This year at the Maui Photo Festival, some of the best photographers on the island joined up to enjoy lectures, hands-on sessions, and connect with the photography community.  We went to many of the classes and lectures and found most of them extremely helpful.  Some classes were enormously helpful in learning tips and tricks about Photoshop and Lightroom from masters.  Others were inspirational and good for business.

Throughout the event, we enjoyed photographing scenarios that the festival had set up for us. For example, they had portrait set ups, wedding set ups, and hula dancing shoots.  This allowed attendees a chance to shoot with their peers as well as master photography speakers.  It was a lot of fun and extremely educational.

At the end of the event, participants had an opportunity to submit their photos taken at the event to a contest.  This year’s event brought hundreds of photographers and around 1,000 submitted contest photos.  Among the awards given, Natalie Brown was able to take the most prestigious of them.  She won both the Best Hula Photograph Award as well as the Best Overall Photograph Award.  She was kind enough to share some of the award winning photos on this post.  Mahalo Natalie and congratulations!  These images are truly fantastic and really give our readers a unique view of Maui, Hawaii.

To see more of Natalie’s photos from the festival, visit Maui Hawaii Photography.

JUST GO WITH IT with Brooklyn Decker between Jennifer Aniston & Adam Sandler

On the Set with Maui’s Own Megan Edgar:

I started off a nervous wreck. I bought dresses. I bought make-up. I bought shoes. I curled my hair. I panicked. I felt sick. I wanted to back out. I couldn’t wait to start. All of a sudden it was 5 PM on March 23rd and everything was happening whether I was ready or not. Hair styled, make-up adjusted, wardrobe checked, and then I was whisked off to the set.

What a set it was; the most beautiful luau I’ve ever seen. Smoking volcanoes, Chinese lanterns, Hawaiian gods carved into totem poles, fire dancers, hula, pulled pork and poi. Brilliant stadium lights dimmed by huge white cloths. Small, bright lights angled just so with red, blue, and yellow filters. Cameras on wheels. Cameras on cranes. Cameras on tripods. Paparazzi cameras peeking out from behind the bushes. Cameras and lights and fire dancers. I was mesmerized and we hadn’t even started.

The crew lined us up and started pulling people out of the crowd of extras. I wasn’t picked. And I wasn’t picked again.  I felt like I was in PE and no on wanted me on their team. I wasn’t going to be in the movie after all. They made a big mistake.

Then suddenly, miraculously, I was “the girl in the pink dress” and they seated me at a table with eight other people. The director introduced himself and told us to clap for the fire dancers, eat our food, and act like we were thoroughly enjoying our evening. Tough.

Words like reset, background, action, and cut became a regular part of my vocabulary and I knew exactly what to do when each one was yelled out. Make-up came by to “take off the shine.” Hair came by because I was “right in the shot.” Wardrobe took my picture so I would look exactly the same if they needed to reshoot the next day. I couldn’t believe my luck. I was “in the shot.”  I couldn’t look up from my plate without staring at Jennifer Aniston. I could have leaned over and touched Adam Sandler. I felt beautiful and important. I was being paid to have fun. How was this even possible?

Three weeks prior to my first night shooting I needed to feed some fish. My school has a fish tank and my friend Greg and I went in on a Sunday to take care of its inhabitants. When we got to school hundreds of people were lined up to get in the door. We had no idea why they were there so we just walked to the front and went inside. Before we knew it we’d filled out a form, got a number (I was lucky 999), and had our pictures taken.  3,000 people were in line that day and we scooted right by without a wait. Fate? Good thing the fish were hungry.

After our first night on set with cameras in our faces, Greg and I (we were cast as a couple) were placed in “deep background” and spent all our time walking back and forth from one set place to a second set place.  We weren’t right in the shot, but we were lucky enough to have the director use us to reset the scene.  The leads would start their dialogue based on our position, and it made us feel like we were still in the movie even though the cameras were far away.  And we could actually talk, which was a nice change from the first evening of pantomiming conversation because we were so close to the microphones.

Filming Just Go With It was amazing. I’ve never seen so many people doing so many different jobs all at the same time only to have it all come together just as the cameras start to roll.  Lighting would move huge lamps and screens at a moments notice.  Cameras would swing by on booms and roll through peoples and tables.  Make-up artists, hair stylists, wardrobe crew, and sound people would zip past one another, all on a separate mission that ended with a single goal.  Watching people work together like that was inspiring.

Then add the leads. Jennifer Aniston really is beautiful. Nicole Kidman really is elegant and lithe. Brooklyn Decker is gorgeous!  Dave Matthews can act!  Adam Sandler is very funny. (You try not to laugh when you can hear all of Adam and Nick Swardson’s dialogue as they ad-lib and improvise their way through the 20th take of a scene. Even Jenn couldn’t hold it in.)
Movie making is fun. And the paparazzi love you even if you’re not famous!

Megan Edgar

Maui Living Furniture is located in the heart of Kahului (285 Hukilike St. off of Dairy Road), specializing in Eco-Friendly furnishings.  They have beautiful pieces that fit every home, from casual beach hut to elegant resort style estate.

They have great prices on organic mattresses, bamboo furniture, Maui style futons, homemade wool pillows and much more.  Finding the right furniture for your home is important.  We highly recommend checking out Maui Living Furniture for quality, long-lasting furnishings that are good for the environment and good for you!

