Ohana.
This simple word means so much in Hawaiian: family. Even if you are a friend, you are treated like ohana when you come to Oahu.
Jen & Mike treated me like a friend making for such an enjoyable experience in Oahu, Hawaii for their wedding last Saturday. They both were super easy going and laid back, a joy to be around. I was honored to be a part of such a wonderful celebration of love filled with love & laughter. Not only that, but I got a chance to spend a few extra days with family on the island, recharging my vitamin-D deficient solar battery.
Thank you, Jen & Mike for inviting me to play such an important role on your wedding day!
This is the first wedding I photographed using a PhaseOne medium format digital camera system as my primary tool. I couldn’t be happier with the decision, especially considering the pressure of shooting a Hawaii destination wedding! I share some thoughts on shooting MF digital here. Image quality aside, one of the biggest differences enjoy shooting medium format digital instead of a Nikon D4 or Canon 1D Mark IV is the 4:3 aspect ratio, perfect for easy printing at 16 x 20 without cropping. This is a good thing considering Jen & Mike’s upgraded their album to a massive 16” x 20,” which means when spread open their wedding album will cover the entire coffee table!
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Posted by R. J. on January 30, 2012
“There’s nothing worse than a sharp photo of a fuzzy idea.” — Ansel Adams
A fuzzy photo of a sharp idea : 
A sharp photo of a fuzzy idea :
Both photos say pretty much the same thing… there is beauty in Hawaii. One might just be a pretty picture to look at. The other makes us wonder. Shouldn’t ‘good art’ do both?
Pretty with a Feeling
Sure, we indulge in pretty pictures like a light-hearted romantic comedy. Nothing wrong with that. Other times we want to think critical or challenge convention… like watching an Oscar-nominated flick.
Making a great photograph has little to do about a camera, but everything to do about composition, lighting, and a revealing moment. In fine art wedding photography, I love rewarding clients with not only a great experience but gem images that illustrate a feeling… an experience.
I love this image from Jenn & Mike’s wedding at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Saturday … thank you for treating me like ohana : 
Blog readers : What ever you do today, whoever you hold… soak it in and take a mental snap shot of just one moment and store it into your heart. Laugh a bit longer. Hug a bit longer. Talk a bit longer to someone special who lives far away… better yet, Skype. Take an extra moment for yourself. Start another game of Words with Friends. Ever feel like the more we try and hold one to moments, the more it wants to slip away and fade into a fuzzy detail? A polaroid, a love note, or annoying beach sand in your shoes is all it takes to bring it all back.
Grab it while you got it! 
Happy Monday ! Mahalo!
Posted by R. J. on January 30, 2012
“You will accomplish more in 11 months than 12,” I thought to myself, feeling a need for a break.
My solution? I woke before dawn, hopped on the beach cruiser and pedaled for 6 hours. I love just wandering and visually exploring with a time sense in the world. It was a treat, a perfect way to recharge, slowing down and get out. I love speaking with random people on the street and photographing a few of them. It builds courage. But also offers a genuine human experience, on part with conversations with friends. Otherwise I could easily stare into my MacBook Pro for 11 hours, leaving me lonely with tense shoulders as the day slips away. Carpe diem.
Getting ready to start another whirlwind adventure on my 2012 calendar this week and leave this beautiful island on Monday and head to Arizona to teach a workshop and shoot in the slot canyons near Paige, AZ. Super stoked about going from one extreme to another. But before that, a quick recap from the week :
- Arguing with my brother over wiffle ball rules and trash. On the beach. Pinch me. {trash talking allowed}
- Skyping with a adorable couple in New York about their wedding next October. Gosh, autumn in New York. I can hear Frank Sinatra singing now.
- Juggling timezones and connecting with the Dave Gallagher, Steve Hendrix, Doug Peterson, and Bryant Genesi at Capture Integration for their amazing service. Be sure to speak with them if you have any interest in destination wedding photography with a medium format (MF) digital camera like the PhaseOne IQ 180.
- Being a student of photography again by connecting with mentors and pushing my limits of creativity with new tools. From polaroids to Nikons, iPhones to a PhaseOne 645 DF… they are just tools to do a job.
Off to photographing a destination wedding in Oahu today!! Super stoked!
Visual treats from yesterday’s Kailua photo safari: 
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Posted by R. J. on January 28, 2012
Sunset on Kailua Beach, Hawaii. PhaseOne P30+ / 645DF / 80mm 2.8 LS
Posted by R. J. on January 27, 2012
“There is more spontaneous and active interest in photography today than at any time in past history.” 
Those words were written 75 years ago. Ansel Adams would stand at about my age, a whipper snapper 33. Yet, those pearls of wisdom hold true today, appropriate to kick off A.J. Ezickson’s book, “Making Amateur Photography Pay,” available here for $4.94.
I found this 1937 gem after cracking the cover of a book I stumbled upon for $20 find at Bookends, a used gently used book store in Kailua, Hawaii. I felt compelled to share my Cliff’s Notes :
10 Truisms, 75 Years Later :
- Tell a picture story, and tell it well. This goes without much explaining in the world of digital photography. There is no room for the full type of picture which tells little or nothing. According to Ezickson, the image must be informative and carry immediate interest which may depend upon action, personal emotions, adventure, the strange, the everyday events revealed from a fresh slant.’
