It was a beautiful day…not a cloud in the sky, and extremely sunny.  Unfortunately, a cloudless sky and bright sun are not the best conditions for a photo shoot. It was late afternoon, and the sun was still blinding us. There was virtually no consistent shade, and it was hard to avoid that harsh glare of the sun.  As we waited for the sun to go down, I followed Ken around, snapping shots of him playing and just being a little boy. He showed an immense curiosity towards photography, and asked me amazingly mature questions about depth of field and posing. He loved finding his own spots to shoot at, and gave me introspective, action and classic posing.  He even did his best to help me with his little sister, Ella.  Ella had a beautiful dress on (courtesy of Grandma!). She had the most expressive eyes, and happy little smile. Adorable! The sun finally began to go down, and when it did, boy did it race towards that horizon. We had just enough time to take some backlit family photos before the sun made it’s final appearance. Thanks again for meeting us out there and enduring that blinding sun. It was great seeing all of you again! Ken, I posted a few extra photos of you…because I know you enjoyed the entire process, and I wanted you to see what the finals looked like.  Here’s your sneak peek:

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Tyler is big brother! We were incredibly honored to photograph little sister, Emi’s, newborn session. Like her brother, she was a sleepy angel (click HERE to see Tyler’s newborn shoot). Wow, looking back at our shoot with Tyler, I can’t help but notice how much our style has changed (and our prop selection)…but I liked that Mom wanted blocks incorporated into Emi’s shoot, to show some consistency between the shoots. Mom also requested the desk, which is a prop we haven’t used in a while, so we had a nice mixture of “prop” and “natural” type shots.  It was so great seeing all of you again. Tyler, you may have grown, but you are still a little cutie!  So happy that you have a sister to play with  🙂 You are going to be an amazing big brother.  Thanks for driving out to see us, Mom and Dad!!!  Here’s your sneak peek:

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If a newborn shoot is any predictor of personality, little Eli is one happy munchkin! He gave us little smiles throughout his entire session…what was he dreaming about? Loved his “monkey” theme! Thank you, Mom, for bringing his little monkey outfits. They were almost as adorable as Eli himself  😉  We didn’t have a jungle backdrop, so we used our yard for the hanging monkey shot. Congratulations, Mom and Dad, Eli is truly a precious little miracle (and judging by the smiles, he will be as mischievous as Dad!). Thank you for sharing your sweet boy with us, here’s your sneak peek:

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Meet sweet little Colby…only 3 days old! He had the most beautiful, red lips, and cheeks that begged for us to pinch them  😉  He was a sleepy angel for our bucket shots, and had amazing neck strength for a baby his age. I couldn’t resist putting a Totoro  hat on Colby…it matched the colors in the backdrop and the blanket perfectly. He didn’t seem to mind…in fact, he let us put several hats on him before we moved on. Adorable! Dad, we also got your apple hat in  🙂  Colby loved being swaddled, and I could have cuddled with him for days. So tiny, so precious. Thank you for sharing little Colby with us, Mom and Dad! It was great meeting all of you. Here’s your sneak peek:

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Oh little Christian, you have the best family, ever! Mom called me the week of his shoot to see if I had any availability for a newborn shoot.  I had a newborn shoot scheduled on Sunday morning, and afternoon shoots on Saturday and Sunday (as well as an appointment on Saturday morning). Mom sounded so incredibly sweet on the phone, and my heart physically hurt as she told me that she even bought little surf shorts and a fisherman’s outfit set for a newborn shoot. She sounded like an amazing person to work with, and I really wanted to meet her.  I was concerned about the scheduling, because Christian was already over 2 weeks old (newborn shoots are ideally scheduled within the first 2 weeks of life), and we are booked out with newborn shoots for the next 6 weeks (and by then, Christian would definitely be too old for a newborn shoot). Fortunately, I have the best clients, and we were able to reschedule our Saturday afternoon shoot  🙂  This gave us the opportunity to meet baby Christian and his wonderful family. Mom was even sweeter in person (…as if that was even possible!). Christian’s gorgeous grandmother, and his Lego-talented brother, Holden, also joined us for his shoot. I loved that the first words Holden said to me were, “I have a Lego TIE-Fighter.” Holden was a Lego enthusiast that loved Legos just as much as my son (boy did they make a pair!). Christian had the softest hair and “piano-player” fingers. His outfits were SO cute, and he stayed curled just long enough for us to get through our photos. Mom, it was so great meeting you and your beautiful family.  Your sons are absolutely charming!!!  Here’s your sneak peek:

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Yet another happy, smiling little one. How lucky are we?! Noah was a joy to work with. Click HERE to see Noah and David in their previous shoot. He loved the sand, and seemingly, everything beach-related. He loved the sand, the little pieces of coral, the rocks…and oh yes, the water! We took a bunch of happy “sitting in sand” type photos, and subsequently decided to move on to “standing” photos. One of the rocks had a few little puddles of sea water on it…and Noah gravitated towards them immediately. I’ve never seen a one year old quite so happy. The look on his face as he splashed in that 1/2 inch puddle of sea water was pure happiness. He was unfazed as the sandy water splashed in his eyes, and he left our shoot with a sandy, soggy diaper. Love that big brother, David, was my second-shooter for our shoot.  Great photographer’s stance, David! You look like a pro  🙂  It was great seeing you again, Mom and Dad. Here’s your sneak peek:

