Maternity Session-Matt and Leena

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The wedding of Scot and Kim-Waioli Tea House

Trying something new here...

see www.keaosphotography.blogspot.com

Dancing in the halls

I just had a random thought that watching "So You Think You Can Dance" is a deadly combination when you mix in the fact that they pipe in music through all the rooms and hallways in my office building. Apparently, I now think I can dance...and I tend to do so down the hallways when I swept up by the music. I'm always in the middle of my "dance for you life" solo when some officer walks around the corner...ogh!!!

Although, I don't just think I can dance....I know I can!!!. Okay, maybe I'm losing my touch. Last month, I was hanging out with family and I decided to show my teen niece how you're really supposed to dance. My dad sweetly said "oh, keao, stop. You unfortunately inherited dance skills from me...which are zero to none." I was super indignant.

Me: "What? I can dance. Dad, I danced in high school. Don't you remember?

Dad (perplexed look)

Me: Remember? I was on the school's dance team. Ring a bell?

Dad (perplexed look not fazing)

Me: Hello. I was gone for a whole summer in high school because I was at grandma's ( on a totally different island than where we live) so I could go to the summer practices.

Dad: You did? When was this?

*sigh* Family. But anyways, just keep an eye out when doing turns down the hallway at work.

Family: Joe, Evelyn, and their extended family

A photography business has two main components. "Photography" (which I love) and "Business" (which I am still working on). This the third month I've overbooked myself...again. *sigh* Mentally scolding myself as we speak. I keep meaning to take a break, give my poor hubby some quality time without my laptop molded to my lap...relax on the beach with a good book. However, it's the first half of "Photography Business" that gets me in trouble. I love photography. I get so excited when something comes up. An opportunity presents itself and the photography addict in me starts bargaining "Go for it, Keao, you can make time. You'll make it work." I just can't resist. Good photographer, bad bad business-woman. Ha ha. Seriously, you get there and it's so worth it.

For example, last week I received a call from Evelyn, the sweetest woman in the world. She and her husband, Joe, are sweethearts who moved to these islands years ago from Guam. They have raised three amazing kids and they are such a tight family. They joined our church's boot camp exercise together. I'm offering an "Introduction to Digital Photography" seminar in August and they signed up....together. They even do yardwork together. How do I know? They used to be my landlords. Before I married Scott, some friends and I rented out the first level of their duplex. And I fell in love. They were amazing to live under. I can't count how many times I would hear a knock on our door and there was Joe or Evelyn with a steaming pan of deliciousness saying "Oh, we made extra, so please enjoy."

In our premarital counseling, Scott and I read a chapter on "leaving and cleaving your family." Since living in a dorm as a seventh grader at Kamehameha Schools, I have pretty much lived on my own. So I thought this would be an easy and done deal. But the Flores family had quickly become family to me and when I finally got married, there was some definite moments of sadness and wishful thinking. I often joked with Evelyn that I was working on Scott to leave the house he grew up just so we could move back in with the Flores family.

Joe's father was on island visiting so it was a rare moment to have the family together for pictures. Evelyn and I threw this together last minute so we were looking for someplace close by. So we chose Kaneohe District Park. I have a new favorite location. I can't believe I haven't used it before. It has a gorgeous backdrop with the Koolau mountains and these pretty shading trees. I was a little worried about the sheer number of people (with Joe's sister and brother and their respective families), so I recruited fellow photographer, Joy Pishcura.

(Grandpa and all the grand-kids)

(the whole family. Missing only Carl who was firing up dinner on the grill for their barbecue)

just some silly fun, Connie (far right) and her son ,Dural (middle), and nephew Joseph Jr. (left)



(Joe and Evelyn)



(Joe and Evelyn with their amazing kids, Joe Jr., Kardyn, and Jared)

(Dural, a good friend of ours. We usually see him 2 to 3 times a week. Totally worth it)

(Dural and his mom, Connie, who is also Joe's sister)


(Joe's brother Carl couldn't make it so we took tons of pictures of his foursome)

(just some goofing around in the park)

