It's been a crazy, busy month. My wife Denni and I flew the red-eye to LAX and drove into the OC to spend Thanksgiving with my sisters and their husbands. I have four sisters and I am the second oldest. It's been a while since we were all in the same room together and it was great to spend time with all of them. My sis Patty above is facing a health challenge right now and I know she would welcome your prayers.
The handsome older gentleman below is her husband Joe, he lives for golf and of course, Patty.
This young couple are Steve and Alex, Steve and I were buds and neighbors from Junior High. We spent a morning with them at the Starbucks on the circle in the city of Orange. This is a wonderful place with a great little downtown area. It is so great to get together with friends you haven't seen in a long time and just get caught up on life. Wish I could talk some of them into moving to Maui, you'd think that would be an easy sell.
I took a lot of photos while I was there and I had all the best intentions of getting a shot of me and my four sisters and one of the four of them together. Seems with all the goings on I never got those shots, guess I could have used an assistant with a shoot list.
My sisters have all the old family photographs going way back. You'll never guess who this good looking cowboy is. Some traveling photographer had a good day with this setup, there are photos of all of us on this pony
As great as it was to see friends and family it's good to be home on Maui; L.A. and the O.C. are just a little too intense for me after four years here. Looking forward to the Christmas holiday and a chance to spend time with Ohana here. I miss a white Christmas but I'm getting used to Christmas lights on palm trees, I'll post some of those as soon a I can get to the south side.
Mele Kalikimaka from Maui.
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HAU'OLI MAKAHIKI HOU!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow! What a rush this holiday season has been. Spent the 2007 holidays in Toledo, Illinois, population 1200. I have to tell you that even with the birth of my daughter's twins with all the ensuing hulabaloo it was calm compared to this 2008 Maui Christmas season. I forgot about all the holiday parties and get togethers with friends and ohana and we still have about another week to go. I'm really not complaining, just trying to make an excuse for not getting in any blog entries. I was reluctant to start a blog in the beginning but find myself missing it if I can't squeeze in time to share whats going on here.
At Paul Janes-Brown's Upcountry Christmas party I had the pleasure to meet
Tom Sewell, the gentleman who's picture appears below. Had a great time talking about new camera gear, one of my favorite things, and also talking about the great exhibition Tom did on Maui's own sugar industry. His name is linked to the website where you can view the video of the exhibit, a very wonderful presentation of the incredible works of men, amazing things going on around us every day that pass unnoticed by most.
The Sunday before Christmas I had the pleasure of recording the wedding of my friend Wendy and her new husband John. The wedding was near the beach where Maliko Gulch makes its way to the sea in beautiful Haiku, the reception followed at Haiku's own Studio Maui.
Capturing the brides and bridesmaids as they prepare for the ceremony is a favorite part of the day for me.
The bride emerges from her cocoon with the help of the bridesmaids.
Rev. Gary Canier performed
the ceremony. A very Hawaiian celebration of the blending of two souls, the aina (earth) and ohana (family).
Another favorite wedding moment for me is the bride and grooms first dance as man and wife, hard to find a more special wedding moment than this.
After Christmas
My friend Ku'ulei's daughter was home for the holidays, taking a break from acting school in L.A. I had the pleasure of doing some head shots for her portfolio and the one I share here is my favorite B&W . A beautiful and sweet young woman she was a very easy going subject and we had a good time shooting around Wailuku town and in the Iao Valley.
Denni and I ended the year with our traditional quiet evening at home alone. We were awakened by the ever increasing crescendo of exploding fireworks as the hour approached midnight. We watched the exploding fireworks, wished each other a happy new year and went back to sleep to rest up for the new year to come.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and we wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year!
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Winter on Maui can mean big swells and strong offshore winds on the North side, just like the Ho'okipa picture above I took today. Everyone seems to be attracted to the beach to see the waves when they start getting this big, can't blame them, they can be spectacular! Temperatures are in the high 70's to low 80's, not quite as cold as what people in the Midwest and East are experiencing right now.
I've been lagging in putting up some photos of my daughters twins so here are a few from around Christmas including their first Santa encounter. I had the pleasure of having these guys sleep on my chest as newborns, not much that can compare with the pleasure of that.
This is Max and Dom seeing what kind of trouble they can find and not seeming to find Santa too big of a deal.
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The crew above is my PUG (Pictage User Group). Our group leader
Mike Adrian invited us to do an engagement shoot for one of his bridal couples, Dale and Monica. Six of us followed them around Lahaina town snapping away. Everyone thought they were celebrities because of the attention of all the photogs. We had a great time and I think we wore Dale and Monica out posing all over town.
They were a great looking couple and a lot of fun to work with.
Mike giving a little direction, sometimes a little direction is a good thing.
The Directors shot.
A good time was had by all followed by dinner at Kimo's on the waterfront. Mahalo nui loa Dale, Monica and Mike.
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Yes, there really is night life in upcountry Maui. Two Ha'iku (ha-e-ku) fun lovers, Omar and Shareen, are hosting Zodiac parties at various venues and they have been a blast. People here seem to like any excuse to dress up and party. Omar and Shareen are in the photos below. Omar has formed a new band called Omar and the Soultones and they have a pretty good cover from jazz to rock n roll.
The parties have featured the belly dancing of Mariyah and her fiery troupe and the aerialist thrills of Nastassia. Below are Mariyah and one of her dancers.
The band also has a beautiful young singer named Isa accompanying Omar on vocals, below are two photos of Isa in action.
Did I mention Isa is a belly dancer too?
I've had a lot of fun shooting these parties, covered the Pisces and Aries parties to date and I'm looking forward to the next, whatever it is, I'm still working on remembering the zodiac calendar signs.
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Read More Posts From --- Jack Grace Photography --- Life On A Small Island
My sisters have all the old family photographs going way back. You'll never guess who this good looking cowboy is. Some traveling photographer had a good day with this setup, there are photos of all of us on this pony
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