Here we are again...! Oahu's FINEST Wedding Professionals, gathered last night, for the Oahu Wedding Association (OWA) monthly meeting /party! Of course there HAD to be a Halloween theme, and everyone looked FA-BU-LOUS :)

This month, the gathering assembled at Wendy Robin's new gorgeous make up studio, in China Town...STUDIO W, located on Smith Street. There were libations provided by Wendy, yummy pupus catered by BACKYARDS & BAR-B-QUE CATERING,DJ music & Emcee by Marino of NINJA ENTERTAINMENT, smiles, laughs, industry updates by the OWA board officers, halloween-ing, and a best guy & best girl costume contest too, filled the night's agenda :) Prez :Dave came as "Disco :Dave", and I came as Pocahontas :) Yee HA!! (However, we were really missing Geralyn big-time though :( She was supposed to come with us, disguised as a giant lumpia...She was feeling under the weather, and couldn't make it to the party. That's OK, we drank in her honor :)

The big costume winners were Becca & Ryan (as guests for the evening, but they are new forthcoming members), with Ryan's bandito bartender costume, and Becca's dark angel costume, well deserved of the prizes- $75 gift certificate for a karaoke party (donated by :Dave and myself), and a $50 gift certificate for a hair and makeup session or products from Studio W! Ryan and Becca are bartenders for hire from Ryan's company LIFT YOUR SPIRITZ, specializing events and private parties :) CONGRATULATIONS you two! You looked awesome!

(Thank you Kris Labang for providing these photo shots. We appreciate it!)

OK, Halloween isn't over for us yet folks. Still another party on Thursday for the Chamber of Commerce, and of course on Halloween night, we head up to Mililani for a family party :)

HAPPY SCARY WEEK Y'ALL!!

Today is a BIG day in the Miyamoto household. Our guy :Dave turns 46 today! "HAPPY BIRTHDAY....Mr. O.W.A. President..." (sung in my cool breathy-like Marilyn Monroe voice)....YIKES- Not so sexy, people.

Well anyhow, I dug through my personal favorite photos of :Dave, to share with you all, and trace back what he is all about :)

Up first, the 1968 1st grade photo (look above this entry). Still looking exactly the same, and in most instances, still behaving the same :). Next, we move onto the high school senior photo, circa 1980. YES, he was the quintessential surfer "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" kind of guy...Most of his friends back then were "Jeff Spicolli" types. No surprise there people :) Loving the feathered surfer hair...and isn't he darker than usual here? He's almost "blurple" from being in the surf and sun everyday. He assured me, YES, he did attend class. But, with the times late 70's-early 80's, memories seem cloudy to him, and happy...I wonder why? hmmmmm. As for the other photos...of course they are water images. He's a fish, remember?...

Fast forward to today :) He wakes up to unselfishly make me breakfast as he normally does (I"m so lucky, and I don't take that for granted!) my favorite...Acai bowl with granola and smiley face bananas. Nacho looks on, through the screen door outside to watch me photograph my acai bowl. He then gets himself ready and out the door for his 2nd surf session of the day so far (he just came back from his first session at north shore early this morning). Later today, we'll go to WET FEET store in Aina Haina, so he can pick out a new rash guard shirt (birthday present) for him to go out in the water with, and we will also rummage through SAVERS discount store to look for some bell bottom pants for his halloween costume. This year he will be "Disco Dave" (photos to be posted later this week of this get-up). And tonite, we will head out with our buddy Geralyn, to be amongst costumed friends and colleagues at the Oahu Wedding Association meeting /halloween party.

Yes, :Dave truly leads a birthday life EVERYDAY. That's how we roll in the Miyamoto house. Once again,... HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU HAPPY HAWAIIAN! Thank you for bringing so much unwavering love and sm:)es into so many of our lives... :)

You never have to twist :Dave's arm to head out to beautiful Ko'olina, for a photo shoot :) There, you will find the most beautiful sunsets, and the most pictureque settings.

We are smack in the middle of that time of year where we are scheduling family sessions, especially for our wonderful clients visiting Hawaii for their yearly vacations. The Winters Family, from Chicago, is one of those wonderful families :) They own a timeshare in Ko'olina, and were enjoying an afternoon out at the beach, where they happened to catch a glimpse of :Dave's photo session with the Tran Family (see their story below).

After :Dave had left, Janel Winters approached Vu, and asked about their session, and also to find out if he might have time to come out to Ko'olina the following day to photograph their family as well :) We received an email from Vu, and we happily set this photo session up for them the following day!

