Mom was so ahead of the game…I was so impressed.  She contacted me over 6 months in advance to ask if I was available to shoot Brooke’s birthday party. Most of my clients find me by word of mouth, but she said that she found me on the internet  🙂  She was planning the party long-distance, so she wanted to make sure that everything was organized for the party, and she had some amazing help from family and friends!

I loved the kokeshi doll party theme. Everything was absolutely adorable…from the handmade favors and centerpieces, to the candy bar and the desserts on the dessert table. So colorful, creative and fun! Brooke took a power nap right before her party started, so she would be at her best during the party  😉

Brooke had a beautiful birthday cake. I even loved the patterned design on the bottom layer! The mini cupcakes were totally adorable, and I love that they used mini Japanese lantern lights around the cake table.

The kids (…and some adults) loved making their own personalized door hangers and bag tags. Many of them were lost in deep concentration while creating their masterpieces. Music entertainment was provided by the very talented Ben and Maila!

The pupus and snacks…so delicious! Guests enjoyed fresh cotton candy, popcorn and shave ice. They had many satisfied customers 😉  The air was filled with the buttery scent of warm popcorn. Heavenly!

Brooke’s party featured many speakers, and a heartfelt blessing.

There were many opportunities for family and friend photos…and lots of photos of the happy birthday girl!

Brooke even enjoyed a cupcake following her birthday song. I think she loved it, LOL!

Then the candy bar opened, and the line formed. Oh, the sugar and sweets…so many smiles and happy guests!

As the party was winding down, I happened to catch a glimpse of an impromptu limbo game in the corner of the room. Apparently, some modifications were made to the rules of the game…

Everything came full circle with Brooke. Following all of the excitement, she fell asleep again.  Good night, Sleeping Beauty!  We hope you had a wonderful first birthday experience…we know your guests all enjoyed themselves! Mom and Dad, thank you for inviting us to celebrate Brooke’s monumental milestone!!! We had a blast!  🙂

Thank you for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

I couldn’t believe we were doing Cameron’s 1-year old shoot. It seemed like we just did his newborn shoot, and I honestly thought we were doing a 6-month old shoot for him. When I saw Cameron smiling at me from his car seat, I finally realized that almost an entire year had gone by since we last saw Kaycie and Cameron! Kaycie is incredibly personable.  She popped out of the car and eagerly asked about my son, Bradley. She remembered playing with him the last time she came over (for Cameron’s newborn shoot…click HERE to see his shoot), and was looking forward to seeing him again. Unfortunately, since it was a family shoot, they didn’t have a lot of time to play together, so we will have to plan for an actual playdate once all of my holiday shoot season craziness is over. Cameron was SO smiley! He looked like he was having a ton of fun, and his bright eyes lit up his face as he smiled and laughed. He absolutely loved being with his big sister (Kaycie was so great with him)!  It was great seeing you all again, Mom and Dad! Happy Birthday, little Cameron!!!  Here’s your sneak peek:

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We are fully booked for 2016.  We are currently still accepting newborn shoot inquiries, as well as shoot inquiries for 2017.  We will resume our regular shoot schedule in January 2017.  Thank you 🙂

It was so great to meet Mari and Raiden! Mari recently became a big sister, and Mom wanted some family and individual photos of her kids.  The day started off beautifully, but as we neared the beach, the storm clouds came out full force.  As we met Mom and Dad in the park area, it began to pour. The rain came down in sheets, and people were literally running to their cars with towels and beach chairs over their heads. The nice part about shooting at a beach, is that as long as it eventually stops raining, we can still hold our shoot (no mud!).  The beach was completely empty when we started our shoot, and this made editing SO much easier! I typically have to Photoshop out between 15-20 people from each image’s background, but I didn’t have to take out a single person this time around  🙂

Mari was a photographer’s dream! She gave me a million poses, and told me that she LOVED posing for photos…can you tell?  Mom laughed and repeatedly said, “Oh my gosh, I don’t know where she gets that from!”  But girl was working it!  She was FIERCE! Loved that she wanted to give me heart signs with her hands, and she was down for anything. She tromped through the brush and sat on a wet (and very odiferous) log without complaint or hesitation. Oh Mari, you were so fun to photograph! Little Raiden tolerated the rain and transfers between people extremely well. No crying at all, and just look at those big bright eyes!  Those shots came at the very end of the shoot that was prolonged due to our rain delay. How amazing is he?!  Mom and Dad, thank you for a wonderful shoot!  We had so much fun out there with you.  Thanks for being patient with the rain delay…your kids did an amazing job!  HERE’s your sneak peek:

