Our Blog Has Moved!

In order to take full advantage of the features I want our blog has moved here!

www.fukataphotography.wordpress.com

Please stop by and let us know what you think of the new blog and blog look.

Image Overload!!!

Since I pulled the images I'm dumping them all right here! (See previous post if you're confused) By the way, can you believe March is almost over? WOW!

Posts are missing images!!

I know. :) I'm in the middle of removing all images from the web that are not copyrighted to help avoid image theft. I will be reposting the images in another post.

Waialae Beach Park Portrait Session

I am all caught up on editing and am happy that both of my clients will be receiving their images before they leave O'ahu. The recent weather, although cloudy, has been amazing for images. The most recent session I had was held at Waialae Beach Park in Kahala. When I arrived there was a wedding just down the shore at the Kahala Mandarin Hotel. Here's a peek at Sundays portrait session. Wasn't the lighting fabulous?
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Lanikai Beach Wedding 03/06/09

This next couple had a gorgeous destination wedding and chose Lanikai Beach for the ceremony. Here's a quick sneak peek of the day....More to come.

Hilton Hawaiian Village Family Portraits

This next family has a total of 16 people! WOW! Can you say hard?! If everyone's eyes are open then one of the kids are sure to be hammin' it up for the camera...This was a late afternoon shoot right behind the Hilton Hawaiian Village one of the more popular hotels here on O'ahu.
They have had to wait a little longer than usual for their picture because I just finished moving and got the home office up and running. I wanted to make sure they get a preview until they receive their DVD of images in the mail.
Steve, I hope you enjoyed your stay...Here is your sneak peek!



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Giving away a FREE 1 hour photo shoot!!!

Send me your love stories!!!!

Why?!? Send me your love stories by Feb 14th for a chance to win a free photo shoot. I'll choose the best/my favorite and contact the winner via email. . .

The winner receives a free one hour photo shoot of you and your significant other with a complimentary DVD of the images.
P.S. You don't have to be married, single,straight, etc...you only have to live on O'ahu to qualify!!
Hurry! Valentines Day is almost here!

www.fukataphotography.com/contact


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Photography Rates, The Client & The Photographer

With the economy the way it is right now many of us are hunting for the best deal for our money. Myself included. Most people, my clients included, don't realize my photography is a part-time job.
I work a Full-time job and keep my photography going on the side.

My goal when I started my business was to provide affordable rates to my clients...that included NOT charging them per image!

I started out as "Crystal Vara Photography" but was married not long after and felt that a DBA name change was only proper. Despite the name change, I kept in mind that goal that I originally started off with.

I've seen an article several times regarding the cost of photography and how it effects the consumer as well as the photographer. It breaks down each steps the photographer goes through in preparation for a shoot,during the shoot, and after the shoot up until the client receives their images. Of course it's a little different for each photographer but I have to say it's pretty close!

Click here to read the article.

The reason I even post this is because I know I'm not the cheapest photographer out there but I'm also not the most expensive. I try to learn new techniques and buy new "toys" to help me enhance my business and services to clients.

Super Bowl Sunday

I have to admit that I only made it until a little after the half time show and I was zonked out. I needed a little nap...I was working on wedding images taken at Le'ahi beach park and my husband was watching the Super Bowl (of course). Neither of us made it through the whole game.
I'm still working on the wedding images but stumbled across this and thought I'd share. You can find this image and more like it on FAIL BLOG!




I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend and if you are a football fan, I hope you enjoyed the Super Bowl 43.

What was your favorite Super Bowl 43 Commercial?!!

Le'ahi Beach Park Wedding

I had the opportunity to photograph a couple from Nevada today at Le'ahi Beach Park in Waikiki. I always visited the spot when I was in college but never realized that people used it as a wedding ceremony location too.
The bride and groom requested that I not post the images on the internet so instead I'll share a picture that I took before the bride and groom arrived.
Le'ahi Beach Park was gorgeous just like the rest of Oahu but a little hard to work with because of all the graffiti found there.
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Thank You Costco!

Today I decided to break down and FINALLY buy an external hard drive so that I can back up all of my images and such. I originally bought one from Best Buy for $89.99 for a 500GB. Then later in the day went to Costco only to find a 640GB for the SAME price. Needless to say, I went home and returned the one from Best Buy that luckily I hadn't opened yet (which is amazing for me considering home much I LOVE new toys!).

The new year is off to a great start...I mean, who doesn't love new toys?

My Best Friends Wedding

Sarah & Mike got married on Sunday December 28th, 2008. When I took the picture below I was so nervous about holding Sarahs rings that I forgot to make a couple of adjustments on my camera but ended up LOVING the effect it had on the picture. Aren't the rings gorgeous?
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Anyways, the day started off with hair and makeup at Studio W in Honolulu. Wendy who did Sarah's makeup did a great job and it didn't take long at all!
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We then left for the dress fitting at Princess Brides across the street from The Wedding Ring Shop.
Here is a closeup of Sarah's dress that she wore.



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Here is one of the women from Princess Brides helping Mike get ready.

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The location of the actual ceremony was changed twice at the last minute. It was originally going to be a small lanai wedding at the officiants' house but then was changed to Magic Island. When I got there I got a call telling me that the ceremony was moving to Kahala Beach Park.







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At the end of the day, even after all of the changes, I think things went great. It was a nice wedding and I was so honored that they chose me to photograph their wedding.

Mike & Sarah, I hope the two of you just love your wedding images and will cherish them always.
LOVE YOU BOTH!

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Engagement Picture Fun

Sarah & Mike wanted to do engagement pictures where they could just have fun, so we wandered around a few places and here are some of the shots we got.



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Be on the lookout for their wedding pictures from the following day...I have a few that I want to share but I need to get some sleep before tomorrow begins.

Happy New Year!

I decided that while I'm updating my website I should create a NEW blog for a new year; one that is devoted solely to my business and not mashed together with my own daily blabbing.

I'm looking forward to 2009 and what it has to offer!

Happy New Year everyone!