Shaka Bruddah

I had but 5 minutes to run outside with little c this evening to test out my new Lensbaby Composer Pro w/Double Glass Optic and Creative Aperture Kit (the kit was borrowed from a friend).  WAY TOO MUCH FUN.  Little C is such a trooper… you’d  think after all these years, he’d be so sick of me sticking my camera in his face.  Not yet.  I’m sure once he is in Middle School I’ll get the “Mooooooooooom.  seriously!”

Just a short but sweet post tonight cause I wanted to share with everyone the awesomeness of this lens. 

until next time…

♥ nikki

Random Thoughts…

So it’s been a while since I’ve blogged about anything.  I had planned to a few days ago, but got hit with a bug of some sort.  So I put it off and then my backspace key flippin’ fell right off the keyboard.  So yes, I am currently typing very slowly so that I do not make that many mistakes.  I had no idea how hard it was to type without it.  I have to press the small rubbery button to go back.  Not fun.  But… I do have a friend who will be meeting me tonight to try to help fix my backspace button issue.

It’s been a busy week for us… I had 2 wonderful sessions on Sunday (which I will blog about one day).  I still have 2 weddings to share with you all and a few fashion-type sessions to share.

I did decide (or maybe got hoodwinked into it) to do a May POTD with some friends.  It’s via Instagram and should be fun!  The first day was “Peace”.  Here’s little C showing some Lomography Fisheye Peace Love. 

I also got my Mother’s Day present early!  My husband saw how much fun I was having with the lensbaby composer that he bought me the composer pro w/the macro lens kit.  FUN FUN FUN!  I cannot wait to play with them! 

 

 

***
On the business side of things…. Be excited… be very excited.  I have some AMAZING vendors for my upcoming giveaway!  You do not want to miss it.  More details soon.  Promise! 

until next time…

♥ nikki

A Birthday Dinner and Some Ramblings….

Yes, as you can tell.  I love this color (the one I am currently typing with).  It’s called ‘tomato’… which is funny because I’m not a big fan of them… tomatoes that is.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I love cooked tomatoes.  Anyways…

Sunday night we celebrated C’s 33rd Birthday with friends at The Grove in Kailua.  (Are we seeing a trend here?  yes. we. are.)  Speaking of… just a FYI :  It is Administrative Professionals Week (who knew?  not this girl!  lol) and The Grove is running a 3 course prix fixe lunch menu.  <—– click on menu to see what I’m talkin’ about. 

We had a great night with wonderful friends (minus a few due to  traveling, illness and a bad back).  Little C had so much fun playing with Miss K (not my k… but a littler k)  The food… amazing!  As usual.  We (mostly I) had the poke, artisan cheese platter, manila clams, and the steak.  Oh… and for dessert I took a bite (or 10) of Chris’s Kona Coffee Cheesecake (no picture… sorry!  was too excited to eat it and forgot).

great food, wonderful friends… and LOTS of Camera Gear.

***

So with May quickly approaching, I have been pondering how far my business has come along in just under 2 years.  With so many friends and family supporting me, I don’t know how it would not have.  Oh wait… I know, I could have totally dropped the ball.  But I am still hanging on – tightly.  I am doing what I love, and showing my kids that it is possible to reach for the stars.  I am reaching and jumping… stretching my wings out so I can fly. 

My 2 year anniversary is coming up on the thirteenth of July.  Yep, just under 3 months.  Crazy how time gets away from us.  So I’ve been thinking ‘what should I do to celebrate?’  I’ve contacted a few local vendors (I am looking for a few more so if you are interested, please email me) and will be doing a big “Happy Anniversary” Giveaway.   MmMmHmm… you heard me right.  So please share my page <—- this is my attempt at spreading the word about my business page.  And let your friends and family know that there will be a giveaway coming up soon. 

until next time…

♥ nikki

Lensbaby… I think I’m in Love with YOU!

Feeling the need to be inspired and creative again, I decided on heading over to Hawaii Photo Rentalto rent a lens that I’ve wanted to play with for quite a while.  Let me get off the subject of this lens first to say how impressed I was with the customer service I received from Hawaii Photo Rental.  Amazing.  It’s not often you get such kind, honest service.  Usually I feel uncomfortable or small and insignificant in camera shops because I don’t feel like I belong.  I did not feel this way at all while visiting this little store on Waialae Ave.  I even got to hold the 5DMkIII (*drool).

