A Photo Chick's Journal in Paradise

Larry Fair

Sweet, huggable, kind and talented Larry...You'll be missed!

Mahalo for your smiles and kindess...

Bob of Tri-Star Video!

LOVED seeing my good friend, Bob, today!  You're so sweet, Bob!

Mahalo for the warm hug, smile and lei!!!

Congrats to the San Fran transplants!!! Funny guy...

Earth Day at Red Ginger Cafe in Manoa

Today is Earth Day.  Actually, in my world, I try to make Earth Day EVERY DAY!!!  However, today is the designated day to "inspire awareness and appreciation for Earth's environment."

In honor of today I wore my one of my fave message shirts:

This was purchased from Adoracion Boutique some time last year. I love this shirt!

As much as I wanted to get my hands close to Mother Earth today,  I unfortunately didn't have time to plant anything.  Instead, I had two very special meetings which took place at one of my fave places to hang in Manoa, Red Ginger Cafe in Manoa Marketplace.

Aaaaahhhh...Red Ginger Cafe...I love this place! It's locally owned and it's owners are earth conscious business owners who help our islands by purchasing locally grown produce and other eco friendly gift items. 

Before I go on with the gift items, check out this beautiful salad my friend Melanie Kawai, Red Ginger Cafe owner (AND IMUA graduate), made for me:

Organic greens, grilled chicken, organic eggs, and advocado served with a Papaya dressing on the side.  That's my Earth Day purchase for today!  MAHALO, Melanie! It was sooo yummy!!!

Besides an array of salads and wraps they have parfaits, smoothies and not to mention their Acai bowls!

OMG!!! And I was soooo excited to try one of their hot selling items: Coldfyyre Ice Cream Sandwiches! (NOTE: These were just display samples.  They are NOT served in a martini glass with little glass balls)

Fortunately, Aubrey of Savoir Faire, who I was meeting with, also wanted to try one so here's what a REAL one looks like:

You guys!!!! It was soooo ono!!! This delectable treat is made locally from scratch and has NO PRESERVATIVES! That's right, baby, it's all natural!!!

YAY FOR ALL NATURAL! And SUPER YAY FOR BEING LOCAL!!!

Look at all the different flaves:

May I just say that I am soooo glad I had the emergency Lactaid pill in my wallet, kay?

Melanie told me that they were having a difficult time keeping these frozen treats in stock. Everyone LOVES them!  Even my clients who I was meeting with tried a little piece and ended up purchasing FIVE Coldfyyre Sandwiches!  Cool, huh?  (No pun intended!)

Yummy...

Okay, on to the gift items....

Just so you know, Red Ginger Cafe also sells several Eco-friendly items.  I have to say my favorite is...

These neat ENCORE bags are made from discarded and recycled drink pouches! Isn't that rad???

I LOVE THEM!!!

And here are some other fabulous organic items you can pick up at the Cafe:

I LOVE RED GINGER Cafe...not only because of their great food, fun and earth conscious gift items but more importantly for the ALOHA that comes with every purchase.  

Melanie and crew, you are truly ORGANIC and the heartbeat of this special place.  MAHALO NUI LOA for always welcoming us with your warm smile, caring customer service and for giving us a place to nourish our bodies and relax our minds in your easygoing atmosphere!

Please visit Red Ginger Cafe at Manoa Marketplace, peeps!!! And have a Coldfyyre for me, will ya???

HAPPY EARTH DAY!!!

Kapa in Flight!

Here we find Kapa Girl stretching her wings and practicing her flight technique.  What a great way to celebrate Earth Day!!!

Go Kapa go!!!

ChaLEAN Extreme!

Okay, I've decided to put the P90X on the back burner as I am not in ATHLETIC form to pursue it at this time!

Enter...Chalean Extreme!  I've really been ENJOYING this workout!

I love that Chalene Johnson, the trainer and creator of Chalean Extreme, really explains what's going to happen, what we're doing, why we're doing it and that there is a modification person in each workout.  I really like her demeanor and how she's really motivating.

Here are the collections of DVDs and CD:

I love that her setting  is light and airy, music is cool and for me, it's a totally doable work out.  I feel great after!!! It doesn't make me want to cry or throw up.  That's a plus!

I also enjoy the Fat Burning Food Guide that's included in the package.  The recipes are super EASY, peeps!!

I've already made some yummy dishes such as the steak fajitas and chicken quesadillas!  

May I just send a shout out to the Chalean Extreme graphic/marketing people who put this package together??? NICELY DONE!! I love the paper and cardstock you chose for your materials! EXCELLENT!!!

Visit: www.beachbody.com for more information on this new workout routine I've taken on.

