A Mega Collaboration of Local Talent!
2020's been off to an exciting start so far. I've gotten to network and meet new creatives all across Hawaiʻi, and none more so than the talent I've met on my home island of Maui. I've had a few collaborations that I had planned: I was planning on doing some model work with Lei, some bathtub shots with Andrea hosting and providing floral accessories, and some interesting makeup looks with Shelby. It was one recent night after being in contact with these creative minds that I thought, "Hey! Why don't we all just get together and combine our skills to create one artistic and savory local mixed plate of a project?" , and I worked fast to get everything together. We faced a few issues with the weather (my luck for planning a shoot and having a storm pass by during that time) and timing, but we were able to pull through on a day that we were all available, and luckily, the weather cleared up right as we started to shoot! Wailuku can be unpredictable with the weather, but it always comes in clutch when you need it to!
I started to take some behind the scenes pictures of the process - Andrea working fast to make three intricate Lei Poʻo, Shelby working together with Lei to create a look that exemplified the theme as well as her natural beauty, and me of course asking funny and random questions to break the ice and get to know everyone better - by the time we were ready to shoot, there was natural chemistry ready to be captured on camera, and I knew I couldn't let down the work that Andrea and Shelby put into preparing Lei (and the bathtub as well) ! With their help in hair/makeup adjusting and holding monstera leaves, I took as much shots as I could of Lei with natural evening light, and I was happily surprised with the quality of the photos! We played around with various colors, tub flowers, all the while hyping up Lei to have 100% H.B.I.C. energy, and I think the pictures can speak for themselves on how everything came together perfectly, like a savory soufflé of success!
After the tub shoot was done, we headed over to Kanaha Beach with literal minutes to spare before sundown, ready to take some pictures for @livinglifeinthe808 with clothes that were sent to Lei, and of course we brought the Lei Poʻo with us (which I brought with me to a photography meetup the next day) , and it made the best touch for the shoot. Once we were finished with the beach photos, we congratulated each other on doing a job well done, knowing that this would be the first (of many) shoots that we'll all be working on together!
Model : Leialiʻi (@leialiika)
Lei Poʻo / Bathtub : Andrea (@petite.maui)
Makeup : Shelby (@mauihairandmakeupdesign)
Hair : Jason (@jasonbisarrahair)
Clothing : @livinglifeinthe808
Photography: @miguelmoralesphotography
