If you are some dumb folks looking to just get MURDERED

Today was our final mermaid marketing shoot. We chose to do it at Ka'ena point, as my last entry said. It's always gorgeous and amazing to do a shoot at Ka'ena, and I always feel exceptionally lucky to have such relatively easy access to such a beautiful place.

We had never met Brittani, our model. She is a friend of our last model, and I cannot express how grateful I am that she agreed to this. We got everything set up a couple weeks ago, and finally met up today. It looked like rain, and rain isn't a problem necessarily, but the drive up to the point is rocky and tumbly and I was panicked it would get muddy and we'd get stuck. Not so bad if it were just me and Derek, though far from ideal, but with a stranger that's modeling for us? I was horrified at the idea. It rained a lot on the hour drive out, but it was bone dry when we got there. Phew!

There was a bit of a hold up at the gate when we arrived, as a park ranger was chatting with a car that may have been stuck behind the gate. The truck in front of us was talked to by the ranger, then she came to our car. We rolled down the window. She asked if we had our permit (of course we do, but never in our almost two years have we been stopped and "carded". Wild! It made me wonder if maybe the car stuck behind the gate had been let in illegally. I certainly hope not, permit holders should know better. Whatever the reason, we were asked about our permit, which we had, and then she said, "do you not like your car?" LADY. It is sweet that you think I am not actively trying to run my car into the god damn ground, but make no mistake, I am actively trying to run my car into the god damn ground.

Brittani had never been on the drive on this side of the point, and she was a really good sport through the humpies and bumpies and the tilting and leaning. After the twenty minutes, we get to the point access area, grab the gear out of Jasper, and off we went. The light was already goldeny and lush when we parked at 4, and it was gorgeous when we arrived at the first spot. The point was relatively empty, just as I'd hoped.

Getting Brittani into the tail was relatively painless, considering how precarious the spot she was sitting on was. It was just a small slab of rock. Derek cut up my old yoga mat so as to not damage the tail (we're learning our lessons! AND UPCYCLING!) and I fired off some test shots to see if we'd need the flash.

We definitely did.

We couldn't have asked for a better day, though!!! look how beautiful it is outside!

A small moment to adjust. The tide wasn't very high, but it was high enough to cause some splash, which, duh, Derek and I love. It adds a lot of drama. Do you know what else it adds?

ANXIETY.

This was when a big, gorgeous wave was crashing, and two seconds prior I shouted out "BIG WAVE, GET READY!" I meant for her to get ready to post, but she instead got ready to freak out. We got this photo of her face reacting to the wave, but her body posing for it. I wish I could deliver it to her, because I definitely love the wave, but I don't want to deliver anything where she isn't killing it like she was in every other photo. This is even her fault. I miscommunicated.

Here's Derek, helping a mermaid in shades get into position.

We had a lot of lookiloos today, and I never mind that at all. I'm surprised people don't come down and talk to us, find out what we're doing. Derek insists it's people being polite and not wanting to intrude, and he's probably right. Almost all of the bystanders took photos of us today, which is always a delight, but Brittani was the star of the show (of course! She's the mermaid!). A little boy up on the hill spotted her and shouted down "MERMAID!" and Brittani waved, and I am willing to bet she made his entire year.

There are almost always kids around that holler about mermaids when we do our shoots, and it's my absolute favorite part. I wish I had seen and heard that little boy. I hope Brittani made his entire life more magical.

I am in the middle of that tide pool, and there is my fucking fox of a husband, snapping away. He got the shot I had been after almost all fucking day, and while I am so pleased he got it, and it's such a great shot, I am bitter that it wasn't me.

Brittani was amazed to see all of the fish in the tidepool. She remarked specifically on the angelfish, and every once and awhile, she'd get lost taking a little sneaky peek into the water. I mind things like that zero percent. Take the time to marvel!

If you look in the back, you can see another pair of lookiloos!

It turns out our shoot was intruding on someone's nap. If you look to the immediate left of that rock and you see the sausage shaped lump, that is a baby Hawaiian monk seal! Just a little guy, all out on his own! We were a little alarmed (of course we are not so disrespectful as to go up to the pup or hassle it or anything, we just minded our business and went on working. But he was awfully cute, and we couldn't help but snap a few pictures.

