You guys… I can’t express how much I love Karma Hill and our girl Cheynice. Buckle up, because I have a lot to share.
My family and I planned a trip back to Maui this past August. It would be my first time back to Maui in (cough) too many years…sorry tutu and my first trip to my favorite island with my boys. I had so many amazing memories of Maui from my childhood, I wanted to make sure to share them with my boys.
We wanted a special reminder from our trip and what better way to do that then hire a professional photographer to capture a sweet memory? From my first email inquiry (thanks Brooke!) where I listed out all of the things I wanted (no buildings, nothing too windy, island or mountains in the background and beautiful colors in the sky…NBD right???)….the team at Karma Hill knew exactly where to send us. Our beach, southside, was about an hour+ from Kapalua (the traffic through Lahina SUCKS), but worth the drive.
I swear, we’re not high maintenance people, but I knew what I wanted. They went above and beyond any photographers I’ve ever worked with by offering up suggestions for professional hair and make-up, an island concierge service who would be more than happy to help you navigate planning a special trip for your family (amazing service if you’ve never been to Maui before) AND, obviously most important…tips on wardrobe. Seriously people, read their blog about
what to wear and what not to wear. Some people love matchy matchy, but they wrote a lovely piece on how to make it flow…totally worth a read…like a few times.
The communication couldn’t have been any better…directions to beaches in Hawaii can get a little funny. “Look for the port-o-potty” as your landmark. Ps…that’s been the landmark FOREVER.
The day of our shoot couldn’t have been more perfect…I mean it was like someone from Karma Hill called up Al Roker at NBC and was like “yo, make it perfect, k?”. Light breeze, very few clouds in the sky, and the colors!!! Our family…as I’m sure most families with little children are…is a little like herding goats. My 4-month-old was a little tired and probably a little hangry, and while I was like “solider on peeps”, our AMAZING photographer, Cheynice, suggested we give our little dude a break a few times. She wasn’t in a rush so why not take our time to make our little happy? While I nursed little dude, my oldest (4yrs) was super curious about the photography gear and what she was shooting…like he basically wanted to be Peter Lik (look him up). Cheynice was so patient with him and even helped him set up a shot and shoot. The photos she shot of my husband and oldest capture their personalities to a T. We’re not the posey types…we like to live our best lives in front of the camera by goofing off and running around…yes, even in a dress, but our posed photos were beautiful..totally holiday card, yearbook worthy.
We ended the evening with the sky on fire. The kind of sunset that we all hope to capture in a family photo. It was like Cheynice ordered it just for us. While other photographers on the beach (not with Karma Hill BTW) stuck to a tight timeline and bailed…Cheynice went with the flow and caught that beautiful sunset. Thanks, tita! The next time we head to Maui…we’re calling up Karma Hill and scheduling a photoshoot with them again. Cheynice… hope you’re ready to watch our boys grow up. I promise we’ll try to keep munch from eating the sand again.
If I haven’t convinced you to book Karma Hill….you’re probably dead inside and should resign yourself to a photo booth at the shops in Wailea. Maui, Cheynice, and Karma Hill truly are nō ka ‘oi.
