Are you stressed and still looking for a wedding coordinator and photographer? Well look no more!…read moreYou definitely need to join forces with Stephen Ludwig - Salt & Sandalwood Events and divert your energy to other things. I know this sounds like an info-mercial, but we had such a great experience with Stephen Ludwig and his team from start to finish. I think we lucked out and also I think everyone deserves a special wedding so I hope you give them a look. I contacted several companies/groups/people looking for flexible packages to fit our needs. It's hard in the early stages of planning a destination wedding knowing just how many guests you'll have! My ceremony was at Kualoa Ranch with the reception to follow in Honolulu. I was stood up by a few companies; bad sign when your potential wedding team "forgets" they had a phone call appointment with you! Stephen and his lovely wife, Litton, were incredibly accessible and responsive to every wacky question or request I had. Super easy to negotiate with and I never EVER felt like I was being swindled or lied to. Obviously their website scores major points for organization and being aesthetically pleasing. The clean, professional yet personable style matches them in real life, too! We exchanged numerous emails along the way during planning stages. Stephen and Litton helped me find a great hair/makeup stylist, arranged for the most perfect officiant (his wife was also wonderfully helpful but that's for another review), and coordinated a guitarist for the ceremony. Stephen went to look at the site a few weeks ahead of the date then sent me photos in order to know exactly where to put the chairs and flower arch. Ceremony went off without a hitch thanks to the on-site day of coordinator and the rest of the Salt & Sandalwood team making sure my flowers and chairs and guests were in their proper places. I was able to worry about just myself. I was pleasantly surprised to see they brought water for my guests, I completely spaced on that detail and given the sunshiney day it would have been a major faux pas. Now, the main reason I selected Stephen with Salt & Sandalwood was because I knew I'd be looking at these photos for a lifetime. So far I just have the mini gallery, but it's amazing. After the obligatory group photos and diplomatically dealing with certain relatives (haha) we broke off to do our own photo shoot with tons of backdrops, angles, poses -- really incorporating the beauty of Kualoa Ranch and Hawaii. Stephen made my husband and me feel at ease, expertly ordering (in a nice way) us around, "hand here, walk that way, do a twirl," snapping a bazillion photos. I was disappointed when last minute the ranch told I couldn't have horses in the nearby paddock as advertised. Stephen even asked Kualoa if we could go to the stables, but that idea was shot down. I'm still a little bitter about it, but with how great everything else went I can't complain too much. Remember how I said my ceremony and reception were different locations? Salt and Sandalwood drove us from A to B, which was so nice of them. He busied himself taking photos of guests and decor and things; obviously he does this a lot and knows what matters and how to make things look magazine worthy. He made sure to photograph the cake before we attacked it, my husband and I before we got too drunk and really did a fantastic job of capturing moments without being a nuisance. 100% would book again! My favorite vendor from the whole wedding experience. Heck, Stephen Ludwig was the backbone of my Hawaii wedding experience! You won't be disappointed.

Highly recommend Stephen Ludwig as a photographer. We had him as our photographer for our wedding…read moreat Kualoa Ranch and he was great. Very experienced and professional, and he had plenty of experience shooting in different lighting at our venue. He did a great job capturing the event and we love how his photos turned out. He had great energy and did a great job making us feel comfortable and candid for our shots. Loved his artistic style! Thank you Stephen!

Chris did family photos during our Hawaii vacation. I was so grateful for how communicative he…read morewas; as well as how flexible he was. It was myself, my husband, parents and our two year old. Chris was able to capture the moments of authentic joy from my son. He was great at following his lead and making the moment special. He was fast with the photos and they came out fantastic!

Chris is TRULY the best wedding photographer. He is so professional but also super friendly. Chris…read morewas able to work with our timeline perfectly and even get photos we didn't think of! We came from California, he answered all of our questions and even met up with us before our big day. I really can't recommend him enough, your wedding photos will be in great shape if you have Chris.

Immediately fell in love with Kawika's work the moment I saw a bridal portrait on my Instagram…read morefeed. Apart from his professionalism and skills, he is also down to earth and genuine - the entire shoot was very comfortable and fun considering how awkward I am in front of cameras And when we got back our photos, oof.... We were blown away. We wish we could give more stars for this review!