MAHALO, Chalene!!!

iPhone Case

Hey gang!  I just wanted to share with you my cute little iPhone case.

I couldn't believe the outrageous prices for iPhone cases. I mean, I totally understand that you'd want to protect your $200 investment however, $30+ for a case??  

Believe it or not I found this one at LONGS Drugstore for $8!  I kid you not! Isn't it so cute?

What I like about it is that it makes people smile.  :)

MAHALO to my girl, Tiara, for snapping this shot!  

Chicky Hollywood

Here we have little Kapa in her first Hollywood lighting photograph.  Isn't she pretty?

"I'm ready for my close up now, Mr. DeMille."

Eneloop - Great Rechargeable Batteries!

As a pro photographer and gadget girl I use a lot AA batteries.  Fortunately, I'm also an eco-friendly chick who loves Mother Earth soooooo much!  So I've been using RECHARGEABLE batteries for the past several years now.  I noticed that my old rechargeables were no longer holding their charge so I started searching for better batteries that hold their charge longer.

I stumbled upon the Eneloop batteries by Sanyo several months ago while doing some research on-line. 

I love that they hold their charge longer than other batteries I've been using!  I think I purchased my original set from www.smallpower.com.  

While doing a Costco run I came across this:

 OMG!!!  THANK YOU, Costco!!! I was so happy to see my little Eneloop buddies in Aisle 14 (just a guess, I can't remember right now) that I even did a little dance!

In true Costco stlye, this pack gives you a whole lotta stuff! Not only do you get the 2 sets of four AA batteries and 1 set of two AAA batteries, you also get a Sanyo wall charger AND these things called SPACERS to now supersize those batteries into C and D sizes.  How's that!  

Here are some of the benefits of Eneloop:

Check it out...I already labeled my charger!!!  I love labeling my stuff!! That's a whole different post in itself!

These batteries work for me right now!  I really dig that they can last me several hours on a shoot. Please visit www.sanyo.com for more information.

And if you haven't already, please consider switching from alkaline batteries to rechargeables.  It's good for our environment!  In fact, it's a great birthday gift for Mother Earth!!

Peace out!

Kapa and Kauanoe

I love that Kapa, the baby chick is sooo strong and healthy!

She has really become fast friends with Kauanoelehua, my beautiful niece....

Honolulu Magazine's Best Of....PDF!

Here's a PDF version of the Honolulu's Best 2009 article just in case you missed it!

Mahalo for your continued support, peeps!!!

Download HM 03-09 p085 r1

Happy Easter, Peeps!!!

Wishing you many blessings of joy, light and love on this Easter Sunday!!!

Kubota's Success on the Beach: Day 2

Yesterday's workshop was beyond fun, overwhelming and EXCELLENT!!!  You can imagine how excited I was for day TWO!!!

As you know, I'm into reducing my carbon footprint as much as possible so fortunately I got to catch a ride with Arna into town.  Speaking of a greener earth...look what we stumbled upon in her neighborhood.

I was so excited to see the line up of all these new magnificent green waste containers!!! They were all patiently waiting like good little soldiers to be placed at their new locations.  Wow!!! What a great way to start the day!!!

Before I go on, I have to tell you that I brought my other trusty fotog companion, Keoki. He wanted to know what all this workshop stuff was about so he tagged along.  He seemed pretty interested!

Okay, so today at The Willows we learned more about workflow, sales and marketing.  I really enjoyed learning from all of our instructors.

Here's Kevin Kubota going over his workflow.  He's doing some of his Photoshop/Lightroom magic on this beautiful image of Joanna.

Jed Taufer presented some workflow as well. Jed is soooo funny!  I learned during this time that he really likes burritos!

Vicki also taught us about a whole lotta invaluable stuff!  This woman along with her burrito eating husband, are brilliant!!!

What makes learning more fun???

PRIZES!!!!

So during the two days, Vicki, Jed and Kevin would pull business cards out of a bag and give out some really great prizes!!

I was soooo happy that Tiara won this cool frame from V-Gallery!!!

So many happy prize winners!!!

Honey Boy, is that you???? You go with your bad self!!!

We were all waiting in anticipation and excitement for our name to be called.  For many moments I felt like I was in the audience on that show...The Price is Right!!!

Of course, we were all so happy (and I'm sure a bit envious)at Nicole Seu who won the grand prize...A COMPOSER LENSBABY!!!!  Right on, girlfriend!!!

You know, The Willows' Kapa'akea Room worked out perfectly for the workshop.

It was a wonderful place to shoot, learn and not to mention EAT!!!

