Kona, a baby's birthday party, and a mad dash to the airport

I wanted to make sure to get this post up before Noah Paul's 1st Birthday post (which is next). My second photographer, Chandra, and I went to the big island near Kona for an amazing 1st Bithday party for the most adorable little boy, Noah. We were so very very excited to be doing our first destination shoot and we were determined to make the most of it. In our rental car, we were off to conquer and then before you know it we were somewhere up in the mountains thinking we finally made it to the town where Noah's party is. We weren't, not even close actually; I think we were an hour away in the opposite direction. But we met a nice man who owns a very colorful art gallery with glitter on the floor. Yeah we got excited about that.
  We finally made it to out destination after checking out the drag in Kona, which by the way is very short but beautiful! Noah's birthday setup was so adorable I think we were both in shock, reds, blues, yellows oh my! I love color and this was my kind of party. From the amazing cupcake tower stocked full of yummy cupcakes to the ice cream machine to the custom made red phone booth. WOW : ) Noah's parents were so kind and made Chandra and I  feel so welcome. The four hours that we were there went by so fast. Before we knew it, it was time to hop on our plane. Sadly it wasn't that easy. We thought we were making good time with dropping the rental car off until we noticed the small airport looked slightly deserted. We checked in and they told us the airport was closing and it was too late for us to get on our plane. Yeah we freaked out and well... begged. Seriously. Luckily the lady felt a hint of pity for us and told us to run, but couldn't guarantee we would catch it because they were already closing the door. So we booked it, heavy camera cases and all. To make a long story short we made it on the plane and relaxed and giggling the whole flight home, and took lots of goofy pictures ourselves : )

Plane trip.Texas.Carnival

     I am happy (and relieved) to say that we made it to Texas in one piece. Our 9 hour plane flight was so easy this time since Mia is old enough to have her own seat and her own DVD player. The DVD player and Nintendo DS saved the day...seriously.
   Our next day was spent talking with family and going to the carnival at the San Antonio Rodeo (today we are going to watch the actual rodeo : ) Mia had so much fun with her two cousins and riding all the rides. I absolutely love the carnival for all the pretty colors, bright lights, and fun ambiance. Tonight I have an engagement session there but I don't think it's go to happen for the rain today. Oh well better luck next time!

A little trip to North Shore

    Kellie (www.re-imagephoto.com) and I ventured all the way out to Kahuku a couple of days ago location scouting. We found one amazing area over there that I went crazy for. I can't wait to use it in some of my next sessions : )  We experimented with natural light and fill flash and even the differences in Nikon and Canon picture taking abilities. Doesn't seem to be too much difference except that everything is named different! We even stopped to look at Bonzai in hopes of seeing a braze surfer tackle such a huge wave. but none came along : ( Our last stop was at Giovanni's in Kahuku for a yummy snow cone...the best strawberry snow cone I've ever had!

2010 in pictures (well only a very small part of it)

    Along my photography journey in 2010 I got some pictures of me and my camera and others. Its so funny to look back on these pictures to see where I have been and what I have accomplished. Can't wait to see what zany pictures 2011 will bring me : )

Remind me never to wear that shirt again I look as wide as a barge.

Don't I just look lovely with the priest watching.

I asked Chandra to walk down the isle like my bride would and she walked the runway instead : )



At a wedding with Kris Labang. My hair looks like a mop : (




Bringing in the New Year!!

   Happy New Year everybody!! Are you guys as excited as I am for 2011? 2010 was an amazing year for me. I got my first DSLR camera at the end of January, started my business in April and from there launched a successful business! I couldn't be happier than I am today : ) I just want to thank everyone for helping support Laurenland Photography and all you fabulous past clients got something extra special in the mail from me, something I plan on doing every New Year just to say thanks : )
    For 2011 there will be lots of new an exciting things. The new website is almost ready, there are just some technical things to get fixed. The new blog will be launching somewhere around March, and I am going to be switching to a new Lab and client proofing via my new website. Lots of marketing is going under way for 2011 and defiantly lots of contest!! A new contest to look out for especially if you are a high school junior or senior is going to start on Facebook January 4th through January 11th. Who ever gets the most "likes" wins, but more on that on a later post : ) There will be many more contests and concept shoots in the coming months so please check back!
    As for our New Years and Christmas everything was amazing. Our Christmas came and went in a flash, but it was spent with our favorite people on the island and I couldn't have asked for more : ) This New Years was the first my husband and i have every spent together since each year he has either had to work or was out to sea, so it was a very special one. So we went all out! The fireworks, the food, the decorations, and the friends had to be surrounding us. It was amazing. I even pulled out my point and shoot(not the best quality though) for this occasion  since honestly I didn't think fireworks and mayhem went with my 5d mark II. It stayed safely at home : )

