I’ve been doing a lot of landscape shooting for a client the last couple of weeks, and am amazed, over and over again, by this island… and the fact that I get to live here! Moving to Hawaii seems more likely to be “just a dream” rather than reality, but I am so grateful to have been able to make it my reality. Jobs where I get to explore this new home are the best. Seriously.
For more Hawaii beauty, hop over to the Selador Shop and do a little exploring of your own!
This was a wonderfully fun wedding full of beauty, love, good vibes, excitement, newness… and hitchhiking.
As a wedding photographer, I occasionally have nightmares of all of the things that could possibly go wrong, just as every other wedding photographer occasionally does. You know… your camera spontaneously combusts during the ceremony, you drop the rings off a 10th story balcony, your card magically erases itself in-between the last shot and when you go to upload them to your computer… that sort of thing. I take every possible measure to prevent catastrophes like these from happening, and so the only place anything like that has happened is in my nightmares.
The most serious things I’ve had happen have been interesting and make for good stories (or not so good, depending), but not anywhere near catastrophic (falling off a chair during the family portraits and getting caught by the best man, having hot wax drip all over me from candles on a high-rise mantle, almost running over a dead body in the middle of the road post-wedding, getting “pushed” into the cake, etc)
After this wedding, I can add a new new to that list… Hitchhiking to a wedding. With all my equipment. In a decidedly not-so-good area of the island.
Life as a wedding photographer in Hawaii is never boring.
Because I’m basically alone on this island in that I don’t have anyone that I can call for help when, say, my car breaks down on the way to a wedding in a bad part of town, I have to come up with creative alternative solutions… such as abandoning my car along the side of the road and hoping it’s still there when I get back (and hoping that I’m able to get back), and then hitchhiking, with all my equipment and everything valuable from my car, the last 8 miles to a wedding.
I’d been looking forward to this day ever since I was first contacted by Ronnie and Louise, and I am so excited for them as they start this new journey of life together… And I’d say their life together is starting out pretty spectacularly, considering that this is their brand new home on a mountainside on Oahu overlooking the ocean!
Officiated by Kahu Pomaika‘i of Hawaiian Aloha Blessings, this ceremony was very special and unique, with many Hawaiian traditions woven in. I would highly recommend Kahu Pomaika’i to anyone looking for a uniquely Hawaiian ceremony, and look forward to working with her again in the future.
Congratulations, Ronnie and Louise! Thank you for allowing me the privilege of being your Oahu wedding photographer.
I am captivated by everything about this island and love learning about the life and culture that is so unique to Hawaii.
I got to experience my first Hawaiian graduation last weekend… and, basically, it was awesome! It was also incredibly fragrant… I’ve never seen so many leis in my life.
I followed this graduate, Aaron Chan, through the post-commencement fun at Punahou School (a prestigious school in Oahu that also happens to school that Obama graduated from) as he congratulated his fellow students and gave and received leis. Periodically throughout the evening, he would have to pause and remove some of the leis so that his face was visible for pictures – that’s a lot of leis!
Congratulations, Aaron! I wish you the best in your future endeavors.
When I work with folks who are on vacation in Oahu, I’m reminded how massively huge and varied this country is… I love that I get to meet people from everywhere, both within and outside of the USA.
Jesy and Tim picked Oahu as their honeymoon destination and traveled all the way from their home state of Nebraska. I’ve never been there and know very little about it (I’m going to have to do some research!) but I imagine that it is an entirely different world than what we experience here in the islands.
Oahu is the perfect honeymoon destination (it’s the perfect anything destination, in my opinion) and I so enjoyed meeting this beautiful couple and capturing this special time in their lives. I hope it is only one of many trips to Hawaii for them!
Thank you for choosing Selador Images to be your Oahu honeymoon photographer! Come back soon 🙂
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