Project Demi 365
Tonsillectomy...successful.
My sweet sweet little angel.
Four Seasons Maui Four Pinot Event, a quickie
What happens when you put the top Pinot Noir vintners from California, the Four Seasons Maui and Maui Farmers together?
An amazing fete.
No one does it like the Four Seasons does.
Project Demi 365
Sometimes you must catch them while they sleep.
Project Demi 365, Throwback Thursday
I remember loving this shot when it was taken. I can't recall if my sister shot it or if I did to be honest. However, it was with a Canon point and shoot.
It's when I decided I wanted to know how to take great photos of my children. Not too much thinking of doing it as a profession, just wanting to archive and save my children's faces on print...permanently. Greatly. Clearly.
It was a start.
It's funny. Once you understand light and how to shoot manually and understand the relationship between F-stop, ISO and shutter speed it really doesn't matter what you shoot with. You can shoot with a homemade camera with incredible results. I don't want to get caught up on actions or Photoshop. I've never wanted "trendy." But to each their own....
Project Demi 365
I know. I know. I'm like six months behind it seems on this project. Believe it or not, I HAVE taken a photo everyday of her. I just haven't posted them. Shame on me! How can I keep this angel hidden? Well, school, life, laundry, shoots, life, Cole and all sorts of things are in my way!
Four Seasons Wailea Wedding, Cat and Joel
Congrats to Joel and Cat! More later on these cuties....
Reflection, Maui Photo Group
I assumed for this project featuring the topic "Reflection" most of us would be using the medium of water.
I had a great idea and then it got lost in the day to day things I do. (And most of all I don't have a way to shoot myself and my daughter without help from someone.)
SOOOOO......My lifelong friend Mariah will be the subject today! I LOVE getting this shot during a bride's "getting ready process." I like to switch the focus back and forth between the mirror and their veil. It's pretty and a classic. I always make it black and white. Seems more fitting.
Congrats to my first Bride Mariah. She was confident enough in my ability to let me shoot my first big wedding with her and her husband, Scott.
And now they have a baby. :) Can't wait to photograph that little sweet girl. Can't wait to meet you Baby Claire!
Make sure you follow our Maui Photo Group's circle by checking out Trish Barker's interpretation of "Reflection" here.
Cole Van Sheveland, Middle Schooler
Yep. It happened.
My little guy has completed elementary school. Sniff sniff. Makes me so sad.
BUT.....kids grow up. 11 years old and he's going places. He just got on a plane all by himself to San Francisco. When did all this happen? I'm not ready, but I guess I'll just have to be.
I shot these right before Cole's 5th grade graduation. He picked out his outfit. Yes the "sport coat" is too small. Yes the jeans skinny. But that's what he wanted. After two minutes of photos he said, "we are done Mom." Sigh....
Pretty proud of the dude.
Negative Space, Maui Photo Group
Negative space is our Monthly Maui Photo Group's "challenge" this month. It's one of my favorite design principles within photography and I use it on almost every applicable photo shoot.
Negative space, in art, is the space around the focal point or subject, thus creating a silhouette or a shape within itself. The use of equal negative space in composition is said to be good design. Because I shoot portraits and weddings, I like to incorporate negative space in my shoots. I think it's a challenge to nail the composition with people. Knowing I had this topic as our monthly challenge for April, I took that into consideration during my last few shoots and tried to have some fun with it. As you can see, I have a wide range of portraits and shoots. Funny because I always thought I was a better landscape photographer and now I don't think that so much.
Make sure you check out my talented sister in law Wendy Laurel's interpretation of negative space here.
Repetition. Maui Circle Photo Project.
Repetition.
Definition:
Repeating visual elements such as line, color, shape, texture, value or image tends to unify the total effect of a work of art as well as create rhythm.
Repetition can take the form of an exact duplication (pattern), a near duplication, or duplication with variety.
Check out the very talented Trish Donroe Barker's interpretation here.
Monday Marion with Maui Rose
Marion (pronounced Marrrrryyyy-own in my best french accent) is absolutely stunning. I LOVED doing this shoot because I always knew how beautiful this french darling was. She is just one of those people that wears pregnancy VERY well. I think this was literally days before she gave birth to her third precious baby. (Yep. Third.) Marion owns and designs the incredible cool line of beach bags called "Maui Rose." You can contact Maui Rose here.
Do you feel my "Out of Africa" vibe here?
Project Demi 365
I know I'm super behind on this photo project. Between gymnastics classes, dance, surfing, blown eardrums and tonsilectomies (spelling?) there is barely enough time to eat. (Okay I'm bs'ing on that one obviously because I cook ALL the time) Seriously though folks....never enough time. Look at this gem though. What a cutie. And when can my iphone replace my clunky Canon 5D Mark II?
Strawberry-Basil Scones, Made by Me.
I'm not really a scones kinda girl, but this recipe surprised me with it's goodness. I liked making it because you have to make it gently and with love. Otherwise it doesn't turn out.
