Sneak Peek for Mia and Roy's E-Session

Sneak Peek: Mia and Roy's E-Session
E-Session: Makapuu Beach Park
To be Wed in: Summer 2010

While the hubby is away, the girls will...

...apparentlly make pizza.

I originally had to work on all Fridays. But we're a bit short-handed and there's only three of us on my shift. And then one of my coworkers had to take famlily leave suddenly because his wife gave birth to their daughter a few weeks early. So, the two of us left had to juggle days to make sure that all the days were covered. So, I found myself with a Friday night off.

It just so happened that Scottie left for Japan that morning for his mission trip in Sapporo. So, my roommie, Tricia, and I decided to have a last-minute girl's night dinner. I picked the theme.

Mystic Pizza Party

We made our own little mini-pizzas and then watched Julia Roberts in "Mystic Pizza." The only thing our dinner guests had to bring was a pizza topping of their choice. Tricia did all the prep work. She researched possible toppings combination by scouring popular menus like California Pizza Kitchen. She laid out a spread of baked chicken, pears, cheeses, tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, fresh spinach, sliced red onions, and she even toasted pine nuts. She had a variety of sauces to go on the pizza crusts; your regular but favored pizza sauce, a pesto, an alfredo, and this yummy BBQ sauce. We're still not done. She even has a little basil plant that we could pick from for our pizza masterpieces.

I don't really trust my cooking skills so I was prepared to buy pre-made pizza crusts from the store but that had the roommate aghast. Instead, she made dough from scratch following this recipe for Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Crust and we rolled out our own crusts. This is an awesome idea for a get-together. it's fun and hands-on like an Arts-n-Crafts project, but then you get to eat it. Followed by a desert of thick brownies covered with rasberries, whip cream and chocolate sauce and we were ready to rest our full tummies while watching "Mystic Pizza." Ah, 80's movies...always a sure thing for a good laugh.

(Just some of the ingredient layout, place cards made by the roomie)

(my favorite, shredded baked chicken)

(I think girls were just snacking on the pears. I don't think they actually made it to any pizza)


(some of our pizza masterpieces pre-baking)

Update: Coral Newborn album up and running

I previously posted highlights from Coral's newborn session, but the online gallery was not up. It is up now. Go check them out here.

Field trip to Discovery Center Hawaii

Sometimes I'll bore you with details of my thrilling life. But, on top of my full-time job and my photography business, I also babysit a few hours every week. She's a darling 19 month old who charms everyone. Our house is pretty toy-less, but thankfully, she loves our piano, my photography props, and she's been known to carry around Scott's golf clubs. To break the boredom, my sister and I have organized combined field trips where I bring baby HB and my sister brings her three youngest girls, all 2 years old and younger. Last week, we went to the Discovery Center in Honolulu. I thought I would blog about it for anyone who hasn't been there yet.

Discovery Center Hawaii

Two big downfalls that we immediately encountered were operating hours and prices. They are open only for very limited hours. They are closed Monday (which we found out a few months ago when we tried to show up without checking out the website...oops). Tuesdays through Fridays, the center is open 9 am to 1 pm. That was hard for us considering my sister had to feed, clothe, and pack up three toddlers by herself. We didn't meet up at the center until 11 am. They are open later on weekends (until 3 pm).

The fee is $8 for anyone over the age of 1. We did eye my sister's twins and HB. Totally tempted to try to knock off 7 months off their ages. Darn, they can pretty much run already so we just had to pay full price. And the $8 is the kama'aina rate and military rate so bring your ID. Once we paid, we were instructed to leave all strollers in the lobby before proceeding into the play area. Yikes. That threw us for a loops. Together, my sister and I had brought

2 year old girl
one 19 month old girl
two 17 month old twin girls
two backpacks
a camera bag

Next time, pack light.

The price was a little high but I think it's comparable to other attractions and we got to escape the hot summer heat. That's the biggest plus I can think of. Once we were inside the Discovery Center, the fun really began. There was an area for the younger toddlers immediately after you enter. We let the kids loose and frankly, they could have played in there the whole time. There was a sailboat that the kids could clamber in. There was a little play fishing pool that the 2 year old used a fishing rod to catch fake, colorful plastic fishes while the babies chose to just roll around on the floor.

All the kids would have been thrilled just to play in the baby play area, but we definitely wanted to explore the rest of the floor and get the most out of our day. There were all these displays set up to convert real world habitats into pint-sized worlds fit for humans under 3 feet tall. I dont' have pictures because I had to abandon the camera to keep up with our little bundles of speed. There was a little hospital room with mini-scrubs hanging on the door hook. Fire truck and a bus. A small theatre with a cool panel where pressing buttons changed the lighting or added sound effects. I got a litttle crazy with the lightning sound effect and my 2 year old niece jumped in my arms saying "skeri, skeri."

