PAIA

Cute little town, about 40 minutes from Kahului. Not touristy, and quaint.  Lots of amazing shops.

Flat Bread Pizza- They use mostly local ingredients for their pizza’s.  Super yummy.

Mana Foods – An amazing little grocery store that sells all kinds of natural foods, and tries really hard to do the local thing.

Baldwin Beach – this is where the locals go to relax.  It is not touristy, and if you keep walking west along the beach, there is the area where people hang out naked.

Hookipa Park - If you are into Psychedelic Mushrooms, go into the park.  You will see cows by the seaside.  In their poop, mushrooms grow.  Pick em, eat em, and go on a vision quest.

Road to Hana

- This is an amazing drive.  Things to visit, Seven Sacred Pools, and the Red Sand beach.

- Awesome little banana bread shops along the way.

- TRY THE ROASTED COCONUT!!! OMG

- It is Rainy, rainforest type climate, but beautiful.  On the way, there is the Bamboo Forest.  GREAT HIKE! (For advanced Hikers tho, because it was really hard for me!)

Lahaina

- Really touristy town, mainly because the climate is that of a desert.  HOT!  There is very little rain, if any at all.  If you want to be surrounded by tourists, this is the place to go.  Chances are that if you booked a hotel off expedia or orbitz, you are staying in Kanapaalii just north of Lahaina where there is all the hotels.

- The Banyon Tree – Planted in 1873, brought over from India it covers about 2/3 of an acre.

- The Whalers Museum – Really cool look at the whaling industry back in the day.  Neat Artifacts, and I think it is by donation.

Mile 13-14 market on the way to Lahaina.   Best snorkeling I have ever done.  Really amazing passageways of coral in the water where bright fish hang out.

Honolua Bay – AMAZING SNORKELING and DOLPHINS and SEA TURTLES!

WIALIKU – First Friday of Month

The main street closes down to a festival like activity.  Music and food, and it is every first friday in WAILUKU.  Neat thing that locals and tourists go to.

There are two ways to get to Lahaina and such. Going South.  The first way is the regular way, through the center of the island.  Paved highway all the way to Kanapaalii.  Really nice drive after getting back to the water. Takes about an hour and a half

The second and more interesting way is North.  If you are driving north, allow 4 hours or 5 hours.  Don’t go when it is raining.  It goes up the hills.  100-200 feet drops.  1 lane unpaved road some of the way.  Kind of a white knuckle trip.  The tradeoff is beautiful views.  So if you are the Evil Kenivel type, take this way.

Upcountry

Going upcountry is beautiful.  There is the Ali’i Lavender Farm.  AMAZING VIEWS, and so pretty.  I have always wanted to shoot a wedding in the lavender farm.  

Kula

Oprah lives in Kula and has a private road going from Kula to Kihei.  Don’t mention it to locals.  I think they are envious.   Kula is beautiful, lovely.  The climate is colder.  On the way up, you will find desert going to redwoods, and apple groves.

Iao Valley

In 1790, the Battle of Kepaniwai took place there, in which Kamehameha the Great defeated Kalanikūpule and the Maui army during his campaign to unify the islands. The battle was said to be so bloody that dead bodies blocked ʻĪao Stream, and the battle site was named Kepaniwai (“the damming of the waters”).

Really great hike.

Haleakala – This is an amazing trip.  You see the climates change drastically.  I would recommend going up at 3PM, so that you get there in time for sunset at around 6.  Also, wear lots of clothes.  Even in the middle of summer, it gets HELLA cold.  Like colder than Vancouver in the winter cold.  Mittens are recommended.  And a scarf.

Little Beach

Every Sunday hundreds of people go to little beach.  It is beautiful.  Mostly hippies, drum circle, nudity, pot being passed around, just like Wreck Beach (In Vancouver), except bigger, on Maui.    Just talk to people here, don’t be shy. Get up and dance.  Get naked.

Try to find a house share or try VRBO.  You get more of an experience there.

And that is my guide to Maui. Don’t be afraid of sharks, they only come out at dusk and in the rain.  Don’t be afraid of locals, because they are always all smiles.  Rainbows don’t have pots of gold or leprechauns, but you see them ALL THE TIME!  

Anytime there is a best-of list, it’s sure to draw controversy from the sort of folks who spend their time sarcastisurfing critic sites like RT. (The AV Club is the worst for that, oh lordy… 500 word essays on why that episode of Mad Men was like literature. And that’s the comment section!)

