Hey there! So you found the most interesting page on my site. This is my recent Oahu wedding, Hawaii wedding page. Honestly, it's a blog. The story behind this blog, well, it started out purely about Hawaii weddings, then it evolved into everything and "all of the above." Basically, ITS MY THOUGHTS!! So I write about anything on here. I updated this blog quite frequently. You can learn more about me, my quirks, my style here. And of course, you'll get wedding tips as well.
Call me if you want to make me richer..I mean, book my services! 1-877-WED-IN-HAWAII or email me at info@dreamweddingshawaii.com
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Fantasy Football Anyone?
IT'S FANTASY FOOTBALL TIME!
So like last year, I'm hosting a fantasy football league! Come on and join the fun if you want! It's on Yahoo. League ID# is 500199 password (if there is any) is: football. There is a maximum of 20 teams, only 5 are filled so far. That means there is a lot of room!
This league is a bit different than the rest. I have 3 defensive players you can choose from that can boost your overall score. Each interception or defensive touchdown is worth 6 points! So defense counts in my league.
So how did I get those Jurassic park ripples in the water? Simple. I told Natanya to stomp in the water before I shot the picture...
YOUNG AND IN LOVE Durant and Natanya's Wedding at Ko'olina.
Natanya's wedding inquiry was one that I wouldn't forget. Her inquiry, was at first like all the rest of my inquiries from curious brides. Our conversation started off with me fielding the normal questions I usually get from brides. You know, the usual "Steve, what's the meaning of life? Will the Federal Reserve raise rates this quarter? If I could run at the speed of sound, would my MP3 player still work?" I of course, have all the answers.
But then, Natanya dropped the bomb on me when she told me, "I think you may like my fiance."
"Really? Why is that?" I asked. "I like all my grooms, but I don't like-like my grooms....I'm straight"
"Well, it's because he plays for the Philadelphia Eagles", she stated.
Hmm...maybe I did "like-like" his groom, BUT STILL, in a completley bro-mance way.
To say the least, I was speechless. Now, Natanya's dream wedding had evolved into my dream wedding. I would be part of a Philadelphia Eagle's life...forever... I couldn't imagine that'd ever be possible. This was cool.... too cool. Durant, her fiance, was the newly signed punter for the Eagles and was there to give the current punter, Sav Rocca competition in training camp. All of a sudden...punters were cool...
It had been my life's dream to assist a Philadelphia Eagle in thier wedding. I had trained for this day, dreamt for this day, and now...it had come true..
"This was what I was put on this earth to do", I thought.
Natanya's dress was made for jumping. Durant clearly has some hops. This is high for jumping in the sand!
Shooting directly into the sun. This is why I shoot on film.
The easiest shot of the day....
Natanya and Durant met the old fashioned way, at a bar. Should I say it's "my way" as well? The new fashioned way is of course, meeting on the Internet. From that one chance meeting, they quickly grew into friends as they had a few college courses together. Then that friendship, eventually evolved into a serious relationship. And then...they got married and paid me handsomely.
Just a side-note. Remember back in those high-school days when we were ALL young and stupid? Back then, we all feared that we'd fall into the "friends-zone" when it came to relationships. Little did we know back then that mature relationships, was all about the "friend-zone." Your best friend should be your significant other. And there's no if's, and's, or but's about it.
That's postcard like isn't it.
Dancing, on the beach...
Walking on the beach...
From the frist second that I met Natanya and Durant, I knew that my day would be easy. To start, this couple was a good looking couple. I mean, they weren't just above average. They set the bar when it came to good looks. But not only were they an extremely photogenic couple, they were fun, energetic, and they just flowed together well.
It was rather funny because Durant had an easier time posing than Natanya. But you know what? Lately, it's been the trend. Surprisingly, it's been the grooms in most of my past weddings that have been more natural in front of the camera. Isn't that funny?
I call this pose, "The David Hasselhoff" as it is inspired by the slow-motion running made famous by the beach documentary, Baywatch.
There isn't water on top of here usually.
Durant's idea. I got a few great shots of this. You can see the others in the video.
Truly, my favorite shot out of the set. I will call this peice of art "Good-Looking people at sunset and by the water."
