Waiting for a Tsunami (not so much)

What a way to start the weekend!

We awoke this morning on our little tropical island to the sounds of the tsunami sirens just after 6am. My husband jumped into shorts and t shirts and raced to the store and the gas station within minutes of the sirens to get supplies and gas up. Their were long lines for gas and food at the stores but everyone was really calm and laughter and excitement filled the store, even at 7am. One woman stood on the side of the road asking every car waiting in traffic "what are you doing today?" and the answers were totally varied. You can only imagine! Another story was that one of the local grocery stores put a limit of 2 cans of SPAM per customer but allowed them to buy as much beer as they wanted- too funny! I cancelled my four photo shoots for the day and sent fellow photographer, Kirk Shorte, back to the Big Island mid trip. Our models for the day were calling and texting starting at 6am to cancel since they were scrambling to take care of their homes and families and get to higher ground.

The sirens continued to go off intermittently throughout the morning and at a little after 11am the tsunami was supposed to hit the island's north shore and possibly wrap around to the rest of the island. Once we had supplies, we secured the house and our confused dogs and headed higher upcountry to get some photos.

Look at the creativity that people used to enjoy their time on higher ground- some of these are brilliant. One guy was selling hot dogs and sausages on the side of the road (see umbrellas on the right) while people were waiting in long lines for gas- mind you, this is only 9am.

Others took the opportunity to pull seats out of their mini vans and set up makeshift couches under shade trees to wait until the All Clear.

Mini tent "villages" were quickly set up and people slept on blankets or cooked meals with hibachi grills. One guy even showed me how he was able to cook rice on his hibachi. brilliant!

Some people used their pick up trucks as home base had beach chairs to sit on and they brought a cooler filled with whatever they could buy in the back of their pick up truck along with a case of water. Classic island style!

No tsunami ever came from the day but we had fun talking to our friends and neighbors and sharing stories throughout the day.

A hui hou,

Aubrey

http://www.aubreyhord.com/

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

http://www.aubreyhord.com/

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

http://www.aubreyhord.com/

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

http://www.aubreyhord.com/

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

http://www.aubreyhord.com/

Maui Engagement Photographer - Surprise proposal Chris & Emily!

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

http://www.aubreyhord.com/