A great start to our Christmas break

My family Christmas break is finally upon us. All three of us are done with school and work until January 3rd yay! I'm so excited for Christmas Morning I just can't stand it!
   Yesterday was Mia's last day of school and the school's Christmas performance. I had been noticing that Mia had been coming home from school everyday for the past week singing "Rockin Around the Christmas Tree" so I only figured that's what her class was singing and I was right. I wasn't able to get many good pictures, there was so many parents crammed into a tight space that it was virtually impossible and it didn't help that all I had on me was my 85mm. So I had to make it work. Not to self: bring an even wider lens next time.
I met new people today that I have never met before that read my blog! Awsome, because I love meeting new people and thanks for reading my blog : )






Now with Christmas break here I will have time to finish up the new website which I am hoping will debut January 10th. We'll see how it goes. The new blog will be up soon too along with a new calender, and client proofing through a new lab. Super excited about that one, which means I will be featuring many new products very soon. So check back!!

I am so ready for Christmas!!

Got the tree up with lights and ornaments...check
Have Sabas' and Mia's presents bought and wrapped nestled under the tree...check and almost checked
Christmas scented candles in each part of the house...check
Christmas lights hung outside...check
Christmas party invites sent out...check
Christmas party planned...not quite
Quality time with family planned...check
Christmas Luau tickets bought and ready to go...totally forgot

Here's the icicle lights outside ( the picture was taken without a tripod so not the best), I kind of wish they were real but not in this warm Hawaiian weather!

Happy Turkey Day!

  We are going to a friends house this year and spending  it with even more of our best friends on the island. I am so thankful to have wonderful friends and a great happy family to love everyday. It is hard being away from our extended family back in Texas but over the years we have learned to manage and become quite happy in the process.
   I hope everyone has a wonderful day today with your friends and families. Eat lots of turkey and stuffing and don't forget to undo the top button of your pants if you get over stuffed. Green bean casserole here I come (I can eat a whole casserole all by myself : )!!

An early Christmas

   My mom has been in town for the past week and a half and we decided to do an early Christmas since she won't be here for our actual Christmas. We decorated the tree to Christmas music, cinnamon candles, and little Mia trying her best to decorate the tree along beside us. We even had an early Thanksgiving including the delish turkey and stuffing. Oh and here's a little sneak peak of their session we did a couple of days ago:

The day after

  Woof. That's all I could say after binge eating all of Mia's Halloween candy last night. Well not all of it but most of it : ) Sab and I decided to dress up along with Mia this year. I was a devil again for the umpteenth time in a row and Sab was a police officer since he already had all the garb (he's the popo on base). Mia chose her costume this year and decided to be a witch again. She's my little whimsy witch : )
  After coming home from two hours of trick or treating in the amazing Kapolei neighborhood that we were able to hit up again this year, we stuffed ourselves with lots of candy and watched a scary zombie movie that scared the pants off me. I wasn't able to sleep comfortably because of that blasted movie, my imagination is just too big once I go to sleep. All in all Halloween was fabulous this year and I can't wait till next year : )

Happy Halloween at our casa

  This is my favorite time of the year EVER. I love everything about it, the spookiness, the leaves turning different colors (well not here in Hawaii) the strong winds, all the scary movies on tv, the trick or treaters,  and lets not forget the Halloween decorations! I went out to my fav store Target and bought as many Halloween decorations as possible including a couple of mini haunted houses, lighted pumpkins and some grave stones. I got the effect I wanted with all this new stuff, the feeling of Halloween in my casa! For far too long I have had no decorations and it had been bugging me. I hate not having decorations for every holiday. Did I ever mention I am obsessed with holidays including St. Patricks Day, Valentines Day, and Earth Day? Yeah I know... a little overboard, but hey it makes me happy ; )
 We decided to carve pumpkins as a family this year and let Mia create her own funny face pumpkin. Initially we were going to roast the pumpkin seeds but looking at the huge mess of them in the bowl I decided to forgo it. Ha, maybe next year.