by Tim and Cheryl Halberg on August 31, 2007
by Tim and Cheryl Halberg on August 30, 2007
We have been having an absolute blast hanging out here on Maui! (We actually extended our trip for two extra days because we’re loving it so much!!)
Yesterday we experienced the most beautiful sunset at Big Beach, and I think we’re planning a trip back there before we leave!! What an amazing place to watch the sun set!
I actually shot this one pretty close to when we first arrived at the beach (Thanks to my friend Jen Santos for giving me the heads up on this amazing beach! She actually got married on the beach on the cliff above this beach!)
Seriously, there’s always a cloud in the sky in Maui!!! (and that’s a GOOD thing!!)
My cute wife is also a photographer (though sadly she needs to blog her pics!!!)
And she’s a HOT model!
And still a photographer (love it!)
Final light of sunset with Molokini in the background. (we’re headed to Lanai for an all day snorkeling cruise Friday!)
I like taking pictures at sunset, I LOVE taking pictures of Cheryl at sunset!!
Oh… and the COOLEST thing about Big Beach!! The sand!!! I typically don’t like the beach simply because the gritty sand on my feet just feels gross (I know… I’m weird…) but the sand at Big Beach was INCREDIBLY soft!!! It was unreal!!
Before we caught sunset at Big Beach we first drove to the highest point on Maui, and at just over 10,000 feet, it’s quite the trip going from sea level all the way to the top of Haleakala Volcano.
Oh, and yes, we did hit up Sansei Sushi, and it was actually pretty darn good. Not quite on par with Arigato in Santa Barbara, but darn tasty none-the-less. I’d go back (shoot… we might go back before we leave!!!) They had a white fish carpaccio that was GREAT!!! And the wine was pretty tasty! (ok, there was one glass I sent back, but that was my bad for ordering it in the first place, I should have kept with what I was already enjoying in the first place) If you’re in Maui and you like sushi, you won’t go wrong with Sansei!
Oh, and a few quick notes from Hawaii…/what I’m learning
(all my good friends will find this hard to believe) but I can handle driving at 40 mph or slower all day long… without having the gas pedal all the way to the floor at all times (I think the only times I’ve had the pedal to the metal on Maui has been pulling into traffic) this place is so laid back!! I love it!
Ok… if you’re reading a tourist map of the roads in Maui, and it says “4×4 vehicles suggested” or something along those lines, just ignore it… this simply means the road is narrow… it’s still paved, but there may be a few small rocks that have fallen on the road that you’ll have to dodge, or just drive over (we’re talking like maybe 3 inches tall…)
when someone offers you Maui Wowi you can simply say no and they won’t be offended
I know there were more realizations… but it’s getting late, and I’ve gotta shoot a wedding tomorrow… so off to bed I go!!
by Tim and Cheryl Halberg on August 28, 2007
We flew into Maui, Hawaii on Sunday night, got situated in our condo right on the beach!! (picture of the view to come)
We spent all day yesterday from 11 a.m. to about 8 p.m. driving The Road to Hana!! It was beautiful, amazing, and fun! And I really didn’t do a great job capturing it… lol But, I did snag a few fun pictures along the way.
If you ever visit Maui I definitely suggest taking the drive to Hana and picking up the CD “The Road to Hana” and following along with this (unless you have a local with you)
We ended the evening with dinner at Ruth Chris Steakhouse. After being ABSOLUTELY floored by the most amazing steak EVER at the Rutherford Grill in Napa, CA a few months back, I was told by my waitress there that I needed to try Ruth Chris… I’d also heard from some other would be food critiques that Ruth Chris was definitely worth the trip. So, we decided that while in Hawaii, we should try some food we could get in California… cause that makes sense… make the drive to the nearest Ruth Chris here on Maui, and ordered up some nice filet mignon steaks!
