Expect relaxation and fun at your Maui family photography session. Come dressed for the beach in casual clothing and swimwear and expect lots of hugs and kisses with your family. The more you can let go of your expectations and control, the better the photographs turn out. Getting your photos done is actually a stress free time of relaxation. All you have to do is show up and love your family. Give hugs, laugh, go with the flow. The truth is the kids usually direct the action and I do whatever makes them happy which usually involves some play and hugs and occasional splashing about in the ocea ..read more

Ironwoods Beach in Kapalua, Maui is one of my favorite beaches on all of Maui. Shooting families and extended families there is an amazing experience. Photographs of your whole family while vacationing on Maui is a special treat. My favorite part of it is catching all the inbetween moments and the real love and connection. To me the best family photographs are the ones that feel like you and your family. Not the perfect posed family portrait, but the movement and laughs and love that naturally flow. The photos that make you remember how it felt at that time and that you treasure for year ..read more

Lahaina family photographer Wendy Laurel shot this family session at Puamana in Lahaina. This family came from Oregon to enjoy some of Maui’s sunny skies and warm weather. Lahaina is almost always sunny and is a great place to take photographs. The ocean is usually calm and fun to swim and play in during the photo session. The colors of Lahaina are bright with blue skies and ocean and bright pops of color in the flowers. Its a wonderful place to celebrate your love and family with photographs.                                 The post Lahaina Family Photographer at Puamana appeared f ..read more

Kaanapali photographer Wendy Laurel loves shooting family photographs.  Photos are a fun and beautiful way to document your family vacation on Maui. The key to successful beach family photographs are the following: 1. Let go of your expectations and embrace the chaos and imperfection. 2. Go with whatever presents. The kids might be cranky and your husband may wish he wasn’t there. Your hair may not have worked like you wanted and the cheerios spilled in the car. It honestly does not matter. All that matters is you guys show up and say yes to whatever happens. 3. Be ready to relax and play. T ..read more

This is my Kodak Ektachrome Review.  I was lucky enough to be chosen by Kodak as one of the photographers to shoot Kodak Ektachrome E100 Slide Film in 120 (medium format) prior to its relaunch.  When they first chose me and sent me the film, I was undecided on what to shoot and researched what people shot with slide film and thought about shooting some landscapes and capturing scenic Hawaii locations.  Then I thought, nope, I am going to shoot like me.  And that is what I did.  I used the slide film the way I would normally use Kodak Ektar on the people and locations I would normally shoot.  A ..read more

I wanted to try some images of Cross processed Kodak Ektachrome. I love cross processing film. (Cross processsing is the practice of shooting slide film, e-6, and developing it in regular film chemistry, c-41.) So when Kodak asked me to shoot some of their brand new Kodak Ektachrome 120 for their relaunch, I decided to cross process one roll. Before shooting the Kodak E100 Ektachrome film, I googled to see if I could find any examples of the film in the 35mm size that released last year. I did not find any solid examples but I did find where the film had been used in the film format cross pro ..read more

THE ART OF DOUBLE EXPOSURES I love creating double exposures. The silhouette is most recognized and popular double exposure that I do.  They are great for weddings as they can be very elegant and a formal portrait. Technically, the goal here is to make an outline with your first frame, and then fill it with color, texture, pattern, subject or design on your second frame.  Double exposures of silhouettes filled with nature images — mountains, water, flowers, trees — are very popular. The First Frame — The Shape The first frame needs to be a clear silhouette of a person or subject.  This is imp ..read more

EXPERIMENTS IN COLOR It is no secret that I LOVE color and that I LOVE pushing the boundaries and experimenting creatively with film photography.  Basically, I do all this in an effort to make the photos evoke more emotion. The light streaks, the pink in the sky, these visual elements hit some nerve in me which make me happy and emotional. I can feel those colors. What do you feel? If you would like to learn more about how I experiment in color, just sign up for a mentor session. Some photos from my family summer vacation in 2017 where I used a variety of color experimenting techniques ..read more

OLOWALU PLANTATION HOUSE A gorgeous Maui wedding with Unveiled Hawaii and Mandy Grace Designs.  Featured on Style Me Pretty. Olowalu Plantation House is a gorgeous wedding venue located on the ocean in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.  I love weddings at this venue for many reasons.  One great benefit of Olowalu is that the whole wedding day from getting ready, through ceremony, photos, and reception and dancing happens all at the same location.  This makes for a much easier and less stressful wedding day. The setting is beautiful.  Palm trees, ocean, blue sky, quaint Hawaii plantation home, string ligh ..read more

Part 2 of my Best of 2017 Maui and Lanai Weddings — click here to see Part 1. Last year was an amazing year for weddings for me.  I had weddings from the top of the volcano to the dramatic cliffs on the north west shore, Haiku Mill, Olowalu Plantation House, Merrimans, the Maui Courthouse, White Orchid Weddings Beach House, Maui Tropical Plantation, Steeple House, the Ritz Carlton Kapalua, beaches all over the island, to the Manelele Bay on Lanai.  My weddings and images were featured in Destination I Do, The Knot, Inside Weddings, Martha Stewart, and on Style Me Pretty, 100 Layer Cake, Grey L ..read more