The babies, 19 month old HB and 17 month old twins, 2 year old not pictured (running amuck)



Fishing is fun, and plastic fishes smell way better

One twin was trying to scale the picket fence gate and look who came to help

Shopping at the pint-sized grocery store





I think the Discovery Center is more geared for kids 2 years and up. Although HB and the twins loved the grocery store, the rest of the displays and scenes didn't hold any appeal. They took more enjoyment climbing up on the snack table. But the 2 year old loved it. It was perfect for her. And all the kids just loved the freedom of running around. I wish they had more props. I went to the children's museum in Boston and they had a 3 foot tall chess set, hula hoops to blow bubbles. I would have liked to have seen that here, especially since they make such cute photo opportunities.

I cannot say enough about the staff at Discovery Center. Everyone was completely kind-hearted, from the woman who sold us our tickets, the young helpers watching the floors who sweetly played with the kids as well, to the friendly staff in the lunch counter who didn't bat an eye when my sister (not the kids) spilled an entire container of macaroni and cheese on the floor. If you have kids who are between 2 and 6, I would recommend it. And you can bring your own lunch, you just have to eat it outside. Just remember to bring your camera!!!

Baby C's Newborn Session

Newborn sessions can be a lot of hard work, because newborns can be a lot of hard work. I'm always prepared to spend a lot of time with the family as we try to keep the new blessing happy and sleepy. So far, the latter has been elusive. I am always blessed with the most awake and squiggly newborns. That is until last week, when I had a newborn session with Baby Coral. I'm going to nickname her "Sleeping Beauty." You might remember her from her first appearance (well, she was a little hidden) when her parents and I had a maternity session at Waimanalo Beach (look here).

Baby Coral has her mom's beautiful eyes and her dad's amusing expressions. I learned so much about her just in our morning together. She loves to sleep with one fist pressed up against her cheek. Or she abandons that pose and stretches both arms way over her head in complete contentment. And boy does she love sleeping. She's already sporting thick, silky black hair. Proud mom stood nearby with a brush and tended to Coral's updo for every new pose. Coral is just so precious and absolutely gorgeous.


(Coral's mommy has background in marine sciences and both parents are avid ocean-lovers)

(I love how the fishie looks like it's trying to kiss Coral)

(She just had a bath prior to her photo session and was sporting these huge fluffy booties)











(When mommy and her brush were distracted, I tried to give Coral a punk rock look. Too cute)







To view these images and the rest for Coral's newborn session, click here. Update: Online gallery is not working momentarily. I will post as soon as the issue has been resolved.

If you're expecting and are interested in maternity and newborn session, email me to book in advance. Open sessions don't start until December.

Sneak Peek: Coral Newborn Session

Hey folks. I'm super bummed, I had to pass up the opportunity to second shoot for my favorite wedding photographer (also happened to have been my wedding photographer). She's one of my favorite photographers, check out her site and you'll see why. My schedule is completely packed this fall. I'm having to put in more work at my day job because we've lost almost a third of our staff and we're currently in the middle of a painfully long hiring freeze. Between pitching in more at work, a trip up to the northeast for a wedding, some personal projects, taking some workshops to better my products and skills, I'm also looking to overhaul my website and give it a prettier and functional facelift. Please know that I am accepting less bookings during this time in order to devote more time and energy to each of my sessions. My next openings are not until December and early next year, so please contact me to reserve your booking as soon as possible.

My favorite part of today, here's a sneak peek from this week's newborn session with baby Coral. I have to break my usual rules and post two pics for this session sneak peek. I can't decide which one I like better. Coral's daddy was out for a run during her photo session (can you believe that the father of a 2 week old has the energy to run in this Honolulu heat), but he wanted to make up for any time not completely adoring his new daughter. He wrapped her up in his arms and wouldn't let go. And she (as you can tell) couldn't have been more content.

Workshop 101: Composition and Lighting

I have quite a few fellow photo-enthusiastic friends at various levels. I noticed that some people may have had no photography background but still displayed an amazing artistic perspective in their images. I was just stunned to think what they might be able to do with even a bit of composition techniques. And, selfishly, I just wanted to hang out with other photo-loving people and do something just focused around photography. I did a trial run with a small mini-workshop, teaching the basic rules of composition and the basic functions of a camera. Luckily, my hubby works for a church that supports outreach opportunities. Just last week, my husband helped his friend, David, to hold a class on "Smoking Meat." So, the workshop was held at church, Hope Chapel Kaneohe Bay, but open to anyone. I kept the seating limited and lunch was provided in the cost. All the proceeds went to the church and a Japan Mission Team.

