On the road to hana

I mentioned that while in Maui, we took the Road to Hana (backwards) and saw some amazing sights along the way. I wanted to share some highlights from the film I got back. [As a side note, I am now completely disheartened by my Epson scanner and its film software. I had a lab scan my negative film this time, and I was so much happier with the color. Meanwhile, I scanned the few rolls of slide film I shot in Hawaii and cannot for the life of me get the scan to match what I see in the slide, not to mention I am constantly dealing with damn Newton rings. I didn't realize how badly I was missing out! Now this kinda sucks because it's more than tripling my film developing costs. For personal work, it's quite a hefty cost.]

Forging onward, this first set of pictures shows the crazy winding roads that are part of the trip to Hana. Around each corner, you sit tight and pray there's no car zooming around at the same time. This road is not for the queasy. I was definitely not feeling so hot by the end despite Dom's careful driving.

We stopped by a quiet black sand beach to admire the view and take in the wind.

This very welcoming cafe we came across was one of my favorites from the whole trip. It had a total hippie-vibe to it and what's not to love about the freshest fruit you can possibly get, wooden crates, and a general rustic, at-home aesthetic?

Ah, to live in the middle of nowhere and be completely self-sustaining...

And finally, some miscellaneous scenes, tropical foliage and signs. Many thanks to Dom who graciously pulled over so I could scurry outside and get this row of mailboxes shot. It's a common scene in that area but I just had to have a shot of it. I keep thinking about how perfect it would look on polaroid film. Clearly this means I'll have to return to Maui. :)

Hope everyone is staying nice and cool today. Gosh do I miss Hawaii's weather!

An enchanting wedding at haiku mill

For those of you who've liked my facebook page (nudge nudge if you haven't ;)), you may have already seen these shots I posted from Jon & Claire's wedding in Maui. With a romantic name like Haiku Mill, one can already imagine how beautiful and fairytale-like the place is. The details, colors and textures around me were overwhelmingly eye-catching. I wish I had gotten a peak into the main dressing room area, because from what I saw in other pictures, it looked like an absolute DREAM.

Although I was a guest at this wedding, there was no way I could resist taking these shots. At one point when I went to use the bathroom, I peeked in, gasped, and ran out immediately to fetch my camera. Slightly insane, yes. But look at those perfect glass bottle vases just itching to be photographed!

The ceremony was short and sweet. I may or may not have shed a tear or two, but I'm such a sap at these things. The lighting was pretty god awful on that ledge so I'm not sure how the official photographer dealt with that.

For the technical details, these were all taken on Kodak Portra 400. For the whole set of pictures including others not shown here, see the facebook album.

Best wishes to a very lovely couple! I know they'll do some amazing things together.

Friday brights and sweets

Happy Friday with gratuitous self-portrait. I'm obsessed with coral colors this summer, from nails to lips. I'm a total fish out of water in playing with Adobe Illustrator but I am trying to get better at "design" for a pet project I want to get underway... :)

Hawaii film won't be ready for pick-up until 4:30 today so I'll probably be unloading some over the weekend (if all goes well).

And finally, recent good eats at Hotel Griffou included this seriously marvelous dessert -

It was the perfect combination of warm granola, gooey and tart plum, with a subtle bay leaf ice cream. MmmMm.