He was very curious about what we were doing. Very cautious, and rightly so. He never got too terribly close, and we never got too terribly close. Until he did.

I was in the water trying to get Brittani's last shots, and I heard her oohing and awwwing, so I turned around and who should be right there but my best little seal friend! But I left him be, after saying hello, of course.

I focused back to the last location.

That's quite the side eye, Derek.

Then I heard bubbles being blown. BUBBLES, you guys. He blew bubbles. So I turned around slowly again, and he hammed it up for me good.

He posed. He rolled. He blew bubbles. He was a delightful little performer. I had gotten out of the water by this time to give him the space and respect he deserves. And then, as suddenly as he was there, he made his exit. Stage left, even.

Well, goo'bye!

So then it was really time to finish up, because the light was getting a little TOO warm for photos.

Is it surprising to anybody that sunset was a dream come true??

Derek got photos of the moon as it was rising. He had to leave after we did, mostly because I'm a slower walker than he is, and he had more stuff to pack up and we needed to get back to Jasper ASAP. But the moonrise was AMAZING. Derek said the photos are blurry, and he's right, but it doesn't even matter.

Yes. I am that fucking tan. And yes, I am laden down with the world's fattest camera backpack, AND our manfrotto light stands, AND the giant reflector, AND a tripod. I am Jack's Ugly Packhorse. That bag is the width of me plus a half me. But look at that moon!!!!!

The drive back was relatively uneventful, considering we made it in the dark and that makes the journey a lot more difficult. But that wraps up the day. It was such a great shoot, I am excited to edit the serious photos that didn't make it into this blog!

Hopefully, in two weeks, everything will be up and running. I'm so excited! I'm so scared!

And that's when I said, "I'm practically Christ".

We have a mermaid shoot next weekend, and we're currently debating locations for it. Derek wants the last promotional shoot we do to be in a spot we haven't done, and I agree, but we differ so hard on the overall shape of the photos. How to shoot them, how close, things like that. Our bickering really doesn't matter, since the shots get done and I haven't gotten a complaint yet.

Anyway, we wanted to go to one of our favorite spots on island, where we've done a shoot already and had several more ideas while we were there for that one, to see how those spots would photograph. Because it's a bit of a trek, we had to make a whole day of it, and it has to be planned perfectly, because the drive...well, the drive has a tricky bit that makes doing it in the dark kind of dumb.

We packed up our lunches, grabbed our gear, Derek and Gabriel grabbed MREs for dinner for themselves, and we headed out. We wanted to test light for golden hour and sunset, so we left at 2, got there at 3, made the tricky drive and arrived to the parking bit at 3:30ish, and then unpacked and set out. Going to Ka'ena is NEVER a disappointment. Even a bland day there is a day that's 1000% better than a perfect day in 95% of the other places I've ever been.

I didn't really go to take beautiful pictures, so I told Derek I was going to be taking pictures for posterity, and also taking pictures for figuring out what locations would work for the shoot on Sunday.

So here we go. For posterity!

On the way in, we saw a few people parafoiling, and it was just so delightful. They were so bright and colorful, and it made me happy.

I was a little underexposed and didn't edit the first two like I did with the last one, because I tend to get lazy if I'm not taking pictures to make someone compliment my talent. But there they are!!! Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

At this time of year, there are these delightful little birds called shearwaters that are having babies and leaving the babies in burrows while the momma birds go off hunting and escaping the tedium of motherhood during the day. There weren't very many babies home in the burrows, but I did spot on downy little guy!

I left the first picture dark to show how hidden the little burrows are, and then I cranked my ISO and really opened my camera up, so forgive the lack of sharpness. But lookit!!! Lookit how cute and fluffy he is! I definitely startled him, as I am a huge monster, so I grabbed these photos relatively quickly and hustled away. I was so excited to see a fledgling! We saw quite a few last year, and thus far this breeding season, the road has been mostly closed off and too muddy to hike on or drive on, so we haven't been out to the point very much.

