Friday, April 10, 2009

It was cold, rainy and windy but we still had to do it.

I had photographed this family about 12 years ago while they were in Hawaii. They since moved to the East Coast and were visiting with their two daughters and one of their daughter's friends. They decided it was time for another family portrait. They contacted me, we set the date, time and location. As I drove from my place to the location (Magic Island at the Ala Moana Beach Park), it was raining and it was raining pretty hard. Since the time to do the photo session was later in the day, I started praying that the Hawaiian Gods would be good to us.

By the time I got to Magic Island, the rain had become a sprinkle, the clouds were still there (soft light) but it was howling. So much for hair staying in place. I met the family and started walking towards the tip of the park so we can get "Diamond Head" in the photo. Well, the wind was not cooperating even though the rain was being nice to us and not even drizzling.

This is the first shot. I tend to shoot a LOT - especially when the hair is flying to ensure that I might have at least one or two good ones where the hair is in place and the expressions are good. If the beach looks deserted, it was since it was cold (by Hawaii standards anyway) and I had removed a couple of people in the background.



From there we tried some walking shots to get more movement. Had to remove some bright navigational signs in the background.



That finished, we moved to the other side of the beach to get closer up shots. By this time, the wind had kinda died down so wayward hair was less of a problem.



Two of the girls are graduating so they wanted some "graduation type" portraits for themselves. Not to leave anyone out, I just did individuals of each of the kids (who were a lot smaller and younger when I first photographed them 12 years ago






By the time we finished, it was getting dark so we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways... It was nice to see them again...

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Yes, proper makeup is important!

Here are three shots of our current Narcissus Queen with three styles of makeup. See what a difference proper makeup makes in your photos?

This first one was taken for the souvenir book. I'm assuming that the makeup was self applied. It's ok but too light for photography so doesn't accentuate her features.



The next one was taken for the official portrait. The hair and makeup were done by professionals that normally help out with the pageant. She thought it would be better to have her hair down but whoever did her hair forgot that she would be wearing the special anniversary crown and gave her a hairstyle that blocked the view of the crown. Not a good idea. The makeup was ok, but again not properly done for photography and I knew she would look prettier if she had the right makeup artist.




Since another photo session had been scheduled, we decided to advise her how her hair should be done to make her look more elegant and I referred her to my favorite makeup artist Beverly Kaneshige (www.makeupbybev.com) whose work I trust as she knows how to properly apply makeup for photography. She also does hair so she created a hairstyle that would make the Queen look elegant and show the crown as it should be without taking attention away from the Queen's beauty.




Proper makeup does make a difference.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Start thinking about doing your family portrait

Now that graduation season is quickly approaching, it might be a good time to start thinking about doing a family portrait before the kids leave for college. You do have a choice of doing in the studio (limited to 6 adults due to space) or at your place or on location at the park or at the beach.

If you'd like to schedule a session, just call or e-mail us to set up an appointment. Pricing is available in the portrait section of our website.





Thursday, April 2, 2009

Custom Designed Business Cards

Working with several beauty pageants, I'm often asked to produce business cards for the title holders. Here are a few that are being created. The contact information has been blurred to protect their privacy.







Contact me for more information regarding the custom business cards.