Thanks for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

We are fully booked for 2016.  We are currently still accepting newborn shoot inquiries, as well as shoot inquiries for 2017.  We will resume our regular shoot schedule in January 2017.  Thank you 🙂

Evan and his “big sister” Yuri joined us for an indoor shoot! Click HERE to see his newborn shoot.  Mom sent me photos of the outfits she planned to put her kids in, and I loved her kimono pics…even Yuri had her own kimono. Evan looked so sharp in his suspenders, then so sweet and huggable in his colorful kimono. Yuri was hilarious! Dad warned me that wearing outfits was not something that she was particularly fond of. He said that she would not move, once they put her outfit on…and they were right.  She sat and barely moved once she had that kimono on (which made our job so much easier).  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for bringing your outfits. Thanks, Yuri, for pacifying us with your kimono.  Thank you, Evan, for being so darn cute  😉  Here is your sneak peek:

Thanks for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

We are fully booked for 2016.  We are currently still accepting newborn shoot inquiries, as well as shoot inquiries for 2017.  We will resume our regular shoot schedule in January 2017.  Thank you 🙂

It was meant to be! We were incredibly sad when we found out that Renyn and Lauryn were moving away last year.  We’ve seen Renyn since he was about 8-months old, and always look forward to seeing his entire family every year (click HERE to see their 2015 shoot).  Mom emailed me back in September to let me know that they were planning to come back to Oahu as a family in October, and wanted to know if we had any openings left for a holiday shoot during their visit.  We were fully booked, but I just happened to have a client ask to reschedule their shoot, and the shoot opening happened to be on the weekend Renyn and Lauryn were visiting!  I was so excited! We had time for a quick shoot right before their family dinner. I love that Renyn and Lauryn were so interactive! I usually get a few sibling shots in, before one sibling runs off to play in the water. Each family shoot is different (depending on number of siblings, sibling ages and temperament, time, lighting and weather…so many factors!), but we were lucky enough to capture a lot of sibling photos this time around  🙂 Mom and Dad, thank you, thank you, thank you for contacting me!  It was so great seeing you all! We miss seeing you at the tennis courts!  Here’s your sneak peek:

Thanks for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

We are fully booked for 2016.  We are currently still accepting newborn shoot inquiries, as well as shoot inquiries for 2017.  We will resume our regular shoot schedule in January 2017.  Thank you 🙂

It was another grey, hazy afternoon. We were hoping that it wouldn’t rain. Having planned to hold our shoot at the beach, at least we wouldn’t have to worry about mud. I was looking forward to seeing Brooke and Troy again, and I knew their smiles would brighten an otherwise gloomy day.  Sure enough, I was greeted with the sweetest smiles and warmest hugs, ever! We’ve photographed Brooke and Troy for 4 years now (click HERE to see their 2015 shoot), and I have yet to see them fight, or even disagree with each other. Not one sour look, not one jealous glance. Just pure love. Really. I had a chest tightening moment at the end of the shoot, when we did their “facing away from the camera” shots.  Brooke and Troy decided to hug each other and look out toward the horizon. We were done with our shots, and I called out to them to let them know that they could stop hugging each other.  I’m not sure if they didn’t hear me, or if they just didn’t care. They continued to stand there and hug each other…for minutes. They looked so peaceful. I looked at Mom and she wistfully said, “I hope this lasts forever.”  So do I, Mom…so do I.  Thank you for sharing your afternoon with us, Mom and Dad!  It was wonderful to see you again this year.  Here’s your sneak peek:

Thanks for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

We are fully booked for 2016.  We are currently still accepting newborn shoot inquiries, as well as shoot inquiries for 2017.  We will resume our regular shoot schedule in January 2017.  Thank you 🙂

One word to describe our shoot with Paige and Kate…FUN  🙂  Everyone knows how much I love dogs, so right off the bat, I was taken by Saxum. He ran to greet us at the door with his chocolate brown eyes and fur.  Just adorable!  His big sisters were equally adorable (just don’t tell Kate I said that, because she’s wasn’t exactly a Saxum fan during our shoot 😉 ).  Paige is a fellow dog-lover.  Some of my favorite shots of her were with Saxum. Her eyes matched her cute outfit perfectly! Kate had beautiful hair that fell around her face in ringlets. I would give anything for that hair! She added sass and spunk to our shoot…just look at those sparkling eyes! Mom and Dad, thank you for sharing your gorgeous family and amazing house with us! The lighting in your living room was amazing 🙂  Here’s your sneak peek:

…and Kate, how do you really feel about Saxum?

