Military Spouse Best Friends Cake Smash | Oahu Photographer | Honeymoon Beach
Best Friends Cake Smash | Oahu Photographer | Honeymoon Beach
I decided to re-write this blog, because it really didn't hit the nail on the head. I want to be myself in my photography, writing, and client experience.
So here it is, raw, uncut, Chelsie+ cold brew coffee.
I love cake smash photo shoot, I love fun photo shoots. I LOVE LAUGHTER.
Being a military spouse is HARD, I'm not talking about moving, anyone can pack some boxes and move across the country or ocean. What makes it hard is long hours, unpredictability, not being able to plan more than 3 months out, and friends. That last one really kills me. It is so hard to make friends when you are a military spouse, when you are a working military spouse, when you are a stay at home mom and military spouse, when you are a work at home mom and military spouse. You would think if you threw 30,000 people on a base if would be easier to find friends... But everyone is leaving or just got here. I've made some many almost super good friends but then they leave or I leave, or.. or.. shit happens. So when you find that one person who got here about the same time and has ALL the same interests and makes your face hurt from laughing, hand cuff yourself to them, just kidding, but don't let that go. Not with this lifestyle, hang on to those friendships.
I know both of these amazing women. They are ladies I wish I could spend more time with.
Gloria is a seriously kick ass posed newborn photographer, like seriously if you have a baby growing in your belly, call her. ASAP. Or maybe this is a reason to get busy and make a baby ;) LINK Not only is she an amazing photographer, she is an amazing Mother, she is such a warm and happy person to be around. Also no way is she 37.
Elsie, I mostly know her over facebook, but have met her several times, and she is amazing. LINK She is also an amazing Mother, photographer, and super good lookin' hey girllll.
The cakes were from none other than Sweet Newbyginnings ! I tried them and they were really good! I love how she added the ribbon to hide the cardboard!
This was one of those sessions, where I came home and excitedly loaded my card and started looking through all billion photos, smiling ear to ear because of all the amazing moments and laughter during the session. These ladies were/are amazing, so full of love, laughter, and you could tell their friendship is worth the world.
Ask all my clients, I get so emotionally invested, I almost always cry at some point, but Gloria and Elsie had my laugh crying so hard my face hurt and I got a good ab work out.
Follow me to see more from this session, I will be blogging each of their individual sessions soon! Here are a few photos from their session.
Poppin' Bottles of Champagne
So here's what happened. We very vaguely planned this Gloria told me she had a friend and they wanted to do a cake smash, she told me the theme and we picked a date and time. Last minute I thought about champagne and a giant unicorn floaty. So Gloria being the bad ass she is, went and found the floaty! Target, YEY! So day of, we are all excited get there, setup. It's so windy, like sandy is flying! Eventually we get to poppin' the bottles and well that was hilarious and warm. Have you drank warm champagne, don't do it.
Seriously they can't be 37!
Smashing Cake TIME!
When the unicorn goes for a swim
If you follow me, you know splash sessions are my THING, I love them so so much! SO I was like, hey get on that unicorn and get in the water. They were totally game, and it was awesome, the small waves rolling in, making them almost tip over. It was a blast, then Elsie was on it by her self, I'm about ankle deep in the water, and she just started floating out, and out... and out some more. So I start wading through the water and end up to my belly button deep, holding my camera way above my head, and in the other hand is the unicorn with Elsie on it! Mean while Gloria is laughing so hard from the shore. Oh how this was so amazing.
Let me be real, this was so much fun and if you want a fun food smash photo shoot, for whatever reason, email me. Hello@AlohaFamilyPhotography.com
I'm on Oahu, but am able to travel, but it's Hawaii, so come here!
Also keep your eye out for each of their individual photos!
Feel free to share this! Also comment what kind of food smash you would do!
Military Homecoming | Oahu Family Photographer
Military Homecoming | Oahu family Photographer
These moments are the best.
Lighting | Tips | Oahu Family Photographer
I would love to go over some quick easy tips about lighting. It is probably one of the most asked questions I get.
"Chelsie, what time will we do out photos?!"
I generally do photos about an hour before sunset. I am not a golden light photographer. I LOVE light, full but soft light. To achieve the look I want, one hour prior to sunset.
There are exceptions but because we never know what the weather will be I plan for an hour before sunset.
The fun thing about being a Mom is that I take so many photos of my kids, so I can go out some days at noon and have perfect lighting. I always keep an eye on the weather. When it's cloudy its generally perfect for that soft creamy light.
Below I will show you some photos at different times.
This was a cloudy day about an hour before sunset.
About an hour before sunset on a sunny day.
Around 2-3pm on a bright sunny day.
Around 11am on a partially cloudy day.
Around sunset on a cloudy day.
A lot of variables go into what the final photos will look like, but that is all part of my job.
I love being able to adjust as needed in camera to get the look I want, then enhance the photos further with presets I make in Lightroom.
If anyone has any specific questions, please email me: Hello@AlohaFamilyPhotography.com
Oahu Family Photographer | Splash Session | Amazing Family
I generally leave a photo session and have a feeling of excitement. I love working with families. This session I did stands out, I try not to "play favorites" but this one, this one is my favorite.
At the time our newest child was about 3 months old. So I brought the whole family to base and dropped my husband and our three daughters off at the park. I then headed to my session. I listen to the radio and did my usual pre photo shoot car dancing. I pulled up and immediately my clients pulled up next to me. I don't know why but this felt like a great sign. Since we were both about 10 minutes early. Right away I felt a connection, the Mom Shelby had the same hair style and hair color as me! I complemented her AMAZING style. We walked down to the beach and I really let myself be me at the session. I joked with them, we chatted, the kids played, splashed, and then although I have suggested before at sessions, I highly encouraged them to get in the water. The results were amazing. I also got in the water, I was soaked up to my belly button! Best of all I knew I made friends for life.
After the session I was on cloud 9, it was amazing, I kept looking at the back of my camera and felt so much pure excitement. Upon getting home, I started my usual post session uploading and all the behind the scenes work.
When they came over to see everything, again, it was just an amazing environment. Their kids played with my kids while we looked through their photos, I may have teared up because I'm always emotional when people love the photos. She may have too, I don't remember, and I didn't want to look and her see my all teary eyed.
Then I found out the family was MOVING away from this beautiful island Oahu. So I ordered everything with rush shipping because I love hand delivery/pick up!
Anyways, I absolutely loved that session. That session is now my samples for basically everything in my studio. Here are a few of my favorites.
To see more recent sessions, follow me on Facebook and Instagram
Sunset Family Session | Oahu Family Photographer
Kualoa State Park is a beautiful location. Living on Oahu has been the easiest place to be a photographer. This location is amazing because the endless spots. At the front of the park is an amazing field with a perfect mountain view. Then you can walk across the parking lot and dig your sand in the toes. There are endless options for because on Oahu but this is my favorite. The beach at the front has the perfect view of China mans hat. Being a family photographer on Oahu is amazing, I not only get to work with local families and military families living on Oahu, I also get to photograph traveling and vacationing families.
This family is on their way off island, they were stunning. The love their boys share, is beautiful. It must be Oahu families that are the best because they are always up for having fun. I often do umping photos and silly photos with families.
If you're looking for non traditional family photos, contact me! Hello@AlohaFamilyPhotography.com