Ok… back on to the subject of this lens I’ve been wanting to test out… the Lensbaby.  Oh my… talk about a fun lens.  Not something I would use for my clients (Ok…I probably would… but just a few frames here and there).  The only thing is… it’s manual focus and I’m blind as a bat, haha.  It will take some getting used to so I am glad I rented this for a week.

Here’s my first go at playing with this lens (these two were taken with the composer)

These below were taken with the composer and the sweet 35 optic.  SO MUCH BETTER!!!  (thanks, todd for letting me borrow your 35!)

until next time…

♥ nikki

33

This week has been one to celebrate.  My husband had a birthday… his 33rd birthday!  Wow… Crazy how time flies. We went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner and ate ourselves into unconsciousness.  The food was better than I had remembered and the cheesecake… MmMmMmmm!!!!  Amazing.  Great service, only had to wait 15 minutes to be seated (even if they had a quarter of Waikiki waiting outside).

And then I baked 6 dozen cupcakes to take to Aikido so we could celebrate again.  I made for the first time a Neapolitan Cupcake (brownie bottom, vanilla top, and a strawberry buttercream frosting) and also made a regular chocolate cupcake frosted with strawberry buttercream and topped with a mini rolo.  Yum!  The strawberry buttercream came out perfect.  Fresh pureed strawberries in a basic buttercream frosting.  Will definitely be making that again. 

until next time…

♥ nikki

Lunch With Friends… old and new

So today I ate lunch out.  With friends.  Yep.  Friends.  No kids… just adults eating and talking together.  Nice.  Love that I have people that “get” me and have the same interests as I do.  Makes having this thing called a “conversation” so much easier.  LOL.  I finally got to meet Lisa from Simply Baby Photography.  WHAT.A.FREAKING.SWEETHEART!   Seriously.  And she’s an AWESOME photographer to boot!  How lucky am I to have such amazing people in my life?  Thanks, Todd for introducing us. 

We went to eat at The Grove in Kailua… love this restaurant.  Love the Owners.  Love the Food.  Love the Staff.  Will probably do a blog post about the places I love in Kailua very soon.  Stay tuned.  Until then… here’s what I ate for lunch (I couldn’t finish the whole thing during lunch… so they boxed it up and I finished it at home… an hour later.  haha)  Started off with the Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad, then had the Prosciutto, Salami, Hamakua Mushroom, Parmesan Flat Bread… and finished off with the Creme Brulee w/Banana.  MmMmMmmmm it was delicious.

 

until next time…

♥ Nikki

kalia+kaimana | prom

There’s this girl.  Her name is Kalia.  If you ever get to meet her, you will be blown away by her beauty and free spirit.  I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know her over the past year and have been so amazed by her and her lovely family. 

Well, yesterday was her Senior Prom.  Another milestone hit and tucked away for stories to tell her future children.  I’m just lucky enough to be able to help her capture these moments that will forever remind her of this special time in her life. 

There’s this boy.  His name is Kaimana.  I just met him last week.  I look forward to getting to know him as I am sure I will see him again. 

I hope you both had a great time at prom.  ♥

until next time…

♥ Nikki

Stuffed Cabbage

I remember when I was a little girl, my Grandpa used to LOVE eating stuffed cabbage.  No one ever made it at home, so we would always go to this place by the airport to eat it.  Sadly, I cannot recall the name of this place.  All I remember was that it was an order at the window and eat “outside” kind of place (like Rainbow Drive-Inn).  I ate it… like any kid that had no choice would do.  At that age, It was just “eh.. so-so” to me.  It wasn’t until I became quite a bit older that I was able to appreciate it.  It is one of the foods that reminds me of my Grandpa.  When I say “one of the foods”… it is really one out of so many.  You see… my Grandpa was a chef.  So we ate pretty well growing up (unless Grandma cooked… then things would be blackened, and not on purpose).  So, instead of finding this place that I cannot remember the name for… I decided to make it at home.  My first try was a success… and Ms. K LOVED it.  Little C was still a baby, so he didn’t get to try it until later.  The only problem I found was the cabbage leaves.  Obviously I needed to “peel” the leaves and boil them to get them soft enough to “roll” the stuffing.  The “peeling” part was a pain!!! OH.MY.GOSH… it was NOT FUN.  So this became a “if Mommy feels like spending 30 minutes trying to peel the dang cabbage” kind of meals.  UNTIL… My husband and I tried something that has made this meal SO MUCH EASIER!  He cut the core out for me and I dunked the entire head of cabbage into boiling water.  Then Voila!  Easy Peasy!

