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!

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Crystal's Maui Bikini Portraits at Waipuilani Park

While on vacation in Maui, Crystal decided to do a photo shoot at sunset so she could take home some island beauty. We took all of her pictures at Waipuilani Beach Park in Kihei - starting beneath the Kiawe trees (so many prickly little thorns to watch out for), moving on to some really cool palms and finishing (of course) in the sand as the most GIANT SUN I've EVER seen was slipping beneath the horizon. Crystal is from Vancouver, BC so I'm sure it was a nice change for her to be able to lie on the beach in a bikini and feel warm! Crystal does some acting and it was fun to hear about the different movies she's been in. When I hear someone has been in a movie, I'm always so tempted to become a total stalker and find them in the background haha. Crystal was really patient with me as I experimented with this bright Hawaiian light that I'm still getting used to. My main focus these days is figuring out how to shoot specifically for black and white images, as opposed to just turning some images B&W as an after thought when I'm back at my computer. Basically, I'm learning to shoot black and white images ON PURPOSE! haha It's a different ball game. I love it. :)

Thank you Crystal for such a fun photo shoot. You were super sweet and I hope you're staying cozy toasty warm back home!

My Idea for Maui Mini-Movies — Family Portrait Shoot with Maile

So I have a crazy new idea..... family video portraits.

I want to try creating 2-3 minute video portraits for families. Like family portraits but instead of still pictures, it's moving video. And don't worry, I'm not visualizing like wedding style videos. It's not going to be a slow documentary of them staring at the camera or anything painfully boring like that. I'm visualizing fast-paced, flashy, colorful fun videos of families playing together on the beach. Quick shots that capture the feeling of being together and having fun.

Is this a slightly random project? Perhaps. haha I've just been wondering about this for a couple weeks now. It's been on my mind. I have this inkling to just try it. No harm done if I hate it or completely suck at it. I've booked a few shoots with some families who are volunteering to be my Guinea Pigs. I'm going to meet them at the beach, run in the sand, splash in the waves, have tickle-fests and play peek-a-boo with the camera. We'll see how it goes. If it's fun and I'm good at it, who knows where this will lead. Maybe I'll start a sister company. I'll shoot women & their families. Maybe the mom's I photograph will be enticed to come to me for beauty portraits too! For now thought, it's just a fun weekend project to get this idea out of my head and onto 'film'. I think I'll call these family mini-movies.

I experimented on my first family last week. I met Maile and her two children at a very local beach near the bird sanctuary in Waiehu, Maui. We splashed in the wee stream and spun around LOTS. I've just started digging through the video footage and of course I'll be sharing it once I finished their mini-movie. The soundtrack I've selected for them is "Let's Be Young" by Evan McHugh. Check it out, it's super fun. For now, enjoy these sweet still portraits that I captured along the way...

Thank you so much Maile for reaching out to me and helping me get started on the island. It was a delight to meet you and your kiddos. You're so sweet and I hope to see you again soon!