Jenny's Black and White Beauty Portraits in the Trees

I'm so excited to share this third series of Jenny's beauty portraits at Waipuilani Park in Maui. We photographed her beauty portraits and then we took more beauty portraits. As we were walking through the park, Jenny asked if she could climb into the trees. Of course!! She climbed up into a tree that had a V shape for standing in. That series of portraits is in color and I'll share those next week - it's like the never ending photo shoot with 10 parts haha. But first, I want to share this black and white series (which is my favorite) where she climbed up onto a giant tree branch. So beautiful. Thank you again Jenny for being so fun to photograph!

Check out my last post: Jenny's Beauty Portraits in the Field of Long Grass!

Click here to book your photo shoot with Chamonix Thurston-Rattue.

Maui Beauty Portraits in the Buganvilla Bushes

Jenny found me for her beauty portraits through a Craigslist ad that I put out to the island of Maui asking for women to volunteer for photo shoots. I have all these ideas for fun places to photograph women on the island and my #1 goal since the day I arrived in Hawaii was to get the buganvilla bushes involved. These gorgeous colorful flower bushes grow alongside all the roads all over the island. They come in pink and cream and orange but the vision brewing in my mind was alllll about the purple! Around the corner from our house is an entire wall of purple buganvilla bushes so when Jenny met me at the beach last Sunday, I had it all planned out. We curled her hair, drew on the eyeliner, pulled on a pretty white sweater (trying to not to mess up her hair) and slid on some golden bangles. All ready to go! (Eventually, the sweater came off and we wrapped her up in a white lace scarf.) We crossed the road and got out pose on in the bushes! We had a sweet old man walk by and offer to take our photo together. haha At the time I explained that it was a photo shoot so I didn't really feel the need to jump in front of the camera but in retrospect I totally wish I had just said yes because that would be a fun photo to have. That's definitely a life lesson I've been learning a lot recently - 99% of the time it's worth saying yes, even when you feel like saying no. Anywho, I'm super stoked about Jenny's portraits. She's such a beautiful woman (I loved her curly strawberry hair) and I finally get to check 'Buganvilla Bushes' off of my to-do list - woohoo!! :D

The fun didn't stop with the Buganvilla bushes — Jenny and I had more adventures together in the forest across the road. She was climbing up trees and posing inside palm trees. Check back later this week for the rest of her photos!

Want more? Check out my last blog post which was all about my wonderful daily commute in Maui that makes me smile :D hehe

Naomi's Portraits at the Surfboard Wall and Baldwin Beach, Maui

A couple weeks ago my friend Naomi and I went to Baldwin Beach on the north shore of Maui to take pictures of her for her new website. I love photographing fellow photographers - we're all so awkward in front of the camera because we're not used to it and I always find it a fun challenge to make them feel more relaxed. Naomi is a wedding and portrait photographer in Maui and you can visit her blog here: http://naomilevit.com/ I love this surf board wall where we started our shoot. It's just on the side of the Hana Hwy after you've gone through Paia town. So cool! When we arrived at the beach, we decided to explore down a grassy pathway through the trees instead of just jumping into the sand and oh my goodness we're so happy we did because the most gorgeous evening sunshine was pouring through the leaves - I finally get to experience what people mean when they talk about the 'golden hour' - it was more like the 'golden 5 minutes' but that's good enough for me. I loved it! Naomi is so much fun to be around - she has the best laugh, she isn't afraid to make funny faces and she loves being outdoors. We share a love for simple living, pretty wine labels, veggie gardening and the more wild jungle side of Maui. I'm so happy to have met her and to have a new friend on this little island :D Thank you so much Naomi for asking me to take your portraits! It was a delight :D 

Karin's Maui Portraits at Lumeria

I met Karin in the parking lot at Lumeria, a gorgeous retreat center in Paia, Maui, where she teaches early morning meditation. She won me over instantly with her happy smile and laid back personality. We sat on the deck beneath a palm tree while I curled her hair and did her makeup. She was telling me stories about how she got into meditation and why she moved to Maui. Walking around the grounds of this gorgeous sanctuary was so peaceful. Everywhere I looked there were beautiful benches, landscaped gardens, hammocks, bamboo hedges, stunning decor inspired by Asian architecture. Karin guided me around and every few feet I would get all excited and have her pose here and there with all the beautiful backdrops. We had so much fun together and I am so grateful to have had this opportunity to explore one of the most beautiful spots in Maui. Thank you so much Karin! and THANK YOU Lumeria!!

I always love throwing in a 'before' photo and some behind the scenes of the action. AND I love putting hair into pin curls. If your hair refuses to hold a curl, try this. It's an amazing trick.

And I would like to extend a HUGE THANK YOU to Lumeria for giving us permission to shoot on their grounds. Just look at this beautiful place....

Sadler Family Portraits at Sugar Beach in Kihei Maui

I'm so excited to share the still images from my second family mini-movie portrait session in Maui! Toni contacted me after she saw my advertisement for families on Craigslist. We met at the Kealia Coastal Boardwalk, played on the beach and finished with a big splash. While we were taking photos, Toni and Isaiah told me about their love story. They've known each other since they were in 5th grade! They finally started dating in college and they moved to Maui a year and a half ago. Then along came little Miss. Rosalyn! She was so sweet throughout our entire shoot, only crying once because she couldn't live another moment without a Triscuit. haha I'm still editing their 32GB of video footage together (hopefully it will be completed in about 2 weeks!) I can't wait to see the final product. For now, you can enjoy their pretty still photographs that we took at Sugar Beach in north Kihei. :D 

 

Thank you so much again Sadler family for asking me to take your family portraits! You're adorable and lovely and it was wonderful to photograph you. You'll be hearing from me again soon with lots more prettiness in motion! :D