Aloha! I was getting pretty use to this relaxing by the pool thing, but today we had a fun adventure in the jungle. It started out very early this morning. This is Hanalei Bay at sunrise. Okay, sunrise isn't until 7:30 here. But, still, that's early for a vacation!


Our adventure started out by kahaking 2 1/2 miles up a river. Sorry, no pictures of that because I didn't want to drop my awesome new camera in the water. By the way, all the pictures from today were taken with my little canon SD900 Power Shot, which is an awesome little camera.

After our boat ride we took a hike to a trailer pulled by a tractor for a little ride through the countryside.



Look familiar? It's where a lot of Jurassic Park was filmed. No dinosaurs this time. Just a lot of cows.


Gotta love the blue Hawaiian sky!




The birds below are Nene birds, which are the Hawaiian state bird. There are an endangered species and there are only about 250 left. We probably saw 12 today, which is pretty cool. About 150 live on Kaui because they have no predators. They are very friendly little guys!


Then we came across these wild piggies. Aren't they cute? This is why I don't eat pork anymore...


The best part of our adventure was zip lining. It was a lot of fun. I won't lie. I was scared standing up there above a huge canyon with a river running below, but it was totally worth it.


I highly recommend Kauai Outfitters http://www.outfitterskauai.com/. The tour was so much fun and our guides knew everything about Kauai and Hawaiian culture. They do a lot of different tours so definitely check them out when you are on Kauai.

Aloha for now!
DrewB

Woohoo! I've found internet! I love being in paradise and having a vacation, but it's nice to feel connected again. I get no phone or blackberry reception in my room and spotted reception by the pool. But, I found out that there's wireless internet in the lobby or my hotel. Thank goodness!

We had awesome weather for the first 3 days we were here.




But, today we got our first rainy weather in Princeville. So, we headed to the other side of the island to go up to Waimea Canyon and Poipu. Waimea Canyon is called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. I've never been to the Grand Canyon so I can't compare, but it is pretty spectacular.




At the end of the road is an awesome view of the Napili coast. It's totally inaccessible by car and you can only get down there by hiking or boat. It's also where King Kong and Jurassic Park were filmed.



We stopped off in a little town called Hanapepe. There was the cutest little guard dog in front of an art gallery. Of course, he's not as cute as my handsome puppy at home.



Hopefully I'll be able to post more pictures soon!

Aloha!
DrewB

Aloha friends! I'm leaving for a wonderfully relaxing, week long trip to Kauai tomorrow morning. I'm not sure what my internet access will be like so I will probably not respond as fast as usual to my emails. But, I will do my best to get back to everyone right away. And hopefully I will be able to post some pictures as well! Have a great week!

DrewB

On Saturday I shot Alix and Jeff's wedding at Tortilla Flats in Mission Viejo. And it was COLD! I think it was the coldest day of the year, which isn't saying much since it's still only January, but it was the coldest day in a long time. Alix braved the cold and I'm glad she did because we got some awesome pictures. And her giant goose bumps didn't even show up in the pictures :) Alix is one of 5 sisters and they are all so great. I had a lot of fun hanging out with them and her two other bridesmaids and her adorable flower girls.

You may remember Alix and Jeff from their engagement pictures. They were very, very camera shy! But they both did a great job of totally ignoring me on their wedding day, which is exactly what I want couples to do. And now they have great pictures to show for it. It was a lot of fun working with them!

Congratulations Alix and Jeff! Here's your slideshow!

PS The pictures go by pretty fast in this slideshow. You can view them individually by clicking on the toolbar on the bottom right and then click on the gallery button on the left!

I headed up to Rancho Palos Verdes for a family session with three very fun women. Jessica and Erica surprised their mom, Debbie, with a family session as her Christmas present. They wanted some fun and relaxed pictures, which I think is exactly what we got. They were cracking up and laughing the whole time so it was quite easy! Here's the slideshow!

Lauren and Doug

Yesterday I got to go to one of my favorite places in the world. UCLA! Lauren and Doug (well, more Lauren than Doug) wanted to do their engagement pictures there since Lauren graduated from there (the same class as me) and I happily obliged even if it meant sitting in the headache known as the 405 to get there. Doug is really into architecture so I think he had a good time too even if he had to listen to Lauren and I talk about which lecture halls we had our classes in and where we ate lunch everyday.

Lauren and Doug are getting married at the Orange County Museum of Art next July. They are both so natural in front of the camera, even if they don't think they are. They had a lot of fun together and it is very evident in the pictures. I'm so excited to work with them! Here's the slideshow (finally!).