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!

Another fun year at the Rell Sunn Menehune event at Makaha.  Spending time as a family and good friends.  The video highlights the kids from Halau Nalu surf club and the photos below are a few of the other participants, including Rell Sunn’s grandson in the yellow jersey.  Also a special shout out to Kumu  Ka’iulani for hooking us up with a place to stay and for helping with the kids in the water.

It has been a very busy last few months, a lot of weddings and commercial work.  I am so excited for this weekend to spend a few down days with my family and good friends.  I alway look forward to this weekend, its become tradition for us spend it in Makaha at the Rell Sunn Menehune surf contest.  I still end up in behind the camera, but I love to get in the  water and capture the kids having fun.  Here are a few photos from previous years.