My fiancé and I are awkward duckies! We got engaged in November of last year and it was exciting…read moreand new! Kawika was one of the FIRST people to congratulate us AND he was the FIRST person I thought of to take pictures for us!!!! This guy has natural talent and I CANNOT rave about him enough!!! As a friend, Kawika is outstanding!!!! His love and care for people is reflected in his work! The photos he takes, the direction and coaching he exudes on his clients is beyond perfect!! He coached us through our awkwardness and the proof is in the pictures!! He is so easy to work with, makes you feel natural and his eye for the lighting and positions exemplary to those who rival him in his field!! I truly believe that if you want to have pictures worth taking, GO TO KAWIKA!!!!! Have him take your pictures and you will clearly see why soooooo many people love him and remember these moments forever!! We love you Kawika!! Thank you for capturing us! Our awkwardness turned to beauty in just an hour of photo taking!! From including our pup to making us both feel like we were super models!! Thank you!!!

Oliver was amazing! I booked the morning of and he was able to fit us in the same day, which I…read morereally appreciated. He was very responsive, easy to work with, and made the whole process smooth. The turnaround time was quick and the photos turned out absolutely beautiful. Five out of five stars. If I ever need photos again, I will definitely use him again!

We recently did a session with Shaka Shoots while on vacation in Hawaii and had a fantastic…read moreexperience. The process from beginning to end is straightforward - we booked on the website and a photographer reached out within an hour to confirm the time and date of our session and provided recommendations on locations. The session itself was short, sweet and perfect - I deliberately did not want a multi-hour photography session to interrupt our vacation and from the 30 minute session, our photographer took just over 400 photographs! He was professional and clearly experienced, providing suggested poses and feedback on our pictures during the session. We received all 400+ of the unedited photos the same day, selected 12 for additional editing, which we just received, and we couldn't be happier with the results. I would absolutely work with them again. To summarize, 5 stars wholeheartedly because: 1 - Easy to work with, good communication 2 - The benefit of being able to download your entire gallery of unedited photos, not just a select few pictures 3 - Great photos - I've paid thousands for wedding/engagement photos before, and honestly, these edited photos are just as good as pricier packages

"Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured…read moreforever... It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything." - Aaron Siskind, one of the greatest American photographers In hosting our granddaughter's 3rd birthday party, I knew that I wanted good pictures for my granddaughter to remember this event years down the road. I didn't know any professional photographers, and my party coordinator, Tessa Gomes of Fred + Kate Events, was tasked with recommending one. It didn't help that the party fell on 8/18/18, which was a popular day for weddings, so many of the photographers were already booked. However, Tessa gave me a photographer who was available to do it: Dave Miyamoto & Co. I couldn't have been happier with this photographer! He took a lot of pictures, and all of them captured the joy in this happy occasion! In fact, I didn't realize he took so many pictures, as I didn't see him taking pictures and apparently just blended in with the guests (he wore an aloha shirt). His approach was relaxed and informal, as he took family portraits and candid shots throughout the party. I loved the many photos with Mickey Mouse that Dave took; my husband was in the Mickey Mouse costume and could see how he looked like as Mickey Mouse afterwards! My daughter, Kristin, remarked that it has always been difficult to take pictures of 3-year-old Kayla, as most mothers can tell you that kids that age are constantly moving around and will not sit for that perfect photo. She also said that Kayla took a liking to Dave Miyamoto, and he was easily able to coax her to take the perfect shots. So, he must have that natural gift or touch as a photographer to get those prime shots, and with kids even! I think it's because of his comfortable, relaxed, approachable and easy-going personality that others taking liking to. And with some 28 years of photography knowledge and experience, he knows what works and what doesn't. He loaded all the photos on a thumb drive and arranged to meet the day after the party to give me the thumb drive. Now, that is what I call lightening speed! He also had the pictures easily accessible via the computer for my daughter on "dropbox." And he gave permission for us to be able to reprint as many pictures as we wanted, which we did at Costco. (For those of you who are like me, remember those days when we had to buy a photography package and be charged for each additional photo, which would take weeks to get?!) Dave Miyamoto specializes in weddings, but that doesn't limit him to do other special occasion events, such as birthday parties like ours. His love for photography spills over to things he likes to do, with many photos of surfing, underwater diving, and yoga. He leads a team of photography specialists in his company: * Michelle Guda- Miyamoto - Dave's wife and is the Marketing, Social Media and Client Services Director for more than 22 years. She ensures that your photography experience will be the best and most memorable time you can have. * Ryan Miyamoto - Dave's son, who has a degree in Television, Film and New Media Production from San Diego State University. He has a keen and natural artistic eye for the art of photography, loves to surf, and has photography experience of more than 9 years. * Claire Miyamoto - Dave's daughter, who is the Graphic Designer and has been photographing for more than 7 years. She has a degree from the University of CA-Santa Cruz in Film and Digital Media. * Erwin Resurrection - Associate Photographer who does freelancing. He's been photographing with Dave for more than 15 years. * Paula Ota - Associate Photographer who loves the beauty in nature. With a love of yoga, she has been photographing with Dave for more than 8 years. With so many years of experience, it is no wonder that Dave Miyamoto & Co. is one of the top photography companies in HNL. While Dave was the sole photographer for our party, I found him to be creative, personable, knowledgeable, professional and quick to move in getting those memorable moments. And he was timely, arriving before the party started and having the photos ready for me the next day. I could tell that Dave was very comfortable in taking the necessary photos. It is not surprising that Dave Miyamoto & Co. has consistently won top Wedding Wire (wedding planning website) awards for its photography. Yes, photos are memories of events and loved ones that live on forever. I'm so glad that Dave Miyamoto was there to capture those memories! Thank you, Dave, for those excellent photos that will last forever!

