Family photographers in Oahu | New in town at Koolina Lagoons

The Incident

I was on the edge of a cold bleacher seat watching a fast-paced futsal game when the panicked text came in. It was a hair emergency. A home hair cut gone wrong with a slip of the clippers and now a little boy was bald. Fortunately, Chevas and here family live on Oahu so it was easy to postpone their photo session to regrow some hair.

Hair stylist friends recommend against getting a hair cut before a photo session. And if you do, they suggest at least a week before your scheduled date. With my own hair in a perpetual ponytail, I was never sure of the reasoning here and it seemed a bit excessive, but maybe there’s something to it after all.

New in town

Anyone who catches that John Mulaney reference has my heart. Anyway, this family really is new in town. The arrived to the island mid-pandemic which kept them from fully exploring. Still, they they knew they were a beach-loving family and were fully ready to jump in the water.

Normally, Koolina is an ideal spot for babies and toddlers. A barrier reef at Paradise Cove Beach creates a protected lagoon and even if you’re outnumbered by your children, you can easily keep them close.

However, a high tide plus big swell changed all that. A strong current ripped through the normally placid inter-tidal zone and created a deep channel just off shore so if you got too curious and too close to the water’s edge, you would start sinking fast. Combined with the current? Well … no longer so toddler friendly.

Coming from the windward side I knew that weather was in rare form over there – perfectly calm and vividly blue. It was the type of weather that makes me wish I was taking photos on the beach. Despite coming off a bit creepy, I have actually offered to take photos for random families playing on the beach because it was so beautiful.

To the windward side we traveled and spent the last of our energy at Lanikai Beach on a most beautiful morning.

Do you have a water-loving family?

Family photographers in Oahu are lucky to have such an amazing playground as our backdrop. Let’s head to the beach and make some memories! Find out more about my fun family photography sessions here.