Hawaii

The last two days in Hawaii, we photographed two different model groups that we might encounter at home.   Our first group was a beautiful family of a husband and wife and two children.   Joe wanted to demonstrate how to photograph in harsh mid-day sun but we had a light cloud cover that ruined that plan.   Next, we went to the beach with lovely lava outcroppings mixed with white sands.   We split the family up so that we each had some access to direct the session on our own.   We photographed them until almost sunset. We concluded the evening with another lovely group dinner on property.   Thankfully, the restaurant offered a nice variety of dishes which allowed us to vary our dinners each evening we were there. Friday was our last day at the resort and also the last day of our workshop.   Three participants remained which allowed us plenty of time for both critiques and questions.   Each participant also had an hour ...

As you probably know, we have taken several photography workshops during the last few years.  We've gone to many exotic and interesting countries.  This workshop is a little different. First, we staying in one place and a beautiful place it is.  We usually travel with around 15 participants, this one has a max of 5.  This workshop is focusing on lighting which is very difficult to do with a larger group.  For the next three days we're getting a lot of one on one time with Profoto lights, considered by many the best lighting out there. Probably more interesting to you is the subjects we're lighting.  For today, we're working with two very photogenic models, Jerome and Cassie, in several different settings.  They are both native Hawaiians and came dressed in native costumes they normally wear in shows. We first started working with Cassie.  She's just getting back into modeling after having a daughter 19 months ago.  She's absolutely bea...

After a lovely buffet breakfast on property, we set out to explore a little of the island.  We decided the drive to Hilo would be manageable in the time we had allotted.  We were immediately struck by the landscape surrounding us.  The lava flows from past eruptions were clearly visible all around us with some flows going all the way into the water.  Very black, the volcanic rock took the shape of frozen sludge with visible wave lines and very little vegetation.  There was miles and miles of this landscape.  I guess I expected all of the islands to be tropical lush forests, not the stark remnants of volcanic eruptions.  If you recall, this island had a very active volcanic eruption just a year ago on the south end of the island. We drove up into the mountains, where the barren lava rock turned into forests of very tall, very straight trees.  We could also glimpse the ocean below the highway.  Occasionally we would see small valleys that ex...

In an effort to save a little money and use up some air miles, our trip to Hawaii was probably a little longer than necessary.  We had a several hour layover in LAX (boy, I really don't get how this airport is laid out!) before our 6 hour flight to Honolulu.  Fortunately, everything went pretty smoothly and we (and our luggage) arrived as scheduled. I also took advantage of hotel points and booked the Ritz Carlton Waikiki Beach.  A beautiful room awaited us in this towered hotel.  Our room looked out onto downtown Honolulu and the ocean.  While we were here literally less than 12 hours, I would recommend it for a longer stay. An acquaintance of ours owns part interest in a boutiques rum distillery,  KoHanana Rum , that I had booked a tour on for the next morning.  While not a large distillery, we learned about what makes their rum different than most.  Two thousand pounds of native sugar cane grown onsite is processed twice a week by ex...

We have been to a lot of places around the world, but we have never been to Hawaii.  The opportunity presented itself to make a weeklong stop on our way to Australia (a different blog for obvious reasons).  I have mentioned  Joe McNally  as a photographer that we have taken workshops with several times.  He's an incredible photographer and teacher plus he's just plain fun to be around.  For the past several years he has partnered with a hotel on The Big Island to host a small workshop for guests of the hotel.  We were already planning a trip (tlmaustralia.blogspot.com) around the same time as this workshop and thought we could put the two together. This will not be the full Hawaii experience since we're mainly focusing on the workshop, but I'm sure we'll find some interesting things along the way that we can share.  Thanks for following along. Next: Honolulu