With all the planning that did go on prior to Natanya and Durant's wedding day, there was one minor hiccup in their plans. Originally, Natanya had ordered the ceremony package, as she only wanted one camera video coverage for her wedding, but about 2 hours before her wedding, she called me to see if she could upgrade her coverage to three cameras. Luckily, I was near my house so picking up the extra cameras proved not to be a problem. Her choice to upgrade to three camera coverage was a wise one. Three camera coverage is at least100 times better than one camera coverage.
So my thoughts on this couple. They have weird names don't they? Haha. I remember when we did their wedding, I was the only person with the only regular name. Elias was the minister, the wedding singer's name was Tahiti, and there I am...."even" Steven. I think I should change my name to something more powerful like King Leonidas, or maybe even a verb like "snap." haha.
Natanya sounds to me like a great undercover female spy name. Durant sounds like a name for a really good polish for a car. I'm wondering what their kids are going to look like and what their names will be? If anything, I think they need to patent their genes or something, and then sell their genes on eBay. They are just that good looking.
All joking aside, Durant, Natanya...I wish you all my best. Keep in touch!
First off, let me apologize by not blogging for awhile. I've been swamped with weddings, more weddings, birthdays, and some other odds and ends that basically pushed blogging to the back end of my priorities. Even when I wanted to blog, I just couldn't find the time. Technically, I should be working right now, at 12:44am in the morning, on more video stuff, but hey...here I am blogging.
It just dawned upon me....running a wedding business as you can imagine is quite difficult. I remember when I first stepped into this industry back when I was 21 or 22 years old, my business partner Wei-Jen (thee master photographer who taught me everything!), looked at me and told me that Wedding photography was probably the most difficult type of photography in the world. I understood. The reasons were quite obvious. To sum it up in a nutshell , we would have one chance to capture that perfect moment and to make the couple the best they ever looked in their life. Now that I run a full-service wedding company, not only do I have to deliver great photos, but on top of that, great service, top-notch video, great ministers, great vocalist, caterers...etc..etc...all on-time.
I honestly consider what I do, a walk-in-the-park. But when I look at other wedding planners struggle with what I believe is easy, I sometimes have to take a step back and realize that planning is quite difficult. Well, it's either that, or I'm that good...haha. But I regularly see planners running around with their head of a swivel to make sure everything turns out perfect.
Do I sound big headed here?
WHAT'S BEEN ON MY MIND LATELY? ZOMBIELAND.
Well, to be blunt...enjoying life. I had a talk with a good friend of mine on the phone the other day. His name is Jim. He's a close friend of mind who serves as a Marine. Next year, he'll be in Afghanistan serving his country. So here we are, talking on the phone, and he ask me if I saw that movie Zombieland. I acknowledge. He then tells me that movie spoke to him, in a serious tone.
He wasn't joking...
"Zombieland? "Isn't that the zombie-killing-COMEDY?" I asked.
"Yup, that movie made me think twice about my life", Jim answered.
My friend went on to explain to me that there was a portion in that movie where Woody Harrison's character turned to his colleagues and said to them, "Once in awhile, you got to enjoy the little things in life."
Jim, a gun-hoe, crew-cut, trigger happy Marine, had a point that we should enjoy the little things in life.
Sometimes, we... as spoiled human beings are always looking for the better-and-bigger-high to bring "the ultimate joy" into our life. I've been in circles where friends always had to party hard in order to have a great night. They had to get pissed drunk, cause a ruckus somewhere, for the night to be fun. I've seen friends travel down the road of excess in order to find happiness in their life. And what about the wedding industry? I've seen brides wanting to plan the "ultimate" wedding in order to ring in their new chapter in their life, just to have them stress themselves out on their wedding day to the point where they don't enjoy their own wedding day.
Lately, I've been thinking about all the great times I had in my life. Yes, those big things in life were great. But what really makes me smile are the little things.
So when it comes to your wedding day. I know it's a big deal, it's a big chapter, but don't forget to enjoy the little things on your wedding day. Because if you don't, you're entire wedding day will just pass you by.
Okay, so I'm outta here for a bit.... gotta go to sleep!
