photo.phile: maile lani photography

their umbrella flew away

with cali being my home away from hawai'i and so many kama'aina spreading their wings to far off places, a mainland week seemed like a fine idea as 2010 began to fade and a new year glimmered on the horizon. and so, all week long i will be profiling local girls following their dreams away from the islands.

first up is new orleans-based wedding photographer maile lani who snapped this cheery beach umbrella photograph that i happily discovered during an etsy session. although her family left the islands before her first year luau, maile still embodies the sweetness of the islands and her love for toy cameras, vintage polaroids, and through the viewfinder photography made me an instant fan.

despite my already married status, i still find myself smitten with all the very lovely weddings filled with the prettiest little details. if you swoon along with me, please wander through maile's online galleries for glimpses of sweet southern i do's as well as photo souvenirs from her travels. for today, i gathered up a few of my favorites from maile's portfolio . . . all quietly dreamy and filled with romantic delight.

more peeks and a q+a with maile after the jump . . .

sarah & jeff

it's springtime in the south

{photo.phile notes}

what inspired you to pick up a camera and start clicking?
i really started getting into photography around the time i turned 14 when my family went back to hawaii (i was born there) for the summer. i remember taking this one photograph of palm tree silhouettes against this brilliant pink and purple hawaiian sunset. it sounds so silly, but at the time i was so excited by the fact that i created something that looked like a postcard that i kept on doing it.

photography muses that spark your imagination?
anthropologie catalogs! i have so many of them stacked around my house :) i love the eclectic mix of items and the way they arrange everything so perfectly. one of my favourite spreads ever was when they had their new line of purses photographed underwater. it was one of the coolest things i had ever seen!

favorite seaside moment captured on film?
i think that the one that stands out most in my mind is a polaroid i took last summer. i have a huge obsession with kites, but i had never really flown one before. so, my wonderful boyfriend got me one with these little fairies all over it. eventually, after my little kid excitement wore off, i asked my boyfriend to hold the kite so i could take a polaroid of it. as soon as i clicked the shutter a seagull flew by in the same direction my kite was flying. it's such a simple photograph but it just makes me feel happy every time i look at it.

any simple tricks to share on how to best capture a lovely lo-fi shot?
think about what you're shooting! the worst thing i ever did when learning how to use toy cameras was follow the "shoot from the hip" rule. a lo-fi camera is still a camera and if you want beautiful photographs then you have to think about how you're going to compose your images. i really believe that the magic of lo-fi photography comes from the photographer that is using the camera. as photographers we have to take our own visions and adapt them to a different formats. that is what makes a lo-fi image so beautiful :)

which camera stays close by for everyday shooting?
depending on what film i have, either my polaroid spectra pro or my holga. :)

pay it forward with the best photography advice shared with you:
i don't know if this counts as advice, but when i first started taking pictures it was a super expensive hobby. it was always such a big deal when i was allowed to shoot one roll of film and i was told to be careful and not to waste any of the photographs. now i just sort of take pictures carefully naturally because i'm so used to it. it drives me crazy that digital photography has made the "spray and pray" method so popular. i just shoot everything as if i were still paying to process the photographs!

local delights that are a must in your beach picnic basket?
jambalaya from the jambalaya shoppe, abita purple haze, and fresh louisiana strawberries.

mahalo maile!

click over to the etsy shop which is stocked with a lovely selection of prints. and, if you are planning your own i do's just know that maile accepts bookings near and far from nola.