To make the long story short, Ruth Chris wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t all it was hyped up to be either. If the only good steak you’ve ever tried is from the Outback Steakhouse, then you owe it to yourself to hit your nearest Ruth Chris, but if you’ve had Rutherford Grill’s filet, don’t bother visiting Ruth Chris expecting better…
My Filet was yummy, but not YUMMY!!!!… if that makes any sense… My filet was not dense enough (I’m no professional food reviewer… just simple Tim) and was a bit “fluffy” and not at all juicy… I LOVE my steak medium rare… it was, but there was not even the slightest hint of juice coming out of the steak when I cut into it… it’s like this medium rare steak had absorbed all of it’s own juice, and there was none left for me. :-(
Cheryl had the Petit Filet and hers was cooked more accurately to medium rare than mine, and hers was definitely more “dense” and not fluffy. Hers had some juices still left to it. I did taste hers, and I’d say her steak is the only reason I don’t give Ruth Chris a huge thumbs down… Hers was good, what I’d expect, but still not mind blowing. (Rutherford Grill’s was mind blowing!)
That said, I can’t wait for our next trip to Napa!!
Our server pointed out to us as we were getting ready to leave that there was a lunar eclipse taking place! We got back to the condo, I grabbed my camera and snapped a pic…
Tonight we’re trying a local sushi restaurant – Sensei (our favorite food of all time is Sushi… we still haven’t found anything that can beat Arigato in Santa Barbara, we’ve found some close seconds… so we’ll see what happens tonight) I think we actually have two sushi restaurants to hit while on Maui.
by Tim and Cheryl Halberg on August 24, 2007
Cheryl and I had a serious blast today shooting Jon and Bridget’s wedding here on Block Island! This is the kind of stuff as a wedding photographer that inspires you!! The scenery here is off the wall amazing (basically, it’s all untouched except where they’ve build the houses, so going to the beach is awesome!)
I had the chance to bust out my new lens and make some super fun images with that!!! I got to try out my new fish-eye lomo!!! (can’t wait to get the film back on that!!)
Jon and Bridget were totally game to do some fun pictures and have a good time!! Their cocktail “hour” was two hours long, so we got to take our time doing fun pictures, and they still got to enjoy their cocktail hour with their friends!!
You can check out their slideshow by clicking here!!
Bridget had a HOT pair of Jimmy Choo’s for her wedding day!!
She was wearing a gown by my alltime favorite wedding gown designer: Monique Lhullier
My tilt shift lens let me make some fun formal portraits!!
Again and again with that beautiful gown!!!
Normally I’m leading the charge on the “Resevoir Dogs” shot… but these guys were all about it before I even mentioned it!
by Tim and Cheryl Halberg on August 23, 2007
Ok… so maybe the title is a bit misleading… for now I’m posting up mostly just some fine-art-ish pictures that I shot (mostly/maybe all with my new tilt shift lens!!!) while we were waiting for the guests to arrive at the Spring House on Block Island. This is a pretty popular location for weddings and rehearsals on the island.
This is the historic and popular Spring House. The area surrounding it is massively inspiring for pictures! (honestly, ever time I am on Block Island I am truly inspired to take fun/awesome pictures, both wedding photography and fine-art.
The tent (in all three years I’ve been to Block Island I’ve never not seen this tent – you totally see it coming into either ferry terminal!)
Isn’t my wife HOT!!! (ok… you can say she is this one time…) And for all you camera nerds, I hope you noticed the diverging lines of the house. Seriously, a $1,000+ MANUAL focus lens can be well worth the money!!
One for my blog followers who have been around since the beginning
I just loved this tent today!
My beautiful wife once again, taking a stroll in the flowers!
Yes… another of the tent… my apologies.
Two of my most favorite people ever – Jill and Brandon!!! (and the first reason I ever came to Block Island! I was working for David Jay at the time and he was hired to shoot their wedding! – Jill is actually very close friends with Bridget and I believe is the person who convinced Jon and Bridget to hire Cheryl and I to fly all the way out here to cover their wedding!! Thank you Jill!! Love you guys!!)
I can’t wait til tomorrow’s wedding!! (well, and I guess it’s already tomorrow out here on the east coast… guess that means it’s time for bed!!) I think Cheryl and I are going to do a little bit of fine-art shooting in the a.m. before the wedding!
