Booking is simple. First give me a call (808-554-7721) or an email with your range of dates and I’ll find one that fits in the schedule. Then you can pay a 50% deposit to get your date locked on the calendar. After that you just have to enter your information on this form and you are all set.  I will usually call you the day of the shoot in the morning to confirm. If you don’t hear from me then you can call me at (808-554-7721) and I will go over the exact meeting spot with you. The final phone call is important because the beach is so big it can be hard to find each other once you arrive.

Your photos will be ready to download two weeks after your photo session.

I like solid colors. I’ve had great results with whites, blues, tans, yellows, and blacks.  Bare feet work great at the beaches I like.

I do my portraits on the furthest North side of the island.  Waikiki is on the South end of island so it’s a 1 hour drive with no traffic.  With traffic it can take as long as 2 hours.  If you are staying in Waikiki I recommend making a day of it.  The North Shore is famous for its beautiful big, uncrowded beaches, waves, shrimp trucks, turtles and general country charm.  Haleiwa is a fun town on the North Shore where people like to stop for Matsumoto’s shave ice, dozens of restaurants, surf shops and art galleries.

I have tried to do photo shoots at beaches near hotels but I have found that there is no way to get the type of results I like on beaches that crowded. These family picture packages are limited to a few locations that I have pre selected for the best results.

Once I have uploaded the photos on the computer I go through and remove all the blinks and any other rejects.  After that I individually edit the color, crop, white balance, contrast and several other aspects of the photo to achieve the perfect color and clarity that I like.  Those edited photos are put on the web at full resolution for download.

After that you can select 5, 10, or 15 photos (depending on the package you booked) for custom retouching. Custom retouching includes things like fixing hair blowing around in the wind, removing blemishes and shine, removing background elements, etc.

I love to shoot underwater.  We can start the shoot above water and then move on to some great water shots for you.  No extra charge.

I use a 42 megapixel camera with top of the line lenses so I have gotten great results up to about 30×40 inches.  Even larger prints look great too as you tend to stand back further to view them.

I am based on Oahu however I do travel to Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, Molokai and Lanai for a flat $500 fee which includes all my expenses.

The shoot length is based on group size.  Groups of 1-5 people are 45 minutes.  6-12 people shoots are 1 hour.  Shoots with over 12 people will be 90 minutes.  If you feel you want more time you can always book the larger session and use the time for more poses, outfits and backdrop changes.

For a 4 person shoot you would typically get many different poses including–

Entire family standing, entire family sitting, just kids, just parents, each parent with each kid, each kid individually (sitting, standing, playing) , family walking on the beach, kids playing, head shot for each parent.

Optional poses include– family laying in the sand, piggy back, jumping, pyramid, playing in the water and any other fun poses you can think of.

I will usually do all these poses before the sun starts to set and then about half of them again as the sun sets for a completely new look

For large groups with multiple families I will start off  with all the families together and then move on to a most of the above poses for each family.  In addition to that I can do all the cousins together.  Grandparents with the grandkids,  older siblings, etc.

You’d be surprised how many poses you can get through in a short time.

If it’s raining on the day of the shoot I can reschedule you to any available day at no extra charge. If the weather is bad for the whole week you are here on vacation I can refund your deposit.

Unfortunately none of my favorite beaches have any facilities. One of the reasons they make good locations is because they are tucked away with no parking lots or restrooms.  Some people come ready in their clothes, some people change in the car, some people do an outfit change under a wrap at the beach.