Hawaii

Maui photographer recommendations?

Hi ladies!  I am getting married at Olowalu in August and am trying to decide on a photographer (among other things -- although I'll start with that one!).  Does anyone have any suggestions for a Maui-based photographer?  And, do you mind sharing how much you paid and what services you received for that amount?  All of the prices for Maui-based photographers seem really high to me so I am starting to wonder if it would be more affordable to fly a photographer over to Maui instead.

Any thoughts/guidance would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

Re: Maui photographer recommendations?

  • I am using Amy J Short Photography.  Although I have yet to get married (so I can't rate her based on that) she has been wonderful to work with so far.  Very sweet, quick to respond and very reasonable.  I am paying $900 for 2 hours of photography which includes at least 150 (thought likely more) touched up images.  Check out her website.  I think I found out about her by searching this board for Maui photographers and seeing great comments about her.  Her husband also does videography if that's something you're interested in.
  • AKWinterBrideAKWinterBride member
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited January 2013
    I was married at Olowalu in 2011 and we flew in a photographer from San Diego, Melissa McClure.  She was way cheaper than any local photographer for the amount of coverage we got and she has since become my friend and we actually met up in Maui last summer for 1st Anniversary photos.  I highly recommend her, she is amazing!
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  • I am doing something similar to AKWinterBride.

    I hired a photographer on the Central Coast here in CA who is the BEST. Her name is Mirelle Carmichael.

    We aren't getting married until June, but it is ending up being a lot cheaper for us to fly her out there since she is looking to expand her destination wedding portfolio. Plus it was nice to meet up with her before hiring her, and to work with her for our engagement shoot too. Love her!
  • Anna Kim, Nate and Jenna, & Tamiz. Tamiz has a vintage look, Anna Kim has a soft ethereal feel, and Nate and Jenna has a fresh look. Love them all! Tamiz is pretty pricey. We were tied between Anna Kim and Nate and Jenna. They are very similar in price and style. Love them both and if we had a two day event I would have booked both LOL I ended up booking Anna Kim for our March 10th wedding since I found her first! :) All three will give you their prices with a quick email. Have you selected your cinematographer?
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  • Im going with Amy Short and also using her hubby for my wedding!
  • Thanks for all of the great advice and recommendations!  I just sent out a bunch of emails to various photographers (both in Maui and CA) and will see what they say about packages and rates.  I think it is going to be a really tough decision!

    And, no -- I don't have a cinematographer yet.  Do you have any great recommendations?  ;)
  • We used Maui Creative Photography and they were FAR lower than ANYONE else we looked at.  I loved Anna Kim, but I just thought that $4200 for 6 hours was outrageous.  It's a racket in Maui, that's for sure.

    Anyways, we absolutely loved them.  They are a couple and both are very talented and so super friendly.  Here is a sample of some of our photos.  <a href="http://blog.mauicreativephotography.com/" rel="nofollow">http://blog.mauicreativephotography.com/</a> (scroll down and look for the post titled "Mr and Mrs"

    The best thing is that they give you unlimited coverage...they were there for about 8 hours and we also got an engagement session and photobook included.  Plus 1,000 images!  We really connected with them, I just think they are such special people. They are dedicated to their craft and not to the wedding industry- get what I'm saying?  They're prices are really reasonable, but they tailor the packages to each individual couple.

    I can't say enough about them.  My husband is a photographer and is very picky and he loved them as well.  Good luck!