Class started at 10 am on a Saturday morning. It was beautiful weather. I injected the class with photo assignments, photo scavenger hunts to challenge them and to help them think outside the box. That was probably my favorite part. I love seeing how everyone can look at the same object in a multitude of ways. I had these beautiful powerpoints, monstrous powerpoints, to go through helpful tips on how anyone can better compose their pictures, even with a simple point and shoot camera. Then, classic Keao kicked in. I was pulling on a cord and knocked my cup of water over...splash. Water was pulled around my laptop and racing towards my camera. I jerked my camera up in time but my laptop went black. When I picked it up...water just poured out. Oh, goodness. Scott didn't even blink an eye, he knows these things just happen when I come into contact with tools of technology. He took it into the other room to let it sit in front of fan and we moved on working with our cameras and their functions.

The class was a mix of point and shoot and beginner dSLR cameras. I think learning about the macro mode was the biggest surprise for most of the class. Someone exclaimed after learning the icon for macro mode "Oh, I thought that was only if you wanted to take pictures of flowers." Then they went crazy taking close-ups of everything they could think of.

The best part was just getting to meet some new faces and finding fellow photobugs. We will follow up with photo-walks and more mini-workshops for the windward side. If you're interested, send me a shout-out at keao@keaosphotography.com

There's me (powerpointless at this point) going over camera functions. Notice the hubby in the right corner clearly paying me no attention. He was just there for support. Thanks, sweetie!!

Here are some examples from the student's on their photo scavenger hunt assignments. These have been processed by me prior to this posting for contrast and some color boosting. Kardyn processed her own. I had too many favorites but I would have run out of room...

For the class gallery, click here

Follow-up: My prayers that night were for a laptop miracle. My laptop sat in front of a fan for 24 hours. Hearing that people are sometimes told to put their waterlogged cellphones in bags of uncooked rice to help absorb moisture, I also just poured rice over the keyboard. Laugh at me if you will, but it worked. My computer turned back on the next day completely fine. Well, almost perfect, there's still some rice kernels permanently stuck beneath the keys (especially the backspace button).

Lacie's Newborn Sesh

Welcome to the the world, little Lacie. Our smallest little Oreo cookie.

Little Lacie's mom has a sweet beautiful singing voice and she devotes her gift as the worship leader for the women's ministry at our church. Lacie's dad is a talented musician...drums...guitar...you name it. Both surf and love the beach so I can already imagine little Lacie growing up with a guitar and a surfboard. Maybe she'll get into trucks like her big brother, Logi.

My assistant/friend, Joy, was missing for this Saturday morning session. That girl has a waaaay busier social schedule than I do. So it was just me and the whole package of Oreos. Lacie was having breakfast when I arrived, which I loved because it gave me to time to scope out the room she's sharing with her big bro. I totally rearranged that room by the time Kacie brought her newborn girl upstairs. I mean, I somehow hauled furniture around...don't worry, I put it all back. But her room was the perfect setting for her first photo session with it's newly painted sea blue walls complete with her name over her...well, where crib is bound to be once they find the screws. For a few of the shots, we moved her to mommy and daddy's room where I just loved the bright red wall and striking black and white pillows.

I usually like to abbreviate baby names to protect their privacy but I figured this picture would kind of give it away...

Born on August 12, 2009...

Wearing a hat made by Joyful Creations (Joy, I just made up a name for you btw)

(this hat is from a designer I found on etsy)



(I love this soft white blanket. Kacie said as soon as she saw it, she heard a bell and thought "Photos!!" She's so right)

(Logi held her for 20 seconds until she let out a cry and then he said "I'm done."

I guess he doesn't mind the crying that much...


For even more pictures of precious little Lacie, go to www.keaosphotography.instaproofs.com

John-Whitni-Baby G Family Session

My friend John is being deployed shortly. His intial departure was last Monday and has slowly been postponed day by day...with the last departure date given set for tomorrow. With a five month-old and a beautiful, sweet wife, Whitni, to anchor him to his new home here in the islands, we pushed really hard to squeeze some time in for them to take some pictures. Pictures to keep with them in these next months apart. We met late one afternoon on Waimanalo beach...the wind was just roaring. Baby G was a little stunned by the wind, he stared it in the face until his eyes gave in and he had to duck behind his daddy's broad shoulders. Whitni, another budding photog, had her camera out and was snapping away at the gorgeous backdrop of the Koolau mountains. With babies, you really just have to go with the flow. We took as many pictures on the sand until the wind got to be too much for baby. So we moved in towards the mountains. Then he was having a bit of teething fits so we took as many breaks as he needed for bottle time and some "chew on daddy's finger" time that he needed. I actually like it more...I like to fade in the background until they forget I'm there and then I snap away and capture their "real" family moments.

I love this adorable family. My hubby and I are blown away by the dedication and day-to-day commitment of military men and women.














(Baby's G's expression during most of our afternoon together. He does not hold back at all)

(the magic solution that all parents apparently know)

To see the rest of the session, go to www.keaosphotography.instaproofs.com.