My congratulations go out to Emily and Chris who got engaged on Maui in a surprise from the groom. I received a call from a woman a few weeks ago asking for my help with a special beach proposal that had to be perfect. She was the cousin of the bride the be and working with the groom to be to plan the perfect proposal on Maui.
Chris, the groom-to-be, chose a beautiful south side beach where he would have some privacy and a spectacular view of the sunset, and we were off and running.
Chris had planned to propose but they had talked about an engagement in about a year. Emily had no idea Chris was planning and plotting all along to arrange for everything to be perfect for his engagement.
I got the job of
paparazzi for the evening which is an extremely challenging job on a beach.
The big challenge for me was that Chris wanted to have photos of the proposal but not have Emily know anyone was taking photos of them. So, I invited one of my amazing interns to pose as a "model" for me while I shot the entire photo session proposal over her shoulder.
I found out later that Emily works with movie stars on a regular basis and she was SURE that I was
paparazzi.
Chris vehemently denied anyone was taking photos of them walking down the beach and just laughed it off.
Chris finally chose a spot on the beach an gave me the signal that he was about to propose. Emily said YES!! Magic was in the air for the rest of the evening.
We captured some wonderful images of a very special night for the couple and I am thrilled for Emily and Chris! Congratulations you two!
Best wishes and all the best in 2010!
Aubrey
Since he works in a gym as a personal trainer, it pays off in his physique. 
A hui hou, 
It is not often you get the opportunity to work with someone who is a master in their field, and a lot of fun to be around as well.
I was invited to join one of Hawaii's premier fine art photographers, Randy Jay Braun http://www.randyjaybraun.com/, on a few photo shoots recently as he was capturing the art of traditional Hawaiian hula dance. 
I had met Randy before and at attended sessions taught by him at the 2009 Maui Photo Festival http://www.mauiphotofestival.com/ but was both honored and humbled when he invited me to shoot alongside him and learn about his distinct style. 
Randy has photographed the young male (kane) and female (wahine) winners of the prestigious Hula O Na Keiki competition every year at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel and you can see his images from the past 25 years gracing the front lobby of the hotel. 
I had the opportunity to join him the morning after the competition to photograph the young winners on the beach at Kaanapali. 
He has a way of capturing the grace, movement, pride and tradition of hula both both inside and outside of formal settings. He also has an amazing eye for detail and sense of place when capturing Hawaiian landscapes.
His images have graced magazines, websites, merchandise and are in fine art galleries across the state. His distinct style of finishing his hula pieces with an aged look, makes them appear timeless and truly allow visitors and residents to catch a glimpse inside the world of hula. His gallery is located in historic Makawao town right on Makawao Avenue.
Lauren is blessed with nearly perfect skin so she needs no retouching. Lucky girl! 
Zach got to work on his lighting and composition skills while working with models while I got to have fun working with Lauren. I wanted to share a couple of shots from our session. Thanks Lauren and Zach!
One of my recent portraits shoots involved a wonderful family who has visited Maui for years but has never been truly happy with their photo sessions. 
I love these types of photo sessions because it allows me to be creative and my subjects to have fun. 
The beach was a perfect spot to allow the kids to run around and explore while the parents had a chance to get some romantic shots in. In the end, everyone was laughing and we had a great time looking back through the photos. 
They chose the image below for their Christmas card because they thought it was so "cool." 
I love my job and my clients!
We captured some wonderful images of a very special night for the couple and I am thrilled for Emily and Chris! Congratulations you two! 
This week was magnificent for big waves and expert surfers on Maui doing their best to ride some huge waves into the north shore surf spot known as JAWS or Peahi. 
My spot was below. The surfers are riding the waves almost as far out as you can see. I wish I had a long lens to really get into the waves but I did the best I could with what I had. 
