photo.phile: one love photo

i must apologize to one and all who have been waiting for and wondering about the return of photo.phile. while peeking at all the amazing photographs shared on the interweb is a favorite diversion, time just seemed to slip away over the past few months leaving little time for clicking through the online galleries.

happily, through the instant connection of twitter, i discovered the dreamy work of one love photo just before the holidays and immediately began trading notes with heather who snaps photos side-by-side with her hubby jon (a local boy from oahu). the duo are currently based in seattle and travel back to hawaii often to visit jon's 'ohana, and caught my eye with a lovely roundup of images captured during andy irons' memorial in hanalei.

the vintage vignettes are absolutely swoon-worthy and have become a sweet reminder to shoot more with my diana camera and savor its lo-fi possibilities. although weddings and portraits are heather and jon's bread and butter (and quite gorgeous, may i say), it's easy to get lost in their snapshots of the islands.

in fact, i insist.

{photo.phile notes}

what inspired you to pick up a camera and start clicking?
heather has always been into photography, it took me about 10 years until i decided to give it a whirl. mainly i missed heather on the weekends while she was off shooting weddings and thought she could use the help. i planned to go along to the weddings as her "assistant" but i got bored in a hurry. i had to pick up one of her cameras and start shooting. i don't have any formal training so i have learned everything by experimenting. i am never afraid to try something, even when i am told it won't work. i am most inspired to shoot when i am using my homemade lenses with our digital SLR camera.

photography muses that spark your imagination?
keith carter and sally mann. recently, we've been enjoying the beautiful set of images by john wehrheim in the book titled taylor camp. we came across the book while over on kauai, the b&w photographs of the hippie camp on the north shore in the 60's makes me wish i could time travel and be a hippie with a treehouse.

favorite island moment captured on "film"?
the andy irons' memorial on kauai was moving beyond words. it was an honor to capture the spirit of community on the beach in hanalei that day. we also love capturing friends and family at weddings! at one of our most recent weddings on oahu, we were so excited to photograph the couple's little dog named bear, who was also their ring bearer. there was so much love all around that day.

any simple tricks to share on how to best capture a lovely in-the-moment shot?
learn your camera's settings well, really well. shoot in manual mode ALWAYS.

which camera stays close by for everyday shooting?
our canon 5dmkII with a homemade tilt shift lens, it's not pretty but it makes beautiful landscape shots and portraits. for the beach, i love throwing our bright orange blackbird plastic toy camera in our bag.

pay it forward with the best photography advice shared with you:
you have to learn the rules before you can break them, then bend them often.

local delights that are a must in your beach picnic basket?
1st off we love using the reusable grocery bags from foodland as our picnic basket, preferably the one with the musubi illustration on the front. add some real musubi and sunblock inside and we are ready to go.

*(if shave ice didn't melt, it would be in there as well, with a snow cap). 

mahalo heather and jon!

more lovely moments are shared on the one love photo blog with peeks from the portfolio mingling with day-to-day snapshots. and, if you will be exchanging i do's this year, just know that h+j are waiving their travel fee to hawaii through all of 2011!

edwin ushiro: preceeding sunday

to counter imponderability

hello all! edwin ushiro recently sent a preview of his new show in the great northwest so if you call seattle home definitely make your way to belltown and the roq la rue gallery to check it out. for those who just discovered h|h this year (welcome welcome!), edwin is a mixed media artist from maui who now calls los angeles home. his muse still reaches back to childhood when chilling obake stories of creepy specters who haunt the islands from the land to the sea and all points in between were traded at sleepovers and over campfires.

a casual glance may only see carefree, innocent scenes of small kid time, but i like to think that the many layers worked into each piece act as an unspoken reminder that all is not as it seems. even though i spook easily, i always find edwin's depiction of childhood in hawaii comforting despite the whispers of grisly circumstances lurking beneath the surface. for the preceeding sunday show, kaena point's gateway to the spirit world (shown above) and a temptress apparition luring unsuspecting paniolos to their demise are among edwin's latest collection of local legends.

that said, the idea of passing by the most spine-tingling depiction on a daily basis is too much for my faint constitution to even consider (much to the chagrin of my mister who always seems to covet the scariest obake tale come to life), however more wistful remembrances of days gone by along with sweeter hawaiian myths do pop up every so often.

all signals configuring to a position . . .

tingling sensation of adorable reminiscentia . . .

the 1921 wall

a muffled concept of what we considered ubiquitous

isn't edwin's contribution to the lost underground art project fabulous? (lauren gregg's charlie is also quite delightful, btw.) the piece was already sold by the time it crossed my radar, but happy to see a local artist get some love from one of the islands' all-time favorite tv series filmed in hawaii!

a few pieces from edwin's seattle show (co-starring yoskay yamamoto) already have a red dot, however purchasing inquiries by phone or email are welcome.

• show dates: now to sun, oct 10th
• where: roq la rue gallery, 2312 2nd avenue, seattle
• gallery hours: wed to sat, 1p to 6p & by appointment

hello momo!

whenever kama'ainas go off island, be it on holiday or a move to the mainland for one of the oft-discussed trifecta of better opportunities (college/job/housing), the locales that make the destination list are predictable: las vegas, southern california, the bay area, and the pacific northwest. (the latter three choices are understandable but the first one, to be honest, has always perplexed me.)

if you happen to call seattle your home away from home or plan on hitting the emerald city on your next trip, be sure to add a side trip to japantown to your shopping list. the revitalized neighborhood, filled with noodle shops and tea houses, happens to be the home of momo, the east meets west boutique of oahu girl and seattle resident lei ann shiramizu.

the freelance writer, who grew up in moanalua, and her husband opened the doors of momo late last year to much acclaim for its mix of style and design finds from around the world. the stock list is long and intriguing including french fashion (cop.copine), finnish decor (iittalia), reclaimed leather handbags (bronsino), and vintage asian accessories gathered up at local estate sales.

visits home double as buying trips which mean you can scoop up select finds from the islands from a tin of timana tea to an aloha shirt from iolani sport. and, with father's day just around the corner, momo will be throwing a hawaiian shirt show tomorrow evening featuring styles flown in from IO sport just for the occasion plus handmade aloha shirts for your little one.

• when: thu, jun 12th - 5p to 7p
• where: 600 south jackson street, seattle
• fyi: pupus & light beverages will be served

take a peek inside momo here and here.