The key to this recipe is to be very GENTLE. You don't want the strawberries bleeding and making your scones pink. (Which I suppose could be cute.) So make sure you fold the chopped berries in softly, and with love.
With a cup of coffee and fresh out of the oven, these are really good and not too sweet. One last thing....try to use the freshest ingredients as you can. I use fresh Maui eggs, local strawberries and basil from my garden. It really does make a difference. Enjoy!
(Miss Leah, I'm posting this for you.)
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into chunks
3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries
2 tbsp snipped basil
2 eggs lightly beaten
1/2 cup whole milk (you can use half & half if you feel like it.)
Sugar for dusting (Raw sugar looks good)
Whole milk for basting
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large bowl stir together the flour, the 2 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gently toss in fresh and freeze-dried strawberries and basil. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.
In a medium bowl stir together eggs and the half-and-half. Add egg mixture to flour mixture all at once. Using a large spoon, gently stir just until moistened.
Turn dough out onto a generously floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing it 5 to 7 times, turning dough a quarter turn after each fold. Transfer to a lightly floured parchment-lined baking sheet. (I didn't have parchment-lined baking sheets so I just heavily floured a cookie sheet.) Pat or lightly roll dough into a 3/4-inch-thick circle. Cut circle into wedges. I like to cut them even smaller than I did in the photo. Also, a larger granule of raw sugar would be more effective for the dusting to give it some texture.
More recipes on their way....
Monthly Photo Challenge, Maui Photographers
My brilliant sister in law thought it would be fun to do a monthly photo challenge with all the Maui Photographers. This month the theme is "Water." Obviously here on Maui we have probably the prettiest beaches and ocean on the planet. However, I wanted to represent where I live. THE JUNGLE. Haiku is a super rainy place here on the North Shore of Maui. And right when I decided to do this, it started raining. Providing me with the perfect water droplets on my roses and other tropical plants. I don't have a macro lens which would have been super cool, but not bad for a 24-70 mm lens. After looking at mine, go check out Alisa Greig's intrepretation of "Water" right here.
Claire & Jonathan, Haiku Mill, Haiku Hawaii
Thank you to Matthew Alvarado, of Beloved. He's taught me so much. What a pretty event. I loved all the colors. The flowers were sooooo beautiful. The PINK. The pink is amazing. And of course, let's not forget. The prettiest venue ever, The Haiku Mill. Best part? I live 5 minutes away.
AND last but not least......The Food.
Wow. Maui Executive Catering did a beautiful and delicious job.
I sort of really enjoy shooting food. Isn't their food pretty?
Giacomo & Meline, Hotel Wailea Wedding
This AWESOME couple from Switzerland (originally hailing from Italy) are traveling the world and decided to stop in Maui for a quick little wedding. I have never laughed so hard during an event. They were so in love and just darling. More to come! Thank you for viewing my work!
Project Demi 365
Every Thanksgiving, my folks come over from the Westside and stay all day and spend the night. We play a big game of Yahtzee and tell stories. (Stories that usually involve making fun of me.)
Demi said "I'm going to sneak into bed with Baboo and Grandpa. (I have no idea how Grandma Robin became "Baboo" after all these years.)
So she did. She snuck in. And so did the cat. I'm pretty sure my Mom is faking it right now. Nice try Baboo.
Maui Child Photographer. Sort of.
Sometimes everything can line up perfectly for a shoot. The weather is sparkling, the people amazing......yet they are children and don't want their photos taken.
Surf kids, aged 8,9,10,11 and 12. Photos? Ick.
Justforgettaboutit.
They hid behind leashes. They hid behind boards. They ran away from me. Oh well. I tried. Eventually they will learn to love it when a nice gal like me wants to take their photo. Until then, we get this.
Kudos to the grom's awesome surf coach Nakoa Decoite. Nakoa is a sponsored surfer here on Maui and can be contacted here.
More next week on surf coach Nakoa.
Groms featured here are Conan, Cole, Jackson, Izzy, Payce, Kai and two random Stand Up Paddle dudes I didn't know.
Jimmy Kimmel, Lukas Nelson
I've decided that Jimmy Kimmel is pretty rad. After watching the video from the Jimmy Kimmel show asking parents to tell their children they ate all of their Halloween candy and to video it, I thought I might die of laughter. It was so hilarious. Jimmy is neat.
AND so is Lukas Nelson. Awesome musician. A super cool cat. (A fun beach dude as you can see.) Let's support Maui boy Lukas tonight and tune into Jimmy Kimmel. Now we get to enjoy both. Cool.
http://abc.go.com/shows/jimmy-kimmel-live
You can also see Lukas on these guys Innersection videos. Go Albee!
Thank you to the very talented Krista Newman of Groovy Tuesday and Rust and Diamonds for shooting me beautifully in my bikini. (Even if I don't say so myself.)