According the article’s commenters, some notable (egregious!) exclusions from the list were My Best Friend’s Wedding, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Fiddler on the Roof, and the 1991 version of Father of the Bride– the original 1950s version is number seven.

Myself, I was pleased to see The Hangover and Bridesmaids on the list. Those are two of the funniest movies of the last decade. Come to think of it, they make a great pairing. The Hangover is about a bunch of groomsmen who are piecing together a night of sowing their wild oats, with some really raunchy (stereotypically male) humour. Bridesmaids is more female in its main characters, focus on emotional character development, and the sort of humour it employs. Nora and I should watch those back to back! I think I’ll propose that to her.

As for exclusion from the list, I’ve always had a soft spot for The Wedding Singer. Drew Barrymore is at her most charming in it, and it’s the only of the 90s Adam Sandler movies that achieves just the right date night balance of genuine sweetness and belly laugh sophomoric comedy that the Sandler brand was built on.

Some people think I bare a passing resemblance to Adam Sandler. I don’t see it though…

What movies do you think should have been on that list?

-Chris

Not bad for a 5 minute photoshop job.

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each others cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each others keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each others shadow.

This has got to be my favourite poems about marriage, one of my favourites about love. It implicitly rejects the idea that marriage involves possession. “To have and and to hold” seems a little too archaic, a remnant of a less liberated time. Removing possessiveness from our love moves closer to a place of true unconditional love, which is to me is the essence of everything– which some people call God. I can’t think of a more perfect meditation on love than letting it be “a moving sea between the shores of your souls.”

I love you, Nora.

-Christo 

We’ve got big plans to launch it with a HUGE contest, with the help from our friends at Best Destination Wedding. More details on that to come…

For now, I thought I’d like to celebrate the return of the sun. Ever since we moved back to Montreal from drizzly old Vancouver, it has felt like Spring to us. So here are a few pictures from our trip to the Botanical Gardens in Montreal.

You can also enjoy this little teaser we shot for our video… It will give you a good sense of why we are getting Black Box Productions to shoot it for us! (Photographer ≠ Videographer!)

Enjoy!

Doing something bad from Chris Masson on Vimeo.

To transpose some of those lessons to the art of writing, and to paraphrase the late, great Robert Kroetsch, writing is a constant act of bold exploration. No matter where you’ve been up to now, ahead of you is always more white nothingness to write into. These artists accomplished this by having or adopting a mentality that they can do no wrong, so they needn’t fear.
Great! Except, if you don’t know how to drop that mentality in real life, you’re a jerk.

At about the same time as my early days in theatre, my interest in writing was really starting to take form. I would constantly get ideas, and I wrote everything down. I would hear a phrase in my head, like “redo the thing” and write an entire poem from that, following one whisper of an idea that could have just as easily been disregarded. While I was pleased with what I produced, I was too caught up in the excitement of creating judge a poem before it was finished, and still unfettered by the various aesthetic biases that time and university would hang around my wrist. As a result, I was quite prolific in those days.

In juxtaposing those two paths to creativity now, I think I can articulate a new paradigm that is a lighter alternative to the douche-to-the-world route. It is by adopting an attitude of curiosity, an excitement toward uncovering the obscured light of new creation that leads us to happiness and prolificity.

I see that excitement in Nora and I (especially Nora) when we are taking photos. With any luck we can keep challenging ourselves to remain childlike in our wonderousness. Speaking of photography, isn’t that another example of bringing light into darkness? Like, by definition.
I think we succeeded recently in a shoot we did for a local designer to showcase her new wedding dress design. We took some chances with our lighting set up… It looked janky from the outside, but the results paid off.

Check out my jeans! I accidentally threw them in the wash with a red bath mat. Ouch. The resulting pink tint stimulated my sense of curiosity…
And here is how this experiment turned out for us…

Also, here’s a video from my pal Dave Morris, about what improvisation skills can add to your life. I especially like the part about play!

Love and Laughter,
Christo

1. Stay at a hotel that is close to the MGM if you are not staying in the MGM.  Some suggestions, NYNY, Hooters, Americas Best Value Inn.  Trust me, you will want to stay someplace close, because down time is important, and if you are too far away, down time is difficult.