:Dave shared that The Winters were really easy to photograph :) They were always smiling and laughing, which makes for the perfect fun family session :) Enjoy viewing the images of :Dave's afternoon with the photogenic Winters family!

Can you resist how cute this family is? :) I sure can't!

Vu and Chau Tran are former destination wedding photography clients of ours from 2005, who were back in Honolulu for some fun in the sun. But this time, they returned with their adorable one year old son, Dylan!

As you can see below, little Dylan can "work a photo session" like nobody's business :)

Mahalo to the Tran family for spending the afternoon with :Dave to capture some new island memories with us!

And.... as a reminder for any of our wonderful past brides and grooms, friends, and families who have not yet booked your holiday session with us, please give us a call or email to schedule your morning or afternoon with :Dave at the camera! Holidays are fast approaching, and we'd love to get your good looking smiling faces photographed for your seasonal cards!

Happy Holiday Season everyone!

Do you see what happens when I leave town for a week? I come home to see what :Dave has been up to these past few days...and he shares with me all of this fun that I missed with Shaun and Shannon, as :Dave photographed with our very talented Associate / "Wing Man Photographer" Erwin, on that Saturday afternoon :)

:Dave first came to know Shannon a few months back, when she was a bridesmaid for another wedding client of ours (Erin & Jason Tanaka). Shannon is Jason's sister :) Keeping the photography flow "in the family", we were really excited and honored that Shannon & Shaun also chose :Dave to photograph their wedding too!

:Dave said that this wedding was non-stop smiles and laughter, between their friends and family, ALL day....Definitely our favorite kind of people to shoot!

Check out the result of their crazy fun day in the collage featured below. I LOVE it! Congratulations once again to Shannon and Shaun!

Between the two weddings that happened on this day, what an awesome day to blog about :)

I'm just loving how we can now show off some of our Associate Photographers interpretation of our wonderful wedding couples, through blogging...!

On October 18th, we were absolutely maxed on our schedule to shoot, as we had 2 full day weddings happening simultaneously. Being that as it may, we had Russ as the primary photographer at Vickie & Justin's wedding at the picturesque west shore private property of Lanikuhonua, with Erwin as 2nd Shooter. Russ and Erwin tag-teamed these fluid images of this couple's most special day.

I love seeing the look on Vickie's relaxed, beautiful face as she graced Justin and her guests with her hula performance. Enjoy viewing these images taken by our talented photographers Russ and Erwin... FANTASTIC imagery guys! Way to go team DM&C!

I thought I'd share some new personal family memories with our :Dave Miyamoto & Company family and friends :)

From Homecoming week in San Diego (San Pasqual High School), I had the opportunity to share in the excitement of the "big week of crowning" of :Dave's daughter Claire, along with her mom Debbie, and step-dad Jeff. I was bumming that I didn't have the chance to see Ryan (Dave's son) while I was down there. But, all in all, a great time had by everyone :) Thank you also to our friends Betina and Josh for joining in our cheering section for Claire! Our San Diego family and friends ROCK big time!!

Geez... I don't ever remember being anywhere nearly this cute in high school. Then again, I did go to high school in 1983-1985. Cuteness wasn't really a factor in high school for notereity, so much as our quest for big hair, and dippity doo hair gel.

Congratulations again Claire. You do me and dad proud :)

Happy to be back in paradise everyone!!! So I returned from San Diego today, on this most momentous date October 22, 2008, greeted at the baggage claim curb, by the loves of my life, :Dave & Nacho :) Also..... today is Nacho's very 1st BIRTHDAY Yay!!!

Now, traditionally as we know it in Hawaii, we are supposed to celebrate this milestone in your kid's life by having a baby luau to commemorate this special day. Instead, :Dave is making us rib-eye steak, and mushrooms. Yum :) I must say that I prefer :Dave's ribeye to kalua pig :), and Nacho is salivating at the thought of partying with a bone to run around the yard with. I also brought her home a Happy Birthday teddy bear which of course I bought at the overpriced airport kiosk in San Diego...Let me tell you, once that teddy bear got home from our airport excursion, that bear's head was "Gone in 60 Seconds" just like that movie title. Nacho was just happy to tear something up :)

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY TO OUR PUPPY NACHO! WOOF!!

I first met Ryan about 15 years ago when he was a 5th grader at Kamiloiki Elementary School. I was teaching a photography class to all the 5th graders and he was one of the students. It was pretty cool seeing him again.

