LaJoie + Chris | Oahu Waterfall Engagements | Hawaii Wedding Photographer

Today is March 28, 2020, which means we are in the middle of the Coronavirus quarantine.

There is pervasive fear, anxiety, doubt, and worry. And that’s understandable. We’ve never lived through something like this before. The entire world is essentially shut down. But that doesn’t mean we can’t find hope, joy, and peace.

That’s what this session reminded me of - the truth that God is in control, sovereign, and protecting us. How did you get all that from a waterfall engagement session, Chris? Because of this wonderful couple.

Couple photography is ultimately all about the subjects. The location, lighting, weather, will inevitably play a part, but when at its best, these sessions allow the personality of the couple to shine through. We had to push back this session over and over due to the unforeseen Coronavirus events. LaJoie and Chris were patient and understanding. When we finally found a day that worked (which also happened to be the last day before the lock-down), we decided to go for it, rain or shine.

And boy did we get rain and shine. From the get-go, we got PELTED with showers. Everything was soaking. You’d probably think we had already been under the waterfall. Then there was the muddy hike. You’ll see that in the photos. And thanks to my terrible sense of direction, we may or may not have definitely went down the wrong trail several times. (Note to anyone who does the Lulumahu Trail hike, please make sure you always follow the river - if you’re going up a trail that goes away from the water, you’re going the wrong way.) But we got there eventually.

Then LaJoie led us in a prayer. I haven’t done this too often with couples, but for those who are fellow disciples of Christ, it is always such a beautiful moment - a chance to give the session up to God, ask for his blessing, and pray that he is glorified through the photos. Then we had the most fun session I’ve had in a long time. They said they were nervous to shoot because they’d never done it before, but I really didn’t have to give them much direction at all. Every couple is different, and every session is unique. I love both sides of the spectrum: walking couples through different poses, or letting them just do their thing. Ideally, we get a little of both. That’s what we had here. Check out the first part of this shoot…

Before we get to this next section, I have to say… this water was COLD. Remember, we’re up in the mountains. Even though this is Hawaii, we’re getting the fresh rain at decently high altitudes, so that water is ICY. Trust me, I had to put my feet in there. But they still got under it! And what a blast!

Once we were all drenched and refreshed, we hiked back… this time following the river and getting back twice as fast as the hike out. But along the way there are such beautiful trees. We HAD to stop. It wasn’t part of the plan, but we set our things down to capture some of this…

And then the final part, my favorite part… The hike has a stretch of beautiful views of Nu’uanu Valley. We stopped in the middle of this crazy winds and simply let them roam free. At the very end, I let them have a moment to themselves. They decided to dance to their favorite song. It was beautiful…

We finally finished and made our way back to the car, we prayed once again. Then we went our separate ways. But God’s presence was certainly there the whole time.

It was the last shoot I had before going into quarantine. I miss shooting, that’s for sure. But what a way to go out! It reminded me why I love doing this. Thank you LaJoie and Chris for showing me f the hope of Jesus during this time! It may not have been your intention, but that’s what I will always take away from this shoot. So much love!