2. Network.  Some of your best photog friends, chances are you will meet them here.  Network EVERYWHERE.  At the airport, in line at the Starbucks (should you choose to accept that challenge!), in your classes, in the elevator, EVERYWHERE.

3. Print out business cards, and keep them with you ALL THE TIME!!  Seriously, you will want them for draws and to hand out to new friends.

4. Take a notebook EVERYWHERE.  Honestly, you will only need your 5D MkII and your 70-200 for shoots really.  Your notebook, you will be learning about things ALL THE TIME.

5. Take a water bottle.  The desert is dry, and arid.  Keep hydrated.

6. Dress in layers, so you can peel down in platform classes full of 200-400 people, or you can bundle up when going outside where the temperature isn’t that warm.

7. Comfortable shoes, SERIOUSLY will be your best friends.  If you need them to be a little dressed up with your outfit, make sure they are comfortable in them.  Heels are fab, but walking about 8 hours/day in them, your dogs will be a’barking!

8. Ok, so this might be a bit too late to suggest this, but DON’T schedule yourself silly.  Make sure you have some downtime, to relax, to hang out, to catch lunch/dinner with your new friends.   It is really easy to burn out.

9. Schedule time to visit the trade show, BUT, when you do this, make sure you know what you are looking for SPECIFICALLY.  If you are in search of albums, map out where all the albums booths are at.  It is HUGE, so budget yourself enough time to go to these.

10. If it is within your budget, schedule a shoot out.   We are going to some great one’s.  Our friends over at Emma Jane Photography are having a shoot in a Ghost town, and there is still some space available. Check it out here.  There are many other one’s too, so try to find something that interests you.

11. Go to at least one party.  Let your hair down.  It doesn’t have to be a dance party, with loud music.  There are lots, Airplanes and Blazers, the Canon Canada Soiree, Canon 80′s party, Bay Photo Lab, a Concert with Ingrid Michaelson, and so many more.  (This is not a MUST, but a nice to do thing for yourself!)

12. Bring snacks in your bag with you.  Trust me, you will thank me for this.  Granola bars, apple snacks, fruit leathers.  The food court is expensive, and there are ALWAYS LINES.

13. If you start your morning off with coffee, get yourself a To-Go Mug, and Starbucks VIA (or any other equivalent).  Honestly, I drink coffee every morning, and normally, at the Starbucks at home, I pay $2.25 for a grande.  In Vegas, I was paying $3.50 for a grande DRIP COFFEE, oh and you might find yourself waiting in line for about an hour.

14. Keep an eye on your twitter, your FB and social media.  You can find some cool giveways, cool parties, and fun contests.

15.  If you have an Iphone, or Smartphone, just be aware that there is a bazillion other photographers uploading instagrams, FB photos, updating their status’.  So, change your network from the 3G network to EDGE.  Or just use Wi-Fi when available.

16. Share knowledge.  What you learn at WPPI will no doubt be amazing!!!  Blog it, share it!  My experience has been that there are loads of other photographers who don’t have the opportunity to go to WPPI, so share what you learn, share what you know.  There is a SUPER COOL website that shares knowledge.  SLR LOUNGE.  Last year my room mate wrote about different platform classes with SLR Lounge.  THEY BLOW MY MIND AWAY.

17.  At the end of your week in Vegas, take time to go through your notebook with all the awesome notes, and transcribe them on your laptop, or in neater handwriting.   I look back on my notes from last year, and I can’t make out something that may have been important.

19. Yup, I skipped 18, feel free to add your 18 in the comments.

20. HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!  Don’t trap yourself in your room, get out there.  Out of your shell, smile, and just have fun!

xo Nora.

P.S.  If you are a bride, planning an elopement or destination wedding in Vegas, the third week of February is probably the best time, because you can host a group of photographers to shoot your wedding.  Haha.

I crammed my schedule.  Every moment was a workshop, a shootout, or a platform class.  This left me very little time to communicate and network with other photographers.  (This year will be different, we have lots of time to hang out!)

I also went without Chris, and I felt a little overwhelmed with the information overload.  I missed him dearly, but had so much information that my mind was spinning.

Here are some insights about WPPI 2011.