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It’s always a pleasure working with little ones…especially when they smile up a storm for us  🙂 Little Megan was definitely in the running for “smiliest baby” award! She gave us so many happy expressions, and quite frankly, made it very difficult for me to select photos for her blog post. Megan’s sweet smile lit up her entire face (and just think, in a very short period of time, that smile will change forever once her baby teeth start appearing). Dad…she did a great job with her cute little hats 😉  Mom and Dad, Megan definitely got your happy, friendly demeanor…what a blessing!  It was wonderful meeting all of you. Here’s your sneak peek:

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Has it been a year already?! I can’t believe how fast time flies by.  It doesn’t seem like an entire year has passed since Roman’s newborn shoot (click HERE to see his Newborn Shoot). Little Roman went from a sleepy little newborn, to an active, extremely handsome, little man!  Roman’s party was held at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii‘s Manoa Grand Ballroom. His party theme was Disney’s Planes.

The table centerpieces, favors and room decor all represented the Planes theme…and the delicious cupcakes were baked the morning of the party! It doesn’t get any fresher than that…

Next up, the glorious, intricate cake…complete with fondant planes and wispy clouds:

How cute was the airport themed table signage?:

Our Man of the Hour took one last tour of the room before the doors officially opened.  He seemed pretty happy with the pre-party preparations 😉

Guests were welcomed at the sign-in table, and were invited to write a short message to the birthday boy:

Entertainment included beautiful music, balloon art, fun photo booth pics, and air brushed stencil tattoos (fun for kids of ALL ages…):

The Lego Man brought his plethora of Legos (some structures were pre-made, others were constructed by party guests). Kids and adults were magically drawn to the Lego tables…some for the majority of the party:

Kids (and some adults) also had a custom made Dusty Crophopper to play on (how lucky to know such a talented family friend!).  It was a big hit, and we all thought it was so creative! I really want to hire him to make some newborn props for me  😉

Of course, some guests provided their own entertainment  🙂

After a moving invocation, the buffet line opened. Guests enjoyed a variety of delicious dishes and desserts:

Finally, it was time for all of us to celebrate Roman. Little letter candles adorned the top of his cake (Mom and Dad decided on his initials). Somehow (during the course of the birthday singing), an extra red “H” candle made it’s way into the very front of the cake’s lowest tier…I Photoshopped it out for this post  :).

It was a day spent with family and friends, all graciously addressed by Mom and Dad:

…and the birthday boy finally fell asleep after a morning full of excitement. How cute is he?!

Happy Birthday, Roman!  Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your special day  🙂 We love you!

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We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season! We are just getting back into the swing of things  🙂  Over the past month, we’ve enjoyed our winter break. We had a great time celebrating as a family (I’ll share some photos when I have a little break between shoots), shared a few colds, and are currently having our house re-roofed. We also photographed a few baby first birthday parties and family shoots…so here we go, 2016!!!

What better way to start a new year than with a family with happy, energetic little ones! Jace, Jordan and Jescy were full of laughs and smiles for our shoot. The boys were eager to show off their new watches that they got for Christmas. They took turns hugging their little sister, Jescy, then dashed off to play with each other.  Jescy was just learning how to stand. She gave us a million smiles. What a dream! The holiday spirit was still in the air, and I loved the excitement of our shoot. There’s nothing better than photographing smiling, spontaneously happy children.  Mom and Dad were so easy-going and wonderful to work with, thank you!  Here’s your sneak peek:

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Our last official photo shoot of 2015! (Yes, we still have to do our own Christmas card photos…guess those will be going out late again this year.)  What a great way to end 2015…with a wonderful family  🙂  It was another blustery day, but Alex and Matthew were warm in their cute little sweater vests (how cute are they?!)  Alex loved playing in the sand, digging holes, and skipping rocks. He gave us his happy smile, and ran on the shore like a carefree little boy without a worry in the world. Matthew’s little hair curls blew in the wind, and made us all smile. He seemed to like the wind in his face, and snuggles from his mom and dad 🙂  The little strip of beach we shot on was fairly busy (with dogs and people), and I tried to avoid shooting the large black plastic fence cover blowing to the right of us (seriously, it looked like a 10 foot high by 60 foot long black Hefty bag blowing in the wind)…but our family really worked that spot! It’s not the location, but our families that make our shoots successful, and we had the MOST fabulous family EVER this afternoon!  Thank you, Mom and Dad, for braving the wind and suspiciously cloudy skies. It was so wonderful seeing you all again this year! We can’t believe how much the boys have grown over the past year!!!  Click HERE to see Matthew’s 2014 Newborn Shoot. Here’s your sneak peek:

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P.S. We are officially fully booked for 2015!  Thank you for a great year  🙂  We are continuing to book shoots for 2016!