Other names for the Mgambo product/seed:

• Maambo
• Black Pearl
• African Velvet Seed
• Hawaiian Velvet Seed
• Weleweka (Hawaiian transliteration of ‘velvet’)

Here’s the vendor who sold me the jewelry: Kristof Baugher of “the Velvet Echo” (808-937-2081, thevelvetecho@yahoo.com, 143 Punahele St, Hilo HI 96720)

Here’s an etsy seller who has items made with mgambo seeds [ here ]

I finally had a chance to finish editing photos from my session on the Kona side of the Big Island Hawaii with beautiful Sonja (remember her?). We shot near a black sand beach.  A beautiful person, Sonja and I had some fun doing “J Crew style” headshots (yes, she wore a sweater in Hawaii!) and then she wanted to do some sexy shots with a couple of sporty outfits. Fun!

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A few weeks ago I had the coincidental honor of meeting up with Chicago-based photographer Monica and her husband Chris to third-shoot her cousin Patty’s Oahu wedding. Patty and Al are marine biologists (fact check?!) currently doing research in Oahu, and it was fun to see what some temporary locals did with the wedding.

Patty’s a detail person, so everything seemed to be just so. The standout item for me was the dinner, which was prepared (the main dish speared earlier that day!) by the caterer who was this big friendly, down-to-earth guy who seems like he could teach you a lot about life. The local food and delicious island fruits kind of blew me away after thinking Zippy’s plate lunch was “typical hawaiian.” I wish I knew who he was. Yum!! (No photos; I was on break!)

As a third shooter for this wedding, I concerned myself mostly with details of place and environmental wedding shots, rather than the typical primary photographer’s bridal party focus, or the secondary photographer’s guest focus. I had fun watching Monica and Chris interact, and enjoyed having enough time to get some shots of the hugest ring in the history of all mankind (did you see it??!), as well as grab some really fun interaction shots between family members.

Amy, my dear friend and colleague who is here in Key West with me, saw this mother-son photo and just shared that she is already dreaming about the day when she will dance with her son at his wedding. He’s 2 1/2, and Amy demonstrated the embrace she has when she holds him to rock him to sleep. The mother-son dance is indeed often a special wedding moment… this one was absolutely stunning in its beauty.

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I made my first trek out to Honolulu in December 2007. I was ready to take the next step in my photography career, and wanted to get images that would enable me to connect with clients getting married in exotic destinations. In preparation for the trip, I googled my little heart out in an attempt to connect with other vendors, photographers, and planners in the wedding industry who might help introduce me to the island or help me plan some photo shoots. I spent lots of time emailing to reach out to locals, and for the most part got very little response.

When I arrived in Hawaii, I stopped in at a place called The Wedding Café. It was a new concept – basically a marketplace for couples to come and review promotional materials from all sorts of vendors. The marketing for the Wedding Café seemed perfect – simple, elegant, and able to stand the line between classic and hip – and I loved their directory, WHITE, printed on heavy stock with a clean design.

In “WHITE” I found a profile about Elizabeth Uehara. In her self-description, Elizabeth talked about her multicultural heritage and how she loves to be a part of weddings. I remember emailing her from my room, and being delighted at a very prompt, very helpful, and very sincere response. The next thing I knew, Elizabeth had arranged a day full of photo shoots for me and provided the hair, makeup, and styling for everyone pro bono – in addition to using her connections with a florist and dress shops to get everyone outfitted. I was impressed by the effortlessness of her arrangements, as well as her enthusiasm for the project. She wasn’t overly concerned with compensation, but rather turned the event into a fun and lighthearted adventure.

I fell in love with Elizabeth that day, and asked her to fly out to San Francisco to do my hair and makeup for our wedding (admittedly also to save me from the onslaught of Persian aunties who work in salons!).

If you’re getting married in Hawaii and looking for a dependable, professional, fun, and talented local hair and makeup artist for your wedding, give Elizabeth a call. She will hook you up. (Elizabeth Uehara, beautigoddess@gmail.com, 808-203-7398)

I had a fun and funny time in Honolulu with my new buddies Emma and Noah. We did a casual photo session to help build up their comp cards, and also did a few family shots. Check these out!

Check out this shot when I told everyone to make squishy faces… Noah looks unimpressed.

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I saw these birds hanging out in Chinatown, perched on top of the concrete structure where all the middle aged Chinese men were busy playing mah jong next to the canal. A few quick art shots yielded this winner, and I used some moody processing to bring out the shapes.

I received a stern email this morning from Sonja wanting to see some photos from her session on the Big Island this past week. I have never seen a sad winky face before – ;( it scared me a little, so here you go Sonja!

Sonja knew about a harbor near a shopping center in Kona that had this cool black sand. I love it!

This image was a group effort. I (Rachel) set my camera, with 15mm fisheye lens, to 16 second exposure, and we passed a small but bright flashlight down the row, each to spell our letters – we got it on the second try!