- Be cool in emergency. This might take years of training to keep eyes and hands and nerves steady at critical moments. Avoid stage fright.
- Be friendly. While you might straighten your tie or look twice in the mirror.
- Watch trends. Know your market carefully and be well conversant in your genre, including key players.
- David can beat Goliath. Freelancers can still out scoop a staff photographer, thanks to social networks like blogs, Twitter, and the like.
- Accept jobs willingly. Not every shoot is a Grace Ormonde feature or New York Times spread. Moments and incidents we shoot often are drab and dull, however it is up to us to make them interesting. Do your duty and do it well. If you treat most people decently they will likely reciprocate.
- Steady persistence pays. You may not acquire perfection in the first few attempts at anteing, but conscious efforts and hard work and patience will in the long run reward you with pictures which will not only satisfy yourself but please even a discriminating audience.
- Dull pictures bore. There is no room for the type of picture that tells little or nothing.
- Exclusive remains important. Editors want to publish a picture rivals don’t have.
- Do your own book reports. It’s easy to read other’s thoughts, gloss over, and be on with you day. Think critically, arrive at your own conclusions, share. These are MY thoughts to pass along.
In the iPhone age, the best camera is the one that’s with you … yet the same ideas existed 75 years ago, illustrated by Ezickson: “ The miniature camera has accomplished one big thing. As a bright new weapon in the ceaseless quest for the photographic gem, it has stirred the imaginations of thousands to the possibilities of new triumphs in the photographic field…. to new vistas of accomplishment… and record new picture documents to give the world as imperishable data.”
My jaw dropped after seeing the author signed these very pages… in my very hands, at this pivotal point in my life, watching a sunrise on Kailua, Hawaii : 
As an extension of my gratitude for your readership, I share a bit of creative energy… an image created shortly after sunrise at Kailua beach, Hawaii. I shot the images with my Nikon D-700 paired with my Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR II panning for 1/15 sec, sans Photoshop. 
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Posted by R. J. on January 26, 2012
Aloha from Oahu! The next installment of “Going Pro” addresses the important issue of when to launch from an amateur photographer to full-time photographer… especially in the age when so many dream to be a Hawaii destination wedding photographer.
I focus on this simple quote and follow-up in answering three important questions.
“I spent the weekend working with some great photographers volunteering their time for a great cause. They had the right equipment, were experienced in weddings and were very good, yet were not full-time photographers. Their photography was supported by their day job. One couple had been in business for 3 years and they were reinvesting in gear so much that they had not reported a profit yet.
As an artist, you sell your work as apart of yourself. That is key, yet without risk comes no reward. No different than hang gliding for the very first time… sure jumping off a ledge is a scary thought… but the bliss can be worth it and I hope you can visualize this in this next image: 
Good news. There IS a balance between getting all of the pieces in place to go pro, yet still affording milk for the baby. We all juggle the same pins.
1. How long do you stay in the reinvesting and portfolio building side?
If you stay passionate, and have the means to keep at it, then by all means keep doing it and hit that goal of being a destination wedding photographer. You’ll never see a funeral hearse towing a Uhaul. While money provides lifestyle options, you can’t carry it with you after you die.
Sometimes it takes 10 years to be an overnight success. Other times, you’ll go bankrupt even with a Kodak name. You have to be a CEO and a creative business person at the same time, which is never easy in this line of creative work. If you find yourself constantly justifying your art to pay bills, you might need an additional source of income to support your passion. However, there is nothing wrong with a ‘day job,’ as it long as it supports your passion and doesn’t burn your out from working two jobs at once which balancing health, lifestyle, family, and friends.
I’d say that 50% of full-time wedding photographers put all their eggs in one basket for their full-time income, which I think is stupid. Diversifying your business will provide you the grounds to build your cliental, experience, and offer the needed time to genuine connects in the industry which will sustain you a la Chase Jarvis. Create. Share. Sustain. And have a bit of fun with taking a picture of a polaroid in a picture perfect spot on Oahu: 
2. What self “checks” do you put in place to make sure you are moving ahead and not stuck?
Look at your bank statement. If more money is going out than coming in, that’s a sign perhaps your biz skills could be improved.
If you earn $100 and spend $99, then you are heading in the right direction. If you earn $100 and spend $101, you aren’t. Can’t paint a simpler picture.
Setting goals is paramount, but not at the cost of staying happy. Paying yourself now might come in the form of a piece of equipment, but if you owe more time that you care to give, reconsider outsourcing or be prepared to call it quits.
If there is passive income, however when the bread and butter of your livelihood comes from shooting, then knowing how to draw lines of profit vs loss is important. Do 50% of small businesses ‘fail’ within 5 years? Not sure, but I know that if I work smart, not just hard, the pay off will always come. 
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Posted by R. J. on January 22, 2012
A friend recently told me that I’ve got as much energy as a roomful of second graders. He’s probably right. I do have energy. But more importantly, I have fun. Running around with lights. Rolling around on the ground to get the perfect angle. Looking through the grass with my lens to find the sparkle in the bride’s eyes. For me, wedding photography is an opportunity to turn up the energy, get creative, and take honest shots that truly reflect the bride and groom.