1.  SHOWIT UNITED – THE BEST THING I HAVE DONE FOR MY BUSINESS is use a platform called Showit for my website.  It allows me to be unique, build my website the way I want to have it, and most of all has blessed me with an amazing community.   Last year, through Showit, I was able to meet and greet with some amazing photographers like Jamie Delaine, Jasmine Star and Zach and Jody Gray in intimate settings of 15-30 people.  This year, their roster is PACKED FULL of amazing speakers like Trevor Dayley, Jennifer Rozenbaum, Karen and Isaac Stott and SO MANY more.  These speakers will be speaking to 50-100 people, so still really intimate.  The ONLY way that you can get into these classes is to be a subscriber to Showit.   The COMMUNITY they have built has been one of the most amazing communities of photographers I have ever seen.  No, I am wrong, it is THE MOST amazing communities of photographers I have ever seen.

2. WPPIU – Seriously, this changed my life.  The reason I say that, is because I got to be inspired by some of the most amazing photographers in the world. Jerry Ghionis shared some beautiful insight on how making imagery is better than taking photos.  Dane Sanders changed my world with advice of persistance.  Joe McNally inspired me to use more off camera flash, and to master the artistry behind photography.  In my opinion, if you are in your first or second year, this is something you do not want to miss.

3. Platform classes – I am going to give some honest insight here, NOT ALL OF THEM ARE AMAZING!!!  Last year I went to 7 of them, and 4 of them left me feeling like I had been in a sales meeting.   I don’t think I want to spend 2-2.5 hours being sold to, whether it is a membership to a forum, or a posing guide or some sort of fancy lighting equipment.  Check out before hand if the photographer whose platform class you are going to is selling something…and if you want to catch a few nuggets of inspiration from their sales pitch.

4.  Shootouts – WHAT A GREAT WAY TO PORTFOLIO BUILD!!!! OH MY WORD!!  I took two classes, one from Bella Designs, and another run by Dan Fields and Stephen Knuth.   They were both amazing, and I got some beautiful photographs from both the shoots.  Something to consider when you are doing a shootout is how many people are taking part, because it ends up being paparazzi style.  I was blessed last year that both my shootouts were fairly small, and I got a lot of instruction out of both of them.

5. Tradeshow – Ok, here is a word of caution.  When you are signing up for WPPI, you have to provide an email address.  Here is what I did this year.  I created an email address specific for WPPI.   The reason being is that when you are walking around the tradeshow floor, there are vendors that scan your badge and basically you are giving them permission to email you with special offers and all kinds of other things.  Your inbox turns into an inbox full of sales pitches.  Save your business email and put in an email that you have created specifically for WPPI.

Stay tuned for another blog post on tips and tricks for your first WPPI.

xo

Nora.

Here is an image I shot last year at the Bella Signature events shoot:

P.S. Stay tuned for some exciting announcements after WPPI.  Seriously, it’s going to be as sexy as Montreal in the summer!

Keep your eyes peeled on the big studio announcement, our new website, our new adventures.

Love and laughter,

Christo

1. Fridays: Duh, Self Explanitory

2. Feather Earrings: Yes, LOVE FEATHER EARRINGS!!!

3. Coffee: I feel like coffee is a necessity for photographers, although I could be mistaken, I have yet to meet a photog who does not like coffee, or for that matter coffee shops!

4. Notebooks: Chris has banished me from buying Notebooks, because it is an obsession for me.

5. THE END OF WINTER IS SO CLOSE (I was born to live in Tropical Locations)

6. Sheng Ho Creative:  Outsource, outsource, outsource.  Sheng is an amazing photographer who has taken over my post production, it is what he is REALLY GOOD AT!  Basically, he is giving me my life back.  Seriously, this is amazing for me!

7. Blog Stalking:  I do most of my blog stalking and reading up on Friday’s.  It is a fun way to wind down and get inspired for the next week.  One of the best blog that I stumbled upon is Bookshelf Porn.  Seriously, totally safe for work here, because it is a collection of posts about BOOKS, and how people keep them.  http://bookshelfporn.com/

8.  For brides, our Destination Bride Guide!!! Seriously, if you are planning a wedding/destination wedding, not only are we photographers, but photographers planning our own wedding….we have put together a Bride Guide, complete with a desktop organizer.  Best thing over.  Cruise on over to http://nandcphotography.com/ to check out the details.

9. Date Nights:  Chris and I lead very busy lives.  I have a problem putting my laptop away at the end of the night.  Chris works most days, and comes home to unwind with SkyRim on his PS3 (which we are selling if anyone is interested!), so it becomes really important that we dedicate at least one night a week enjoying each other’s company.  We power down laptops, cellphones, and we don’t talk shop.  It’s a time for us to catch up, unwind, and revel in each other.