    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_maui-photographer-recommendations-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:73Discussion:3cf55c9d-013a-4b4c-ae1c-05d9fd2e84b9Post:07bbea45-4f46-49ee-93ec-d91a4415816f">Re: Maui photographer recommendations?</a>:
    [QUOTE]Thanks for all of the great advice and recommendations!  I just sent out a bunch of emails to various photographers (both in Maui and CA) and will see what they say about packages and rates.  I think it is going to be a really tough decision! And, no -- I don't have a cinematographer yet.  Do you have any great recommendations?  ;)
    Posted by Kdbettenc[/QUOTE]
  • I am getting married in June at Olowalu and will have Melissa McClure as my photographer.  I found out about her on this site, as you can see from the recommendation above.  So far I had her do my engagement shoot here in CA, and I will also be doing a trash the dress shoot in Maui.  I am so excited to work with her because she has such great shots and is so easy to work with.  She was MUCH cheaper than any of the Maui photographers I talked to.  Just FYI if you emailed her she is away on a vacation right now, so she may take a bit to respond, but wait for her response because she is totally worth it. 
  • I booked Anna Kim, sadly though I got an email today from her saying her studio manager double booked my wedding so I'm probably gonna be using her associate named Jessica instead.  I'll let you know how it goes.
    Visit Maui.Weddings.com
  • We used Mike Sidney.  He is not cheap, but he was amazing.  And the best part is that he hands over the digital negatives and you can have photos made on your own, whenever you want. 
  • edited January 2013
    I'm getting married in Olowalu, too. Since I don't have my wedding yet, I can't recommend you a photographer... But I can tell you I hire mine from Oahu. (They charge me $350 travel fee, but it's still cheaper than photographers in Maui... )

    I wish I could know stephcap32's photographers much earlier. I saw her wedding pictures and I really think her photographer did a great job... but it's too late since I already booked mine many months ago!!

    I really really love Anna Kim's works, but I can't justify her price... so I've booked her for one-hour engagement pictures instead (it's $750 plus tax)...
  • I got married last month and use Ben Pigao http://www.benpigaoweddings.com/

    He is based in Portland, but travels to Hawaii, particularly Maui, quite often, since he was born and raised on Maui.

    I hired him because he was cheaper than pretty much all of the photographers on the island, and I didn't want product.

    Included in our package:
    - engagement session (which we did in SF. We flew him out from Portland)
    - edited images from our e-session
    - 9 hours of shooting on our wedding day
    - 900 images on disk sent to us from our wedding (he sent it all BEFORE our one month anniversary--QUICK!)
    - his flight, lodging, and transportation to/from Maui (since his family still lives on the island, he doesn't have trouble finding where to stay)

    Keep in mind though that his prices have increased and not sure what he includes/doesn't include now, but I'm just listing what was included in my package.

    If you take a look at his website, he has shot wedding at Olowalu, mine included, so just click on his link and go to "Wedding Stories." You'll find mine (Diana and Armando) as well as his SIL's (Kelcie and Alan).

    Good luck!
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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_hawaii_maui-photographer-recommendations-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:73Discussion:3cf55c9d-013a-4b4c-ae1c-05d9fd2e84b9Post:07bbea45-4f46-49ee-93ec-d91a4415816f">Re: Maui photographer recommendations?</a>:
    [QUOTE]Thanks for all of the great advice and recommendations!  I just sent out a bunch of emails to various photographers (both in Maui and CA) and will see what they say about packages and rates.  I think it is going to be a really tough decision! And, no -- I don't have a cinematographer yet.  Do you have any great recommendations?  ;)
    Posted by Kdbettenc[/QUOTE]

    <div>I recommend Supreme Video Productions. He just started his videography business a couple years ago, so his prices are fairly low. He's passionate about his work and it shows! He's based on Oahu, so he can fly in and out on the same day...</div>
    DW Siggy Challenge
    Dream Honeymoon Destination: Bora Bora
    image

    My Planning Bio *updated 04/10/12*

    Visit Maui.Weddings.com
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • Like stephcap32 I have booked Maui Creative Photography for our August wedding at Olowalu! Matthew and Madelynne are such an amazing couple and their work speaks for itself! Their prices are sure tough to beat too! I really wanted to have two photographers and also have all day coverage. When I started looking at prices of other Maui photographers I didn't think this was going to be possible. Thankfully I came across Maui Creative Photography!!! They have been amazing to work with so far, very prompt and do not work on "island time". I cannot wait to work with them even more leading up to the big day and know that my pictures will be amazing! Check them out! www.mauicreativephotography.com Good luck!
  • Also recommend Supreme Video Productions.  We used them, and are very pleased (although so far that's based on our interactions with them only, haven't seen the final product yet).  Probably my favorite vendor of our whole event, and that's saying a lot since we had some great ones.
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