Here we find local photographers, Tiara Lee, Russ Ramos and Chrissy Lambert grinding under a canoe.

I'd like to call this the "Oh, Wow! Lau-Lau!!" shot!  And it's totally dedicated to Chrissy!!!

During the breaks I noticed that a lot of the attendees loved sitting on or near this rock like Brooke Allen here soaking up the sun...

Ahhhhh....only in Hawai'i!!!

Besides learning from all of these great instructors and being inspired by them, one of my most FAVORITE things about attending the Kubota workshops is seeing and reconnecting with old friends!  Like Ramona of Photo Visions...girl! I'll always remember this moment when we couldn't decide which of Vicki's item's we should get!!!

Dianne Reynolds from Kaua'i who I met at my very first Kubota Workshop back in...2002??? Was it 2002, Kev??? Dianne? Anyone?? It was the one located at St. Stephen in Kailua...

My Honey Boy, :Dave Miyamoto!

This guy again...

Canon Girls...Tiara Lee-Gustilo and Chrissy Lambert...

The "other camera brand" of peeps - Kris "Tonks" Labang, Derek Wong and of course, Arna!

And soooo many other wonderful colleagues!  

The additional benefit that comes next to that would be meeting and making NEW friends!!!

Like Tamra Wade of Finding Joy Photography...

I love this gal! And I loved meeting her beautiful daughter Rio!!!

(Hey there Jon Lagon of Visionari!!!)

Here's a Maui sandwich going on right here! These guys are so sweet!!! Meet Scott Drexler and John Motelewski! Whole lotta lovin' going on...  :)

Keith Uehara and Kathleen Davenport...

Loved seeing Fernando again and meeting his friend Captain Howie!

I'm pretty sure that lots of new friendships were made over these two days!!! I wish that we had more time so I could meet all of you!  :)

MAHALO NUI LOA to the Kubotas, the Taufers, Bill Moore, Craig and Sarah of Asuka Books for an extremely successful Success on the Beach!!!

And of course, to all of you, my fellow grasshoppers, for taking the opportunity to be inspired and empowering yourselves by attending this incredible workshop!!!  MAHALO NUI LOA to all of you for making it happen!!!

Can we say "HANA HOU???"

PS  Ummm...This is Keoki toward the end of the workshop. Yup bud, time to hele home!!!

 

Success on the Beach with the Kubotas!!!

Okay, I love Kevin and Clare Kubota of Kubota Workshops! Seriously, what a treat to have them return home to do a photography workshop.  And they brought along some friends to help make learning even more fun!  Vicki and Jed Taufer from V- Gallery Studios in Illinois, Asuka Books, and special guest Bill Moore of Silver Back Imaging.  For the next two days, I will be learning and being inspired amongst fellow talented photographers from not only all over the 50th State but from the mainland as well! 

Our first day, today,  was filled with all kinds of presentations. From topics like creativity and inspiration to two types of modeling shoots to workflow!  Here's what the day looked like at The Willows:

My dear friend Tiara of La'akea Events meets another photographer Kris!

I LOVE seeing old friends like Randy!

Seeing two of my buds together is always a treat!

Makeup artist, Heather Saffrey of Heather Bell Makeup, works on our bride model, Joanna (you all know Joanna from the Pilialoha session I did of her and Paki).

Gowns are sponsored by The Bridal Boutique ! Wait til' you see them on Joanna!!!

Flowers by Koa Johnson of Flower Farm Hawai'i!

Our model family getting ready for their session with Vicki Taufer. Pohaku is getting warmed up with his smiles!

Here's Vicki sharing with us about studio lighting. MAHALO to Dave Miyamoto and Company for letting us borrow his lights for Vicki's demo!!!

MAHALO to my dear friends, the Figueiras, for volunteering their time and energy for this photo demo!!!

Now, let's check on Kevin who's working with the bride and groom models: Joanna and Paki!

Everyone could NOT get enough of these two! They were totally AWESOME!!! I am sooo fortunate to be shooting their wedding!

MAHALO NUI LOA to Joanna and Paki for doing an outstanding job in "modeling" as a bride and groom.  The images from this session are going to be AMAZING!  I can't wait to post several of Kevin's photos for all of you to check out. 

So like, stay tuned as I will post more images to this post as I get them in.  We'll see the finish product by both Kevin and Vicki.

What an exciting way to start the week! I really LOVE learning and being inspired... In fact, I tell people that I am "an eternal student of life!"  I always try to keep my passion blazing by continuously feeding and nurturing my mind, body and soul.  So it is a true blessing that the Kubotas and Taufers are here on our island to share their wealth of knowledge, ideas and experience with all of us!

I can't wait for tomorrow!!!