however, I'd like to dispel some of the natural light vs flash myths and show you the difference so you can make more informed decisions on what YOU like. In my opinion, a professional photographer should be able to do both.
When I first fell in love with photography, I was working as a scuba dive master and I was mesmerized by the amazing images of octopus, seals, turtles, whales, dolphins and other incredible life that my fellow divers were taking. So I got my own underwater camera and dived in to the world of photography with a passion. I've always been a nature freak so it just felt like a natural extension of my lifelong love of the outdoors and nature. If you had asked me then if I'd ever become a family or wedding photographer, I would have laughed my head off. I was not interested in taking pictures of people!
Discover The Power of the Silhouette
I had long noticed I liked silhouette portaits but I'd really never given it much thought. Then one day I was browsing through thousands of my Hawaii family photography imageslooking for a particular photo when I noticed my eye kept stopping on the silhouettes. That's when I noticed that in a "counter intuitive" way, they were actually emotionally stronger. In a weird way, removing information (the flash in this case) actually improved the storytelling aspect of the image.f
Super-sized Family of 60 - Beach Portraits
I had done some pretty big, extended family photo shoots before, with upwards of 24-26 people, so when Donna contacted me to see if I was up for doing a large family photography session on Oahu's North Shore, I didn't even pause before I said, "No problem." It was only after she explained that she was talking about a family of 56-60 adults and kids that I had to sit back and consider her request more carefully.
Coming from a small family myself, I'm always amazed when I work with large extended families like the 24 member Lane Family. "Poppy & Nanna" (Grandpa & Grandma) asked me for the "Paparazzi" Family package, as they wanted lots of photos of them with their grown kids and 11 grandkids! In addition, they were celebrating both their birthday's as well.
The Incledon's brought three generations of the family to Hawaii for the 2016 Christmas Holiday season - grandparents, kids and the grown up grandkids, 11 in all. With an ongoing week of clouds and rain, we headed for one of my favorite photo session location, Waialae Beach Park, a gorgeous palm tree lined beach not far from Waikiki but usually remarkably low on people.
Family Vacation Photos on Oahu's North Shore
The Loran Family of four (plus one girlfriend) signed up for our Luminous Light Package, utilizing the double session option. On New Year's Day morning, Jan 1st of 2017, we met at Kawela Bay Park on Oahu's North Shore (near Turtle Bay) for the first session of the day. On the agenda: fun family portraits in the trees and forest followed by beach play in the waves. And wow, did we all have a great time!
The Mayo Family called with what they thought was a special request: "We love your sunset photos! Can we get individual sunset shots as well and not just of the whole family?"
Well, of course! It's your photo session! That settled, I met the Mayo Family at Magic Island for an evening of creating beautiful family photos with scenic backdrops of Waikiki, Diamond Head, the park's trees, and of course, the beach. I loved that they brought a change of clothes and props for the two kids, with a ukulele for the boy and a hulu dress for the young girl - wow, what fun! I just love this image! (click title to read more...)
The Ackerman Family warned me they were a large and boisterous group! Ten adults and ten kids ranging from 16 yo to 6mos. And they were wonderfully boisterous and we all had great fun during their double sessions, one in the morning at Waialae Beach Park and another that evening at Magic Island near Waikiki on Oahu... click title to read more....