Thanks for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

We are fully booked for 2016.  We are currently still accepting newborn shoot inquiries, as well as shoot inquiries for 2017.  We will resume our regular shoot schedule in January 2017.  Thank you 🙂

We first met this wonderful family back in 2009 (click HERE to see their 2009 shoot).  At that time, Jorel (my “Little Ham”) was about the same age as his little brother (Jasper) is now.  I remember being so impressed with Jansen, Jalen and Jorel at that shoot, because they were so easy to work with. They took direction exceedingly well, and genuinely seemed to like each other. Eight years later, I feel like I’m at a family reunion. I’ve seen the kids grow up, and I’ve enjoyed each year  :).  I’ve seen Jansen graduate from high school, and Jalen enter high school. I’ve seen my Little Ham literally sprout from a preschooler to a young man right before my eyes (and he still loves to pose for my camera!), and we’ve welcomed baby Jasper!  Click HERE to see their previous shoot.  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for allowing us to be a part of your family. Your children continue to amaze us with their love for each other (just look at those candid pics!).  You are all so very special to us, and we have been blessed with your kindness, support…and fantastic parenting!  Here’s your sneak peek:

Thanks for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

We are fully booked for 2016.  We are currently still accepting newborn shoot inquiries, as well as shoot inquiries for 2017.  We will resume our regular shoot schedule in January 2017.  Thank you 🙂

It was a cousin photo shoot, and we were excited  🙂  We’ve been fortunate to see David and Noah a number of times (click HERE to see their previous photo shoot). We met Richard once (click HERE to see his 1-year photo shoot), but this was the first time we met Mimi!  David and Noah arrived first, so we started with sibling photos. The boys were adorable, as always!  I think they know the routine by now, and they both flashed their cute little smiles at me.  They always make our job so easy! Once Richard and Mimi arrived, we quickly moved to “group cousin shots”, because it can be difficult to keep the attention of 4 kids under the age of 5 years for very long. They all did a great job. Richard and Mimi looked like they were having fun, and gave us some great smiles too! I loved the “older boy cousin” photo…it was an homage to the “cousin” shot we did of the boys together during Richard’s shoot.  Just look how much they’ve grown since then!  The sun was going down quickly, but we got in a few more group shots. So much fun  🙂  Thanks for a great afternoon shoot, everyone!  It was great seeing all of you again, especially Grandma and Grandpa!  Here’s your sneak peek:

Thanks for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

We are fully booked for 2016.  We are currently still accepting newborn shoot inquiries, as well as shoot inquiries for 2017.  We will resume our regular shoot schedule in January 2017.  Thank you 🙂

It was a chilly morning (OK, that’s relative because we live in Hawaii), and I could already smell wood burning.  I literally felt like I was in a ski lodge…so toasty!  Roman and Mikey (and Edson) were very interested in the smoke coming out of the chimney.  Not something you see everyday  😉  It’s been about a half year since we last saw Roman  (click HERE to see his 14-month shoot), but it was like we went through a time warp! Instead of the cute little guy digging around in the sand we saw back in March…we were met with a charming young man with a big-boy haircut. Mikey was a doting big brother. He allowed Roman to crawl all over him (and give him huge bear hugs)…the only thing he wasn’t ready to compromise in was the use of his beloved teddy.  That was HIS.  Don’t worry, Mikey, I understand how it is to have to share everything with younger siblings…it never ends!  It was great seeing all of you again this year!!!  Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for hosting our shoot at your gorgeous house  🙂  Here’s your sneak peek:

Thanks for visiting us at Images by Kellie Ann!

We are fully booked for 2016.  We are currently still accepting newborn shoot inquiries, as well as shoot inquiries for 2017.  We will resume our regular shoot schedule in January 2017.  Thank you 🙂