Wow, where to start.  Katie contacted me about doing engagement photos and mentioned that she and Nic are scuba divers.  My mind started going crazy with ideas.  I had been to Chinaman’s hat the week before and knew I wanted to do a shoot there and after talking with Katie I knew this was the couple.  I also rounded up some vintage scuba gear, you can see the double hose regulator below.  Thanks Katie and Nic for being so adventurous because it made for a really fun photo shoot.

Many of my clients are visiting Hawaii for their wedding or honeymoon or family vacation.  I often get asked about good places to shop, eat, visit, see, do.  I will start putting up posts with some of these ideas for clients.  I may have a few tips for the north shore, but my wife is the one with tips for Chinatown.  I asked her to guest post about places she might recommend for people to visit.  She’s worked in Chinatown for coming on 4 years and has been known to come home with tasty food and other finds.  I snapped some photos of just a few of her favorite spots, sorry no photos for all the food places she lists.  Her post continues below the photos.

Hi there!  When Mark asked me once to fill in one of his clients on a place to shop for a great dress and then to fill in another client about good eats in Chinatown, we figured that doing some “best of” posts might be useful for people.  Here are some of my very favorites.

Owens and Company.  Delightful shop owner, Missy, stocks her charming shop with terrific stationary, soaps and lotions, candles, jewelry, bags, home decor and more.  Many items are from local artists and other well regarded lines from around the world.  It’s the first place I go when I want to pick up a gift for someone.  I haven’t subscribed to Anthology magazine yet because I look forward to visiting the shop to get the latest issue in person.  She has a fun blog you can find at: www.owensandcompany.com Located at: 1152 Nu`uanu St.

Fighting Eel.  Clothing and accessories – much of it made in Hawaii.  The Fighting Eel brand is all locally designed and made.  They also stock other great clothing lines.  They have fabulous dresses and one of a kind pieces and terrific jewelry.  This shop is wonderful down to the way the clothes smell (I don’t know what it is, but it’s a really good scent in there).   Very nice and stylish staff!  Website here: www.fightingeel.com

Best shoe cobbler is Brown Shoe Repair at 7 N. Hotel St.  One time I brought one of my favorite shoes in that our puppy dog had chewed on.  The kindly cobbler did some simple mending right on the spot and wouldn’t charge me for it.  I bring my shoes in to get re-heeled or fixed up and I’ve always been happy with the results.

FOOD!  There is, of course, good Chinese food, but also great Vietnamese food and even Italian!  I can only highlight a handful in this first post.

Best manapua is definitely Royal Kitchen.  I love their Okinawan sweet potato and kalua pork buns the best.  They are a hole in the wall kitchen, take a number, it get’s busy.  They have a variety of dim sum options to go.  Even my kids love the rice cake, jin dui and manapua.  Total comfort food; all of the aunties work fast in that space, baking those fresh, warm buns daily- even if you don’t typically like manapua, this place will make you a fan.   100 N. Beretania St. they have parking off of Kukui St. behind the shops.

For a good dim sum sit down lunch at a very decent price, Legends Seafood Restaurant is great.  Their fried crab is really good.  They have a full vegetarian menu as well.   Their lunchtime dim sum carts are full of tastiness like the chives/shrimp dumplings, buns, various dumplings, custard pies and more.   100 N. Beretania St.

Chinese food at Little Village Noodle House is scrumptious.  Favorite menu items are the lettuce wraps, honey walnut shrimp, dried green beans, pan fried beef, garlic eggplant dish, spinach salad with pecans and I love all their appetizers.  Sit down lunch or dinner.  1113 Smith St.

Vietnamese Pho and spring or summer rolls are awesome at Pho Huong Lan in the Chinese Cultural Plaza at 100 N. Beretania St.  Pho 97 has good Pho, chicken sandwiches and tons of other good menu options at 1120 Maunakea St.

Brunos Forno is a wonderful little Italian spot to sit down for lunch (everyday but Sunday) or dinner (Thursday-Saturday).  The whole menu is good but I particularly love their veggie sandwich, tuna salad, veggie lasagna, or country sandwich.- seriously great stuff.   The woman who runs it and makes the food, Kim, is lovely.  1120 Maunakea St.