There's a pillbox that sits at the very top of the point that we haven't yet hiked to, and that pillbox has a sister down at the bottom, next to THE LIGHTHOUSE. Which is not a lighthouse, but someone asked me and Derek about the lighthouse at the point the last time we were there and we laughed the smug laugh of locals who think tourists are stupid. There is always graffiti on the concrete, and it hasn't been changed up in quite some time. Imagine my delight to see a new piece of art! New to me, anyway.

Please forgive that almost none of these are edited. I just wanted to take some pictures for the blog, because I REALLY need to get less picky about pictures I take just for the sake of taking pictures. Not everything has to be pretty enough to frame and hang up.

It's impossible to get tired of these views. I just...I really fucking love it here.

So once we got to the point proper, we set about scouting.

There's Derek, setting his gear up to do proper scouting, while I just kinda...

...lazily snapped a photo and walked off. Derek really wants to grab a shot in that little alcove, and I can see why. The instinct is fantastic. Also I'm sorry about the quality here, I had to really raise the shadows and exposure to get the cave to show up well. Anyway, I went over to it so Derek could grab a shot of me sitting there, but the problem is how difficult getting INTO that cave is. Could I do it? Yes. Could Derek do it? Yes. Would I want to ask people who are paying to just have a fun time getting their photos taken to do it? Not on your life. It's a little dicey, and if you actually care about your body and treat it nicely, I can see being too scared to make the climb into the cave. So we wrote it off for either an adventurous client, or me doing it, just to have the photos. This was a big let down, because it was Derek's biggest draw AT the point. There's another place on the other side that he's very interested in, but we only had time to do one area on Saturday.

I saw a rock that looked very smooth and very easy to get to, and I asked Derek to sit there and let me test out angles.

Obviously he is the best merson. I love how silly and into it he was. I felt relatively unsure of this spot, though. Derek reported that the smooth seat is in fact smooth, but the surrounding area is jagged, and we need to get as much life out of these tails as we can (at least ten shoots each). I can photoshop tears out just fine, but I don't want a client to show up and be handed a fucking ratchet ass looking tail. This rock is on the back burner as a maybe. It allows for drama, but I felt kind of frustrated with the angles as I was shooting. I feel a lot more into them, now that I'm seeing them as photos, so I mean. We'll see.

One of the biggest things Derek and I bicker about (remember how I said earlier that our bickering wasn't important? I fucking lied) is how I shoot versus how he shoots. I definitely think that the draw of these shoots is seeing yourself as a mermaid against the beauty of Hawaii. Derek says we need to shoot portrait style close ups. I am unhappy with that idea. I like using my wide to distort everything, and as close up as I want to be is about as far away as Derek thinks we should be. I LOVE dramatic, sweeping landscapes where the person is in the photo, but they're not the center piece. I think it heightens the fantasy, and that's the entire aesthetic I'm going for. So I took some shots of Derek in the way I'd want to approach that first rock, but in a more sweeping way.

Because seriously, how is this NOT the star of the show?? Anyway, these are some of the sweeping shots (again, not taken well, just shooting them off as test shots) that I want to add in. That I've already added in to the other shoots.

Imagine a colorful tail in there. I know Derek kind of sinks in to the scenery, but he's not a colorful merson. A merson would jump out of there, the scenery would still be the star but the merson is a noticeable highlight. I have reached the point where I am unsure of that location again, but I mean, I don't WHOLLY hate it.

I felt unhappy with those in the moment, so I tried another angle.

Looking at the back of my camera, I hate that. But seeing it on my computer? I am far more warm to it. I tend to think this kind of shot looks boring, but Derek likes it, and he's always right when he tells me that while I may think something looks bland, clients don't have my same aesthetic preferences. So. Shots like this kind of need to be thrown in.

I'm also kind of trying for places that look foreign and strange, because mersons...meeple?...are not of this world as we understand them. While the beauty of Hawaii is important, I also want to get the strangeness of Hawaii in there, too. With a mermaid tail, I think they're perfectly suited.

So I was wandering the point while Derek wandered the point, looking for places that tickled my fancy, places where a merson would be, but that weren't just "beach". AHA!!!

Pardon the shadow. That's Derek standing to the left of me as I hunkered down to see if what I thought I was seeing was actually something. I thought it might be, this looks like a pool on another planet. So I asked my merson husband to go over there and be a mermaid for me once again.