10. This is EVERY Photographer’s must have.  Seriously.  It’s a revolution called PASS!!!  Basically, the old way for photographers to deliver wedding photos was to burn a DVD and give them to the client.  At Nora and Chris Photography, we use PASS.  We have burned our last DVD!!!  Basically, we upload our photos into PASS, a cloud storage for photos.  When the photos are uploaded we PASS to our bride and grooms.  They now can a) view and download all their photos b) share their photos on Facebook c) have their digital photos stored in a gallery for one or five years.  PASS works on Windows, Mac OS, and there is a special app for iPhones and iPads.   COOL, RIGHT????  Couples, with PASS you can choose your favourites for your albums and your custom sites!  RIGHT???  AMAZE-BALLS!  That is all I can say!

If you are a photographer who wants to try PASS out for a test drive, here is your chance.

Three easy steps:

Leave a comment on the blog.  Remember for every comment, we donate to our Project Orphanage.

Head on over to our FB page, and tell us something that has inspired you this week.

Follow us on twitter, and Tweet the following:  ”FabFriday finds @nandcphoto + @passpremier on the blog.  PASS me some Love!”

Easy enough.  One winner will win access to PASS (which is still in pre-release, so you get to see first what it is all about), and a 50.00 credit for PASS.

Happy Friday.

xo

Nora

Chris and I discussed our goals for next year, and I have yet to put them down on paper.  Probably because I am scared to.  I am scared to write down a list of things that I may or may not accomplish.  Yes, internet, this is what I am afraid of.  In the immortal words of Erica Albright from the movie The Social Network:  The internet isn’t written in pencil, it’s written in ink. 

But before I actually ink out our goals for 2012, I want to take a moment to reflect back on 2011.  It was an important year for Chris and I, and I want to give some gratitude for some amazing people who have changed my life, and who hold a special place in my heart.

1.  The Board Members of the Vancouver Poetry House – I sit on this board, and it is filled with incredible members who strive to make more poetry happen.  These people strive to support poetry, by paying more poets to write, and perform, and to workshop with children what the art of spoken word means.   For a small non-profit organization, in the last year we have grown up, understood each other, misunderstood each other, put on an AMAZING FESTIVAL, and every Monday, I am reminded of how incredible it is to have a community of incredible poets to inspire and amaze me at the Slam.  If you are in Vancouver, I encourage you to check out the Vancouver Poetry Slam, every Monday @ Cafe Deux Soleils.

2. I am incredibly blessed to have an charming fiancé.  Of course this is a bias, but he is a rock to me.  I have loved in 2011 travelling with him, singing with him, cooking with him, and capturing beautiful weddings with him.  If you  wanna know our engagement story, well thanks to the Vancouver Poetry Slam, he proposed to me with a poem, on stage, making 250 girls swoon in their seats and 249 guys going, S#!T, I hope my girlfriend don’t expect this from me! 

3.  The Showit Community – My Photography Family.  I have written a blog post about them. Read it here.  Seriously, if you are a photographer, and you want to be surrounded by love, and understanding, and a place to just be yourself, this is the place to be.  Feel free to ask me about these wonderful people, I can tell you that each any everyone that I have come across have a VERY special place in my heart.

4. Our Clients – OH MY WORD!!!!!!!  In 2011, we had the most amazing clients EVER!!!  I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!  You guys are the bread and butter of what we love.  Your love for each other, for your families, and DESTINATIONS is inspiring.  We can’t wait to see what 2012 brings.  We hope that you are still madly in love with each other.

With so much gratitude and love, 2011 has been a blessing for us.  2012, we are going to GOAL YOU TO DEATH!!!!!  YOU JUST WAIT!

xo Nora.

And because no blog post is complete without a photo, this was a photo taken at the Brace Herself Auction, where local artists played an incredible show to raise money for someone special to help them get a back brace that cost 3500.00.  We did it, we raised that much, and then some.  It was beautiful.  But the journey for our friend isn’t over, her scoliosis needs medical attention every three months, she needs to see the specialist, that costs $150.00/visit, so if you have a 20 dolla bill burning a hole in your pocket, drop us a line to donate.

P.S.  Keep your eyes peeled to learn about how we set our goals for 2012….and yes, I said 20 dolla…cuz that’s how I roll!