Friday, January 29, 2010

Male Model- Patrick Wheeler

When I received an email from an up-and-coming male model named Patrick requesting a photo shoot to build his portfolio when he was on Maui, I was honored. He was a blast to work with and we had a good time coming up with some fun poses on the beach.
Patrick has great abs so we worked with his best features trying our best to highlight his amaing muscle tone. Since he works in a gym as a personal trainer, it pays off in his physique.
Needless to say, Patrick attracted quite a fan base during the photo shoot on the beach!
A hui hou,
Aubrey

Friday, January 8, 2010

The opportunity to work with Randy Jay Braun.

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.
When Randy called to ask me to join him again on another shoot, I jumped at the chance. He has a way of working with both his team and his subjects to make them instantly feel comfortable and relaxed in front of the camera. He carries himself with a humbleness and quiet confidence which seems to draw people in and make them feel welcome. And constant laughter on "the set" makes it a joy to go to work. Working with him is truly a pleasure.

Another session we did was with hula dancers in the sunset on the beach in Kihei. It was a pretty crowded evening on the beach but we made it work and got some great images!
I am grateful to Randy for the opportunity to shoot alongside him and hope I have the opportunity to continue to work with him in the future and take a glimpse inside his world of photography.
A hui hou,
Aubrey

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Just another day in the office.


One of my assistants, Nicole, and intern, Zach, headed to the "office" last weekend for an early morning photo session. Rough job but someone has to do it, right?

Thanks Team!
Aubrey
http://www.aubreyhord.com/

A great day with Lauren!

Working with Lauren has always been a joy. I have the humble honor of photographing a beautiful model who has a natural ease in front of the camera lens. One of my images of Lauren from last year was featured in the 2009 Faces of Hawaii exhibition at the Wailoa Center in Hilo this Fall and I thought it might be fun to invite her to another photo session.

One of my interns, Zach, and I asked if Lauren would like to do a fun shoot in the afternoon one day during the holidays and she cheerfully (and patiently) agreed to let us take endless photos of her in different outfits over a couple of hours.
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!
A hui hou,
Aubrey

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Creativity Rocks!

Happy New Year everyone!
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.
They felt their photos had been too posed and wanted to change it up. They really wanted something fun and creative for their images. That is where I came in.

We went down to a beautiful beach on the south side of Maui and got things rolling right off the bat with some fun poses to loosen everyone up.
Laughter abounded in a short period of time and we were off and running. The kids had fun goofing around in their sunglasses and the parents and grandparents jumped at the chance to have some fun with the kids.
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.
As we were leaving the beach, the client told me it was the best experience he has had with a photographer in 10 years. Music to my ears!
They chose the image below for their Christmas card because they thought it was so "cool." I love my job and my clients!
A hui hou,
Aubrey