brunel keiki on the north shore of oahu

a couple months ago the brunel ohana came out to california and met up with us for a fun afternoon at the beach. one day with their wonderful family was just not enough, so when we recently flew out to their home turf we met up for a 2nd session. this time we met in one of our favorite places on earth, the north shore of oahu. first stop... waimea valley to get some shots of hayley and riley.
i'm envisioning these first two shots as large canvases. what do you think?
hayley's eyes are as cool as the pacific.

riley tried blending in to his surroundings, but you just can't hide a face like this.

if you've never been to the waimea valley here's a preview. it is such an amazing place. when i saw this spot i had to stop and get some shots of the kids. i love this shot of hayley.

on their way north pam picked up this beautiful fresh flower crown for hayley. it was perfect. hayley looked absolutely precious.

since riley didn't have his blue daredevil cast on anymore to show people he's tough, he opted for the manly vines. looking good my man.

that's more like it.

every time i get the chance to take pictures of young siblings i ask myself if the shot i'm taking will be something they remember and if they'll look back on it with a smile when they grow up.
just in case you forget, hayley and riley, this was when you sat quietly for a moment.
moments later, things were back to normal and you were running around like the wonderful little energetic children you are.

local feety feets

as the sun was setting we headed over to the beach to have a little fun in the water and catch the yummiest light of the day.

today's adventure... strawberry shortcake finds a sea slug. bet you haven't heard that one before.

after seeing the giant sea slug riley strapped on his goggles and dove right in. he pretty much bailed on the photo session and went snorkel exploring the rest of the afternoon. one thing i know is that when you're taking pictures of kids, they run the show. when they're done, they're done. we're cool with that. part of what makes our shots of kids look natural is because we try to be as hands-off as possible and let the kids be kids. they're happier that way and it shows in the pictures.

with riley out exploring the tidelands we got a chance to focus on hayley.

these last shots of hayley just make me smile.
they make me wish i was a kid again and that my only care in the world was how fun this moment is. laughing and splashing around in the warm water of the pacific as the sun sets behind me on the north shore of oahu.
does life get any better than that?

only if this is your house :)