Quick Notes

Hey everyone!
Obviously the blog got pushed to the back of my "to-do" list when launching my official website. It became even more of an afterthought when I had to quickly change domain hosts and replace my website in a 48hr period. I am still not 100% with the webiste as is, I will be tweaking the layout more and possibly going to a wordpress site so the blog can be integrated, less work for me, means more photos for your pleasure!

Hope to be posting on a more regular basis soon!
-Taylor

B's Beach Baptism

This past Sunday I was blessed to witness 43 baptisms at Kalama Beach at my church's annual beach bash, one happened to be of a good friend of mine! His wife got to help "dunk" him and his parents were in town and able to witness their son's baptism day!

Surrounding the pastor who was explaining the importance/significance of baptism and then prayed for all of those who had made the decision to be baptized that day.

His baptism from beginning to end!

Post baptism family photograph.

Thanks for letting me document such a special and personal event!

T+J Pre-D

I met this wonderful couple via mutual friends. He will be deploying very shortly and despite initial scheduling conflicts, rescheduling, and dealing with crazy weather (extreme winds and pouring rain!) we managed to squeeze in a very short amount of time for these photos. I hope they bring happy memories during the deployment!

Stay safe sir... and we'll see you soon!

J+E Homecoming

I met this lovely lady via our women's group at church. Her husband was deployed a few days after mine and returned just 2 days after mine! When I found out no one was taking pictures for her I offered to be there.

Watching the van pull in... so close to seeing her husband again!

The first look, kiss, and hug!

Tears of relief (& joy!), smiles all around, and her beautiful homemade banner!

Welcome home!
Thanks for everything you've done.

C - Senior Photos

These are of friend's son who just graduated, I wanted the photos to reflect him while still keeping the fact that we live in Hawaii prominent. We went from extremely sunny weather, to overcast, to rain, to overcast, to sun... so you may notice some different shadows.

The photos with the guitar are definitely my favorites, I think it's because he could just relax and be himself. CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2012!

K+C Wedding

One of the ladies from my Women's Bible Study planned her wedding in two (yes 2) weeks... they didn't have a photographer and were going to just rely on the photos taken by the guests. I offered to take photos as my wedding gift to her, plus it would be great practice for me! I don't generally take wedding photos because I feel as the day is so special and my skills are not adept to capturing the moment happening at such a fast pace. However, I think these will be great for the couple seeing as they weren't expecting any better quality than a point & shoot camera, so I cheated bringing my DSLR!

The original ceremony site was on top of the hill overlooking Kaneohe Bay on the grounds of Hope Chapel Kaneohe Bay.

As rain is frequent on the windward side, umbrella's were abundant, unfortunately it started pouring and the ceremony was relocated to the tented courtyard.

The tears of happiness started in the car, then the smiles just grew from there!

She was so beautiful walking down the aisle.

All of the kids were absolutely amazing during the ceremony.

I love the look of pure happiness on her face.

The reception was held at Bay View Golf Park, the room was beautiful and the staff were extremely accommodating to all requests!

I love her ring and the kid's disgusted faces as the bride and groom go in for a kiss!

The kids wanted to be part of everything, it was darling.

With all of the struggles this couple has gone through prior to their special day, they approached each change this wedding threw at them with ease and grace. I am incredibly happy that they can now call each other husband and wife... God's blessings to you both in all that the future holds during your new life together!

*Note: if you click on any photo it will open a slideshow view 

Surfrider Foundation Benefit

This past weekend I had the privileged to attend a Surfrider Foundation Benefit hosted by The Black Cat Hair Salon + Spa, it was a very enjoyable evening full of art, live music, a bar via donations, as well as a make your own smores' station! I didn't take as many photos as I should have, guess I got caught up talking with everyone.

Thanks for hosting such an enjoyable evening for a great cause!

C&S Prom

A good friend from my women's Bible study asked me if I could take Prom photos of her daughter and date. Of course I jumped on the opportunity! Her only request was for something tropical- good thing we live on this beautiful island! When they arrived I could tell the "kids" were excited, but so were the parents! The father of her date was super excited about one shot... the 007/Top Gun one in front of the airplane, he said he'd seen it in a magazine. I was happy to comply with his wishes, even *gasp* handing over my camera for him to take a couple shots of his own.

I try not to "over edit" I really dislike when people do that, but some of these shots just begged to be in black and white or vintage colors!

I hope you two had an outstanding evening, you looked marvelous!

"N" Homecoming

Once again I had the privilege of taking photos of a homecoming this past week, this was a word of mouth referral via Jane, which is awesome - thank you! I had never met Amanda before but she was incredibly sweet and thankful that I could make it last minute. This was my first night time shoot so the lighting proved to be difficult, but nothing really matters except seeing two wonderful people being reunited after 1yr+!

Steven, welcome home! Thank you for your service.

"A" Homecoming

I had the privilege of "meeting" Jane via the MilSpouse Blogging world, once I got to Hawaii we made sure to have a girl's beach day. Towards the beginning of the year she started preparing for her husband's homecoming and I was honored that she asked me to document the day for her! I was very nervous the night before, praying that I would be able to hold my emotions together due to my husband's current deployment and do my very best "professional" job for her. I am pretty happy with the results and I hope they are as well.

Welcome home Daniel, thank you for your service!
Our country would be nothing without men (and women) like you.
God bless your and Jane's marriage.

Mommy & Jadon

My second "Mommy & Me" session took place with a wonderful little boy and his mom. This little boy was all smiles despite the windy, cloudy, and rainy weather we ended up having!

Thanks for hanging out with me during the storm, I hope you enjoy your photos.

Mommy & April

In the beginning of November I ran a special for "mommy & me" photos. I had the opportunity to spend time with April and her mom towards the beginning of the week... she was such a spirited little girl, running down the beach, and exploring everything!

Thank you for spending the morning with me, I'm so glad we got to take these photos. I hope your husband enjoyed them and that he gets home safely from his deployment very soon!

"M" Family

Last October I had an amazing opportunity to take "Aloha" photos for a family who would be PCSing soon. We had a cloudy/sunny day and a busy little girl, but we managed to get some great photos!

Thank you for allowing me to capture such sweet family memories! Good luck at your next duty station!

Apology

I apologize for the lack of recent updates... with my husband deploying and vacationing with my family there's been a lot going on! I have also been working on learning my camera better as well as stashing money away for a future (hopefully) upgrade in equipment!

 Next week I will add my last three photo shoots- a lovely family and two mommy & me sessions. I may also add photos from some of my mainland Christmas adventures.

*Make sure you "like" the facebook page to stay up-to-date on all upcoming specials!