Last month I traveled across the Pacific with my family and four suitcases packed with clothes we never wore.
My family grumbled when I took my camera out before we even made it to the airport. I pointed out that this was mom’s vacation too and all I really wanted to do for the next ten days was to shoot for fun. No deadlines, no shoot list, just wandering around an island with my camera bag and no itinerary. My bliss.
As the self appointed documentarian of the family I feel compelled to tell stories. Taking photos that convey that is truly all that matters to me anymore. I want my kids to have these photos as a reminder as they grow older. I know one day they will begin the search for who they are and when they look back at all the photos I took, I hope they will remember how much they were loved.
Hopefully they will forget the part about the bumpy landing and disposable white paper bags though.
I hauled these bags all over the place, never in short supply of snacks, coloring books or Polaroid film. That orange thingy is my camera ‘escape pod.’ It worked well keeping sand out of places it doesn’t belong. Cameras this trip included:
Canon 5D (24-105 lens the entire week)
Fuji Instax 210
Polaroid Mio
SX70 Sonar, SX-7- Model 1 and the 600 One … whew!
That’s a lot of cameras and not to mention a lot of $$$ film, I think that deserves a medal for carrying around 6 cameras or at least a tray of Mai Tais.
We did a lot of rainbow chasing. We finally figured out after the third day that the rainbows pretty much show up like clock work every day. You don’t really have to go very far to find a rainbow and guess what — there are usually two!
Rainbows are pretty much everywhere on Maui.
We lounged often.
We saw turtles the size of coffee tables.
And we took a road trip to the other side of the island.
And then we hired a photographer.
Vacation this year was about just being together with no agenda. Really we only planned one thing and that was to have our photos taken while we were there and we did. We have never had our family portrait taken so when I found out we were going to Maui I instantly knew who to call first, Kellie Hatcher. Next time you see me musing around these parts I might just ask Kellie to join me for a conversation here on the blog. I know you will enjoy her work — click here to see our session.
Wish you were here!
Lindsey, aka modchik
the rainbow and the yellow building and the surfboards up against that building are my favorite shots. great humor in this post too. nice work!
Love this, Lindsey! You are a woman after my own heart taking 6 cameras. The instax photos look AWESOME! Love the surfboards. And all the rainbows. Sounds like a fabulous trip!
Love getting a chance to see your vacation! It looks like you had a wonderful time! And those portraits from Kellie! Wonderful!!!
I do wish I was there. It looks perfect : )
Glad you could get away and relax!
*sigh* Hawaii is on The List… Can’t believe I haven’t made it there yet. Of course when I do I will be following your lead and bringing multiple cameras!. I love all of these shots and I think it’s great that you had all those cameras to capture each moment in exactly the way you want to remember it.
Wow, looks like the most fabulous vacation – totally jealous!
I love Hawaii! All of it … Maui, Kauai, the Big Island, Oahu. And your fabulous photos have stoked up my Hawaii fever. We are planning to go to Kauai in February for whale watching. I can’t wait … and I have this lovely post to inspire my photography.
How could it not be worth all the heavy lifting to have such wonderful memories. Gorgeous shots.
Gorgeous photos – they make me want to go to Hawaii immediately!!! I hope someone was helping carrying your bags! ;-))
Many mahalos for sharing, Lindsey! “Mortal Muses in Maui” sounds like a photography gathering I’d sign up for in a heartbeat! Your pictures are awesome.
I want to go with Jenny Coleman to the Muses in Maui event. 🙂 And I would sell my SVU for that Van in a heartbeat.
Lindsey this looks like a wonderful trip, and those portraits of your family are gorgeous! Sign me up for Muses in Maui.
6 cameras! You are my hero! And such gorgeous pictures too. I will have to put Maui on my list of places to visit, for sure. But only if you come too so we can shoot those beaches together.
Did read Muses in Maui…? Well, that’s virtually around the corner from me. Please do share more details. I’m a bit lost with the new format on how to find that info. Lovely, trip.