I Heart Faces - Purple

For this weeks I Heart Faces theme I added a purple tint to the original edited photo that was kind of borderline pink/purple, more of a reality coloured cleaner edit.
This was taken during Cherry Blossom season here on Okinawa. My fellow photographer friend, Annya (who is Russian) and I (a Brit) did a 'for-fun' model shoot with Aya (who is Israeli) with Hair and make up by Michelle (who is from New Zealand). An international affair indeed!

Aya had just gotten this tattoo, in fact this is just the outline, it was cool to juxtapose it against some real cherry blossoms AKA Sakura!

It's a wrap!

What I mean is I have pretty much finished up client shoots for the summer (This blog post is 4 weeks late!). I will have limited shoot availability for the odd shoot here and there or a mini shoot, please email me and hopefully we can arrange something. If you can't wait until the autumn, then I can recommend another photographer or two for you!
Talking of wraps. Here is another great product...

These are metal prints. They are really clean and modern and the colour just POPS!

Larissa's one is a 16x24. They have a back mounting block so are ready to go straight on your wall! Yippee!
There are so many things you can do with your photos from big gallery wraps to simple postcards like this...

I recently got 20 of these and sent them to far off family and friends. You can just pop them in the post and not feel guilty for not writing! I used to love to write letters but life is so fast, I need to take the time to do that. But in the meantime...you know!
It has been a really busy year photographically for me, THANK YOU so much to all my clients for making word of mouth the best advertising medium in the world! I really appreciate you all :o) And don't forget I have a referral plan :o) I have a couple more client shoots to post about, but other than that will be posting some personal stuff so keep reading!

Happy 1st Birthday!

Here is Miss L. having a grand old time for her 1st birthday last month...we sang to her and that made her laugh quite a bit!

L's Mum Nikki is a fellow Brit. I think I have met more Brits here in Okinawa than I have in my entire time in the USA! It's great! We can natter on about chocolate and crisps and the lack of sunny weather in Okinawa (at that time) and say how much it reminds us of home! We even had to find our sun on the walls! These are wide angle shots that look great but I made them into a collage to show the activity that was going on!

and L was always on the move...seriously, I am surprised these photos aren't moving!

Non-stop with a pause here and there to contemplate the world around her!

Shine on you crazy diamond!

'cause the world, it's yours!
PS: Nikki and I almost got attacked by a crazy lady, which was rather scary at the the time but we can laugh about it now. We literally had to run into a restaurant and ask the man to tell her to go away (in Japanese!)

I Heart Faces - Over Your Head

I am hoping this photo will count since the girl's face is semi-silhouette with the sun being behind her. I took this last week and I really like how such a spontaneous moment made for one of my favourite photos this year. You can def. see she is loving her kite flying with a big smile!

I heard Madonna's 'Like a Prayer' when I first uploaded this (Life is a mystery...). Also, Pink Floyd songs come to mind! Shine on you crazy diamond. (Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun). I often get a song stuck in my head to certain images. I am sure it is quite a common thing? My friend said it has a real film feel to it and I agree, so maybe that's it. But, for me, personally, there is something about this photo that makes me feel nostalgic! It's Happiness! And Peace! And Childhood! Hope you like it!

More Family Fun at the Chinese Gardens!

Lauren and her family were leaving the island so it was off to the Chinese Gardens for the 2nd weekend in a row and it was exactly like the other shoot I did here: rainclouds looming all day.
It was another 'either we do it now or we don't do it at all' situation. We did it and had a great time!

Mr. C. was the perfect model, he was a little shy at first but we just sat chatting about toys and things while I got some portraits of him. Look at those lashes :o)

This one is my absolute favourite. Lauren got this as an 11x14 print on matboard and it looks just great, ready for framing.

I met Lauren back in 2008 when we were first here and our sons went to preschool together. So, I had taken a photo of C at Loubie's (my son) 5th birthday party. Every time we communicated through email, that photo was attached! Yes, for nearly 2 years, that's how long we took to get this shoot going! I love the framing bamboo and the doorway in this one.

The first thing I noticed when we met up was their clothes, they were perfect for the shoot. Bright colours, not all the same, but complimenting. And we had a few laughs despite some rain and many mosquitoes!

It was a pleasure photographing you Lauren, Mark and C. You made my job really easy and fun! Safe and happy travels :o)

Larissa and Bill - Brilliant Couple!

Finally, here are some more images from Larissa and Bill's shoot back in April!!! I think I mentioned that I am very behind in blogger land!

It was another one of those days back in April of is it or isn't it going to rain. These two were so much fun to shoot...and the orange/khaki/blue combo POPPED!

It was simply, a brilliant session! (I now realize that I talk to myself and say 'brilliant' quite a lot!)...One of my fav fisheyes. Larissa ordered this on a gallery wrap and it looks, well, brilliant! Thanks to these two, because they made the shoot...

Love this one...it's quiet. Still. Peaceful.

Here's one of Larissa looking pretty with pink...

Another favourite...

Larissa and Bill, you both made this shoot so much fun and easy as pie as the natural love between you shone right through my lens! Plus, it was great to talk British stuff and life in general, it was just like taking a stroll with old friends with a 'let's sit here, let's shoot there' interruption every few seconds! :o)

Mother and Son Magic!

Maggie is great. I met Maggie through a friend who I also photographed recently. Maggie loved Caroline's pics and decided to do a mini session and surprise Dad.

Maggie is so sweet and so cool and just an all round decent person. And, of course, Maggie and her family are leaving the island soon. Typical. It was funny because the week before the session our families happened to be at Okuma resort at the same time. We joked that we should have done a session there, except when it wasn't raining (every day!), we were too busy being on 'Okinawa time' and just chilling!

Look at son, K, he's a little poser, arms crossed and everything!

There is nothing so pure and true as Mother/child love as demonstrated here...

Look at that smile...and the eyes...and..and...I love a portrait!

Sayonara, Maggie and family, I am glad I got to do the mini session for you and K before you left the island. :o)