Visit site: Furniture Maui

Some the products that most impress us are:

• Clove Cases: 5 and 6 drawer dressers, nighstand, armoire

• Juniper Cases: 5 and 7 drawer dressers, nightstand, TV stand

• Spices Bedroom Collection: Platform Beds

• Sonoma organic pillow tops and mattresses

• Organic bed and bath products: Towels, sheets, and more

• Comfortable Maui style futons

Maui Living Furniture has been in business in Hawaii since 1985.  This family operated business has grown naturally due to their offering quality items with the best service possible.

Shopping here for furniture is not only good for the environment but it is good for local Maui business. We appreciate when small business owners are able to offer quality products at great prices; Maui Living Furniture has been doing this for decades on Maui.

Contact them today by calling (808) 871-6406 or drop by the store today.  They have their showroom open from 11-6 Tues-Friday, and 10-2 on Saturdays.  You can also visit their website at Hawaii Furniture.

We’ve just recently discovered Beach Portraits Maui, which is run by Grins 2 Go out of Kaanapali Beach, Maui.  They offer very affordable rates for high-quality photography.

Specializing in beach portraits, they’ve earned a reputation from their professionalism and skill when photographing couples, families and groups on the beach.

Give them a call at (808) 242-12424 or stop by their beach kiosk in Whaler’s Village Kaanapali, Maui.

You can also visit their website to see more examples of their Maui portrait photography.

Today’s festivities began at Kalama Park in Kihei for the Maui Whale Festival, hosted by Pacific Whale Foundation.  This annual event helps bring awareness to locals and visitors about the Humpback Whales that visit Maui every winter.

The day began with a keiki parade and Eco-Day Conference for the kids.  Throughout the day visitors enjoyed arts and crafts booths, local restaurant food, live music, and plenty of jumping houses for the kids.  Tonight “Laugh @ Da Park” will commence under a large tent where locally farmed food will be served with live jazz from the Fulton Tashombe Quartet and a comedy show to top it off.

This marks the 30th year of this fun festival.  If you get a chance to go tomorrow, you won’t be disappointed.  Make sure to wear sunblock and maybe even bring a chair.  Scripts can be purchased for food and drinks (no alcohol).  Vendors selling crafts accept cash.

MAUI WHALE WATCHING

If you plan on doing a whale watch in Maui, check out this comprehensive list of Maui Whale Watch Tours. There are many boats leaving from Lahaina Harbor, Maalaea Harbor, Kihei Boat Ramp, and on the beach in Makena.  Humpback whales visit every winter from December to May and it’s a wonderful thing to experience up close.

Bring some friends, a camera and some sun screen and enjoy the sights and sounds of surface behavior from our visiting Humpback Whales.

Natalie Brown Photography recently shared a photo shoot with us that is truly unique.  She was hired to secretly photograph an engagement on the beach.  As she told us the story, you could tell how it affected her just by the enthusiasm in her voice.  She went on to explain how she’s enjoyed shooting photos of hundreds of weddings and family portraits on the beach, but when someone comes up with a fun idea like this, Natalie experiences a whole new appreciation for her job.  She explained that she had a friend pretend to model for her up at a distance so that if she was caught by the bride, she wouldn’t suspect anything.

The bride had no idea that it was coming, and you can tell from her reaction.  We thought we’d share this with you because it’s nice to see photos with genuine emotion captured.  We also want to spur some creative thought and romance in our future visitors to Maui.

If you’re interested in doing a surprise engagement photo shoot in Maui, give Natalie a call or visit her site for Maui Engagement Photos.  She’s got it wired.

Perhaps induced by the recent anniversary of the original Woodstock, our favorite Aloha sticker company has come out with a whole line of great Hippie Stickers!

Stuck on Maui has been producing the most authentic Aloha and Tiki Stickers for years, and it’s great to see them branching out.  Maui is home to many hippies, and we love to see a Maui business building new quality products.

If you live on Maui or in Hawaii, please support our island economy.  If you live on the mainland, don’t buy your stickers anywhere else!  It’s hard these days to buy anything that’s not made, packaged and sold from China.   Support our friends on Maui and spread the Aloha!

On Friday June 20th, 2009, Willie Nelson received the Maverick Award Tribute at the Celestial Cinema in Makena during the Maui Film Festival.  He sang a few songs and played the guitar (shown in this video) between movies.  His music and good spirit were welcomed under the stars by thousands of Maui locals and visitors. 
The first film to be shown was Splinterheads about a young man in a small town that falls in love with a beautiful Carnie.  The second film as One Peace At A Time (world premiere), a touching film about what we can do for our world in crisis.  In this film, Willie Nelson, among notable others, has a short insightful interview.  The last film was also a world premiere of Cash Crop.  This film explored the many defining characteristics of a booming marijuana economy in Northern California. The Maui Film Festival is an incredible event to experience.

Every year, local Maui residents anticipate the fun and excitement of the festival.  Those visitors lucky enough to be here for it all claim that Maui has the best film festival in the world.  Enjoying warm weather under the stars with a sunset over the ocean, then watching great movies with friends in the grass can’t be beaten. (One warning though:  If you plan on watching more than the first film, we suggest bringing a jacket and/or blanket.  It can get a bit chilly later on.)

Willie Nelson was awarded this tribute for “courage in his convictions, the ability and willingness to stand the heat, and protect our collective constitutional rights to artistic and political freedom of expression.”