I got this recipe from “Hawaii’s Best Local Dishes” by Jean Watanabe Hee.  I have a tendency to tweak recipes to fit my palate, but I follow this one exactly!  It’s perfect.  (to me anyways).

I am not gonna post the recipe here because I feel that she deserves those who are interested to buy her book.  But!  I have included some photos for you to enjoy!

Until Next Time…

♥ Nikki

Hello…

…

Why hello there… it’s been a while.  So long in fact that I have decided to start fresh.  I have wiped my blog clean… updated the look… and am ready to share!

So who is this person behind Nikki Jennifer Photography?   Haha… the million dollar question.  Actually, I’m just a girl – living on a tiny island, tucked next to a mountain on the windward side… following my bliss.  My name is Nikki (doh!  right!?).  I am a mother to 2 wonderful children, a daughter (and sadly an only child), a wife to the most amazing man, an “Aunty” to 5 seriously adorable kids, a Godmother to the sweetest little boy,  and a friend to some pretty spectacular people (no, seriously… you all wish you had friends like I do ♥). 

a few FAQ’s about me…

I am 21 (kidding… 25.  oh alright… fine.  I’m 32 – you happy now!?)
I have a daughter who we’ll just call ms k… she is 13 and the most amazing Japanese manga artist I know.

Then there’s my son, we’ll call him little c…. even if he is not so little.  He is 5 and so expressive in all he does. 

My husband (who I JUST married in February, but have been with for 10 years, haha)… C, he is my biggest fan and supporter.  An actor and entertainer at heart… ready to take on the acting world (they just don’t know it yet!)… keeps my life full of laughter. 

I love strawberries and baking.  Cooking makes me happy, too.  I blame it on my Grandfather who was the most amazing chef in my life.  I love seeing the bliss and happiness when someone takes a bite of my cupcake and says “MmmMmmmmmm”.
Sunshine and warm ocean water is my comfort

I don’t read much…. but I do love to listen to a good book.  Yes, I cheat… audio books are my best friend.  If you haven’t tried it, DO IT!  It’s like a movie in your head. 

And I have 2 rascal doggies.  Chie and Oni.  Sleeping by my feet every day as I work.  You will “meet” them in a post or two or twenty… one day soon. 

So, that’s me in a nutshell.  I am quite ordinary – shy at first, but chatty once you get to know me.  More of an introvert, unlike my husband and son.  If you have any questions for me… just ask.  You never know, I just may give you an answer. 

Here I am with C on our wedding day… Thank you, Stacey @ Zentography for this photo! 

until next time…

♥Nikki

Spring Promotions

Spring has sprung and I really wanted to do a special “Spring Promotion”… however, I could not make a decision one which one to run.  So I decided to run TWO different promotions. 

Mother’s Day is right around the corner and it is a very special day for me.  My kids are my world and my inspiration.  So… For all you Moms, Grandmas, Moms-to-Be… this is for you!

Spring time is = out with the old… in with the new   So with this in mind, I wanted to do something for the acting/modeling community. 

(hopefully I can get my Husband to sit still long enough to get some updated headshots of his own)

now the fine print details:
1. Your session fee will be due upon booking to reserve your date.  There are no refunds on session fees, however, you are allowed to change your session date once.

2. This is for Oahu Residents/Visitors only.  I will not be traveling off island for these promotions.

3. The promotion for the Headshot/Commercial Promotion ends on April 15th, 2012, however, your session date can be for a later date.

4. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.