Sneak Peek: Scot and Kim Wedding

Here's a sneak peek from Scot and Kim. Kim and I had to come up with a system to distinguish our husbands (he's officially hers now) and our conversations were punctuated with my "my scott" versus her "my Scot." I chose this one because...well, it's horizontal and it's just a lot simpler to fit in the column...but also because I love how attentively Kim is listening to that handsome officiant. I was so nervous during my ceremony, I kind of just stared blankly at Pastor Ralph and I was caught a little off-guard when it turns out he was asking me for my vows. Not Kim, she's enjoying every second of her day. If there was a quiz at the end, I'm sure she would have aced it. Kim, don't spoil my Scott. Now he might expect the same set of listening skills from me.

Wedding of Nick and Lianne

What: The wedding of Nick and Lianne
Where: Ko Olina, Oahu
When: Sunset on a wednesday in June
All details/services provided by: Sands Of Time Weddings









(The setting light was just gorgeous)
(Little "J" who is about to be freed from his stroller)

(One of my favorites)













To see these images and the rest from this special day, please visit http://www.keaosphotography.instaproofs.com/ and click on "Nick and Lianne."

I'm sorry...you are ____?

I'm thirty. I think I'm losing my memory. At first it was a big joke...I was the one who could never remember people from high school. But today, it really started to bother me...I don't remember who people are.

I loved loved loved school...probably why I went into teaching and I wish I could go back and take more college classes. But I would agree that they left out the most important life skills in education. How to small talk. How to make connections. How to understand all those deductions on your paycheck. And I definitely missed the class on how to remember people's names and faces. Seriously, such a great skill that will do you great in life.

Maternity: Kacie and the yummy Oreos

What: Kacie's Maternity sesion (joined by hubby, Clinton, and little man "L")
When: a Saturday afternoon in June
Where: Kalama Beach Park

So, Kacie's session was actually a few weeks ago so she has been patiently waiting for her pictures. The wait is finally over. I aim to do maternity shoots between the 32nd and the 36th week of a woman's pregnancy. You'll get the nice baby bump but you dont' want to be too close to the end, where you may be a little more uncomfortable or...the baby might make a surprise entrance before we can get those pictures. So we had to squeeze the session into June. She brought her hubby, Clinton, and their little manly "L" to the family maternity session at Kalama Beach Park. It was a location they chose because of it's meaning and special significance, the place where Clinton proposed to Kacie and set in motion the journey their family would take together.

This was also a Joy and Light production, I was joined by another photographer, Joy Pishcura. She literally had returned to Oahu just three days earlier after being with family in Ohio for six months. I had a sprained ankle so I was hopping around the beach and so I wanted that pair of second eyes there. It was a full car because my hubby decided he wanted to go to the beach and he brought along his friend, Jasen. Don't get me wrong, I love company...if I had any complaint...it would be that when I had a shot lined up with Clinton and Kacie in a sandy pathway under trees with the sand and ocean stretching behind them....there rising out of the seas like King Triton was my husband in his bright yellow surf shorts. His only response to my frantic arm waves motioning for him to move out of the frame was "What? You don't own the beach." Oh, that's my Scott.

Little "L" is...hmmm...I think he's two. He had just come from another party and was crashed out. Then he woke up to find himself at the beach with Auntie Keao chasing him around with a camera...he was more interested in playing. So we let him play. He actually found a dollar bill just digging in the sand and then he found a lone, unclaimed boogeyboard on the beach. His dad, clinton, wisely advised him to leave it there so that everybody else would get to use it.

Thanks so much to Kacie for letting us in on their family day at the beach. Kacie is our women's worship leader at our church and we've sung together so many times. She's an absolute sweetheart. Her hubby, Clinton, is also an uber-talented musician. He played the drums with my husband's band at our wedding and he also has a T-shirt design company, No Idols. They, of course by the pictures, have an adorable little boy "L", and will be joined by their very much already-loved daughter at the end of this summer.

Here's some of my faves from the day:

And by special request (so you know i don't make up these stories), here's a little gem of the stud in the yellow surf shorts.

Don't be jealous, he's mine!!!