I can only speak from a loving step-mom's point of view, to say how proud Dave and I are, of our daughter, Claire Kiana Kamaolipua Miyamoto :)

Today is the day in which I leave for San Diego, to prepare to cheer on Claire this Friday night, at San Pasqual High School, as she is crowned Jr. Class Homecoming Princess.

Truly, and understandably, daddy's little girl, 16 year old Claire really is a "chip-off-the-old-block". A happy go lucky girl at heart, she surfs, she draws, she photographs, and no question- she radiates kindness and fun in whatever she does!

I have some big responsibility to carry on my shoulders this week, as I represent the "808 Miyamotos". Flower leis in hand, and hugs and kisses to spare, I"m ready to yell my a** off, as the school announcer calls out her name, and speaks of her accomplishments this Friday night, with Debbie, Jeff, Ryan, and our California family and tons of friends on hand! ...

As :Dave is unable to travel this week because of a wedding shoot this Saturday morning,I promise you :Dave...I will do you and the family proud to share your pride and happiness for her, as certainly Claire does for us :) Congratulations Claire Bear!

We found ourselves wandering in and out of the alleys, markets, and hideaways so characteristic of China Town, with one of our favorite couples Meenal and Jeffrey, to capture some images of URBAN LOVE :)

This was to be the very last session that we were to shoot with them, as they are preparing to leave for their wedding celebration in a few short weeks in Texas :) From the moment we set foot on Nuuanu Street, :Dave went by instinct to go with the flow, and anticipate all of the emotion that Meenal and Jeffrey shared with :Dave in some of the best stolen moments I've ever seen :Dave shoot :)

Of course, I came along as Art Director for this session, and let me tell you...China Town did NOT disappoint! Sexy, cool, dirty, classy, raw, old, trendy, cultural, seedy...we saw it all. I LOVED it, and we could tell that Meenal and Jeffrey did too! We were even approached by the police (uh ohhhh! SOMEBODY's in TROUBLE ...ooops!) as :Dave kept pressing on with the shutter, and the street vibe.

As it turns out, the cop actually wanted to ask :Dave for a business card, so he could schedule a session with him and his girlfriend too :) WHEW...what a relief!

Enjoy viewing these images that we'd love to share with you from yesterday's shoot. Meenal and Jeffrey- congratulations once again. Have a beautiful wedding next month, and please keep in touch!

There is without a doubt - no shortage of wonderful things that we can do for our island community. So, every year :Dave selects 2-3 well deserving organizations to donate his time and talents to! Last year, one of the organizations we chose was the YMCA.

In a silent auction fund raising event, we donated two gift certificates to auction for OHANA sessions. Well, the lucky winner of one of the gift certificates was the adorable and very photogenic Hull Ohana of Kailua! Yay!! They decided to redeem their winning certificate, for a scheduled session that took place this past week.

Check out our picture perfect day with them as they played on Lanikai beach. It was soooooo easy to capture smile after smile of this beautiful and very loving family. Even Nacho got in on some of the happy action :) Enjoy viewing the images of their day of fun in the Lanikai sun!

There is nothing more beautiful than capturing images of a couple in love. But, it's another thing to photograph a couple in love, who deserve to be on a "beautiful people" catalog somewhere in the universe, you know? :)

Meenal contacted us from a distance, in an email coming from Egypt. Her and her fiancee Jeffrey had not had the opportunity to do a photo session together up to this point because of their military obligations. On top of that, they had not seen each other for the past year...WAY too long, right?... They have recently moved to Oahu, and through this long distance email, we had scheduled to photograph their portrait session, for them to showcase some of their favorite images, at their upcoming wedding celebration, in Texas, in November.

Here are a few images of Jeffrey and Meenal that :Dave captured of them this past week, around the island. We had the BEST time exploring with them and roaming from Koko Marina, to the Blow Hole, Sandy Beach, Makapuu, to Kahuku Sugar Mill, and finally ending up at sunset beach for romantic shots just as the sun began to set. Their doggie "D-O-G" (pronounced like an Italian style name "Diogi"), came along and kept Nacho and myself company, while his mom and dad played with :Dave, and the camera.

We're not done with these model beauties yet folks :).... This Monday, we'll play in China Town, to see what kind of shennanigans :Dave can get those two into. I'll be sure to post those shots too. Enjoy viewing the images below of international "Ken and Barbie"....ooooops...I mean Meenal and Jeffrey. We love these two :) Ahhhhh LOVE.