Grand Café and Bakery at 31 N. Pauahi St. is a quaint and comfortable little café, popular spot for a business breakfast or lunch.  They’ve been in business since the early 1920s!   I love their lemon cake and daily lunch specials.

Otto Cake -Homemade cheesecake, rotating unique and classic flavors.  The other simple baked goods on hand are also lovely.  1160 Smith St.

Bubble drinks can be found in the Maunakea Marketplace or on Pauahi or Maunakea street front shops.  I think they’re all good.

Next ‘Best of Chinatown’ post will include more terrific spots to shop and eat!

Kristen and Allen had an amazing destination wedding at the Turtle Bay resort pavilion located on the north shore of O`ahu Hawai`i.  The evening was perfect.  We were able to get some fantastic wedding pictures on the beach as well as the reef.  I also loved the arch that was made by North Shore Weddings and Flowers.  The stunning colors of the flowers were on the arch as well as the table centerpieces.  The wedding was peaceful and beautiful, congratulations Kristen and Allen!

What a fun shoot!  This was a family of 15, his, hers, theirs, spouses and girlfriends.  This was their last day of vacation here in Hawaii.  With a group this large I decided to take them to a little hidden beach on the North Shore that would give us a lot of different backdrops.  After shooting the family portraits they asked if we could do some underwater pictures.  This was totally not planned, no one even had swimsuits or towels.  Of coarse I said yes, I will take any excuse  to get in the water.  At first a few of the family members were a little hesitant,  but once we started getting in the water it was just all fun.

I had a fantastic time photographing Marina and Lyosha from Moscow, Russia.  They booked me for a four hour session giving us plenty of time to get a variety of wedding shots and also time to get some candid photos in the water. Marina and Lyosha were the 5th couple I photographed from Russia this year!  Very cool.  We spent our time on the North Shore of Oahu and here is a sampling of what we got. 

I recently got back from a two week vacation to visit family in California.  We had a great time and our kids loved every minute of it too.  During the down time I worked on a video project with Ruby.  She came up with and laid out a story line, pushing all of the pieces she cut out into position.  Together we made a stop motion film by taking a picture of every position change of her pieces to tell the story.  I put the pictures together to create the video.  She was very patient with the process and I could tell she loved it.  She has creative talent, her teacher at school says she takes her time and puts her whole effort into any coloring or craft project.  It seems that time is going too fast with our kids.  Pretty much everyday Patria comes to find me to tell me about a funny or charming interaction that just happened with the kids.  After the kids go to bed we love to exchange stories of the cute things they did or the conversations we had with them.

The video is very short but pretty sweet.  I also included a photo of Ruby holding one of Grandma and Grandpa’s chickens and a photo of the kids with Patria and one of Ruby and some friends in the lo`i.

I photographed my last wedding of 2011 this morning at Chinaman’s Hat across from Kualoa Ranch.  I met Michelle and Kevin at 6:30 am for a sunrise beach wedding.  Michelle and Kevin met when they were both working on President Obama’s campaign in 2008.  Michelle also currently serves in the Navy with frequent deployments.  They are such a genuinely kind and fun couple who I enjoyed meeting.  It was a beautiful morning with them and a great way to wrap up the year.

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

Photographing this engagement session reminded me in a big way how amazingly beautiful Hawaii is.  I drive on this coastline everyday and while I like to think I don’t take it for granted, I can always appreciate it more.  On this day the sky was bright with blue and the water was crystal clear.  Definitely a fun session for this newly married couple, she just  graduated from BYUH and he flew to Hawaii from Hong Kong after a very long separation from each other.

I am on holiday visiting family until the new year, but before I left I shot the Christmas lights for the Polynesian Cultural Center.   I was fully impressed, if you are looking to get into the Christmas spirit in Hawaii, I highly recommend going around on the lagoon at the PCC to see the Christmas lights and nativity scenes.  To find out more about checking out the lights click here.

The video is one of my favorite renditions of the nativity.  It was done by the children of St. Paul’s Church in New Zealand.  Merry Christmas!