He's GORGEOUS, and very convincing. But the key here was to angle the shot correctly. You know. Like EVERY shot you take of someone.

THERE IT FUCKING WAS. That was super close to what I wanted. I was deeply uncomfortable physically, but the fuck does that matter when I'm really feeling a look?

A lot. It matters a fucking lot. I had to get up, and I snapped this as Derek was getting up, as well. I REALLY like how this looks, but again, it would have to be closer down to the pool. I don't mind this angle, but I don't prefer it. It does have that foreign look I like, though.

I turned around and BOOM! Another fucking gorgeous area that I had missed on the way to where I was. Because it was behind me, how could I have seen it? So I fired off a shot.

I LOVED IT. I don't think I got the angle right, but I love how it looks. I promise you, that horizon is entirely level, it's just the point slopes. I like how disconnected from reality it looks, but the lighting will be tricky to navigate. I boosted everything so the detail could be seen (Gabriel is exploring tide pools in that first photo), I just...I really loved this spot. So I asked Derek to merson for me again, and he's such a fucking good husband and photography partner, he obliged without a second's hesitation.

Again, completely level horizon, I may have to make the photo a bit more crooked for it to not look sloppy. But I REALLY love this little bump out. I think with our proper gear and the flash and getting my settings correct, this could be absolutely fucking DYNAMITE. I think the pop of green really sells it, and the other angles may be a bit too drab, but again, my aesthetic is not the only one that exists. I also think I need to hunker down for this location, too, but this height doesn't not work.

It was about time to go. Because of the hugely rocky drive back (that I hope they NEVER pave because I like the access to the point being difficult), we had to hike back to the car no later than 5:30 so we could get to the car by 6 and be done with the drive back by 6:30 when it got too dark to see the terrain. I put location scouting out of my mind and just...enjoyed the last few minutes of time at Ka'ena before we left. The weather was so beautiful, and the air smelled so good and the breeze was luscious.

Derek, using the super long lens and looking for whales or dolphins. He didn't see any. It may be too early in the season, but we're IN season now!!

I wanted to try and get a cool photo of Derek taking photos, so I flattened myself against the coral and went for it. But they dug into my tiddies so fucking hard that I couldn't really make a good effort of taking the photo. So this is what we've got. I looked at it and went...that could also work for a mermaid. Always working even when I'm not working!

There's Gabriel, checking out the tidepools, looking for fish and crabs and just generally poking around the point.

As we were leaving, the light just looked too pretty to not grab a photo. I didn't edit this, I wasn't looking for art, I just...I wanted to have a picture of how beautiful one of my favorite spots on Earth is.

And then.

I noticed this rock to my right and thought, I bet a mermaid facing either toward me OR away from me would make a good spot. So BAM. Another photo, maybe? Except we didn't have time for Derek to test it out, we had to get jamming back to the car.

So duh, I hung back and took more photos while Gabriel and Derek forged ahead. Derek was going back to the shearwater burrow to see if he could snag a better picture on the long lens as to not startle the fluffy nugget, and Gabriel is a slower walker than both of us, so he had to go in order to not fall behind.

Straight out of camera, friends.

The walk back was even better. I didn't edit these, either.

THE LIGHTHOUSE!!!

I had intended on going all the way up to the platform to take better photos, but Derek and Gabriel were already WAY ahead of me, and I didn't want to fall too too far behind.

My preferred distance from my merson subjects. Just kidding, but I did take this because I liked the two people on the ridge. Not just because the light was warm and the grass looked so green and the moment was nice.

STING!!!!!!

The trail leading to the point proper looked so fucking idyllic to me, and this picture doesn't even do it justice. The only way to enjoy it properly is to stand there two days ago, and be right next to me.

Derek and Gabriel, fed up as fuck with my shenanigans.

And here is the entrance to the path to the point. Another spot for a photoshoot, I think, but not a mermaid shoot.

I love everything about Ka'ena. I am so excited to do the last shoot there before I get these up and running. I wasn't expecting this many places at the point proper, just because my memory told me there wasn't enough drama. I was so fucking wrong, and looking at it specifically for a merson shoot really opened my eyes to how many locations were there that wouldn't be tricky or dangerous.

We leave here in a year and a half, and I miss it already.