Oh, it's not church night

I probably say this over and over again in my blogs but I have 5 nieces...all from one sister. The middle child, Lauren, is 2 1/2 years old and so adorable with tons of black silky hair and big, dark eyes. She's become a little out-of-sorts since the arrival of her younger twin sisters having now lost the limelight. So, Scott and I have been making a big effort to take her to church with us every Friday night.

When she was much younger, she hated leaving home. She was such a mommy's girl. She stayed with us for three days while my sister was at the hospital delivering twins and she cried every night. For a few months, whenever she saw me or especially Scott at her house, she assumed we were coming to take her away from mom and she would start crying. Don't believe me? Hah, see Scott's video below.



Can you believe that was a year ago?

Now she wants to be anywhere but home. She's such an explorer. She just wants to be out out out!!! She now gets so excited and when we arrive to pick her up, she's walking around the house with her slippers, hat and backpack on ready to go. She tells everyone "I go church." Granted, church to her is the big nursery filled with toys with playful butterflies on the walls, but boy does she love the idea of going to church. This past Friday, we forgot to bring her backpack, hat and slippers with us when we dropped it off. Yesterday, we had a wedding at Ko Olina so we dropped by to drop off the backpack, hat and slippers.

Oh, she got so excited when she saw us. But she really lit up when she saw her backpack. She sailed across the living room and grabbed. She then proceed to put on her backpack...then her slippers....then her hat. We were sitting down chatting with my oldest niece, Ashley and my sister. Lauren climbed into my lap and was all giggly and excited. Halfway through our stay, I looked at my sister and asked "Does she think she's going with us?" Uh-oh. I tried to tell Lauren that we were going to go home, go sleep...and we would come back for her tomorrow to go church. Of course, she's two...her grasp of English seems to be very selective. It didn't really kick in until Scott stood up and wished her good-bye that I think it sunk in. Her face just fell and her body just slumped as she folded her arms and stared at her feet. She started crying as we walked out....oh, it was so heartbreaking. Tomorrow is Friday and church night so hopefully I can atone for it. My, how things have changed.

Family: Robert and Amy with their kids

Who: Robert, Amy, Manly "M" and Sweet "M"
Where: Waimanalo Beach Park
When: Monday afternoon in June

This is a "Joy and Light Production" as I was joined by my lovely second shooter Joy Pishcura. The Stanleys contacted me after seeing our mutual and dear friend Bow's maternity session followed by a newborn session with her adorable daughter. The Stanleys have been in our islands for years but are now moving to Nebraska. Wow!!! I couldn't think of two more radically different places. They wanted some family photographs on the beach that would always serve as a reminder of their days living in paradise.

I'll be honest, I was a little nervous because I knew they were a military family. Although I know tons of military families and they are just all sweethearts, I still always have this niggling fear that the dad will be a drill seargant barking out commands to start running in place and do one-arm pushups. As soon as the family tumbled out of their van and greeted us warmly with these ear-to-ear smiles, I knew this was going to be fun. And boy, was it fun. Not only did the dad, Robert, not put us through drills on the sand, he was more of a kid himself as he chased his son through the sand and surf. The kids were so photogenic, I did get a little carried away with them. They both have these striking blue eyes (I'm so jealous, I always wanted blue eyes). Both their names start with "M," as apparently, four or so more cousins do as well. So I'll call them Manly "M" and Sweet "M." Sweet "M" had just recently lost some of her front teeth, oh I remember those days. They both turned out to be avid tree climbers and adventuresome. I think they wanted to do the whole session up in the trees. You could see how much love this family have. They were always hugging each other or laughing at someone's jokes.

This was at the tail-end of my sprained ankle week. But this family were so fun and creative, the adrenaline took over and I was running around the beach...totally forgetting about my ankle. All I felt was excitement. They were such a sweet family, which I shouldn't be surprised at since they're friends with Bow (completely made of sugar and spice). I can't help but be a little sad that they're moving away and Hawaii loses an awesome 'ohana.

(I overheard Sweet "M" asking "Why is she taking pictures of our feet?" I had to giggle)