I'm just going to go straight to the point. Dave is Very…read moregenuine and hands down Amazing!! He is so chill, nice, very patient, and he definitely knows what he's doing!! We had Dave for our wedding In November 2019 in Oahu, Hawaii and he also shot our engagement photos 3 days before the wedding. He was SOOO quick with sending our engagement photos. We basically got all of our shots through Dropbox to view with ease in less than and hour and a half! The photos came out so nice!! My husband and I felt at ease with Dave and so relaxed. He has a great sense of humor and was just so sweet!! We highly recommend him! Can't wait to see all of our photos from the big day!

We hired Adept Productions for our wedding photography and we would definitely recommend this…read morecompany to anyone! Pricing - Very reasonable pricing, owner Canaan was able to work with our budget and made the entire process easy Customer Service - Exceptional! They made us feel so comfortable, gave good direction while taking photos, and all the employees were very friendly Quality of Photos - The photos were amazing! It came out so much better then we could of imagined. We got them in a timely fashion and they made sure that we got all the poses we wanted. We got all the photos on a dropbox link which i felt was better then a USB because you won't ever lose it and it made it easier to access. They even brought a drone! Which was a cool feature we never saw a company do before. Overall, this company went above and beyond to make our special day last forever. You won't be disappointed!

To the one and only and the BEST Canaan/production team. Someone who would NEVER let you down and…read morecan indeed put the BIGGEST smile on your face. THANK YOU SO MUCH again for all the love, support and for helping me win on stage and in life. Words cannot express how grateful I am. Thanks from the bottom of my heart forever. CHECK OUT THE EPIC VIDEO BELOW: https://instagram.com/p/BR6XeDrhNyR/ GO WITH ADEPT PRODUCTION LLC. The most talented on the island. You'll never regret your decision. I promise.

Our photo session with Jen was like no other, and we've done a few! She was so patient and so…read moresweet. She made it fun and easy. She has a great eye for detail, making sure everything looked perfect and in place. So... we just got our pics back and oh...my...goodness! They're BEAUTIFUL! Every single photo is BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT! My family is so happy with the entire portfolio. Thank you, Jen! YOU'RE THE BEST! We will DEFINITELY look you up on our next trip to Hawaii. MAHALO!!!!

We chose Ohana Dream Photography to take our family photos while on the island. We were blown away…read morewith the results! The photos are gorgeous! Jen was SO WONDERFUL to work with. She was sweet and kind throughout our session. Even managed to capture some amazing shots of my toddler even though he was struggling with the time change during our trip. She even gave us some AMAZING recommendations of things we should do during our stay. Thank you Jen! Can't wait to see your pictures on my wall and Christmas Cards

I am so incredibly thrilled with Robert's work! We came to Hawaii as a family and wanted to take…read moresome pretty Christmas pictures. Ended up coming across his work and am so so happy we ended up booking him. First, my family and I can be a little cray cray with our requests - "can we have this angle?"..."ok now we want this shot...etc etc". Robert was very patient and got every single image we wanted...and more! Didn't even get flustered for a second as we had request after request. Second, he is FAST! We took pictures in the morning and he sent me them within just a few hours. They were so beautiful that we ended up booking a sunset shoot also. Again, I was impressed with how fast they came. Finally, the images just speak for themselves and I'm only attaching a fraction of my favorites. Thank you MAHALO Robert! We will truly cherish these images and I have already recommended you to my friends.

Photographer did an awesome job. He was punctual, professional and patient with my kids. He took…read morethe time to get as many shots as he could for us and the end result is a portfolio of pictures I will treasure forever. We weren't in a position to get family photos after my daughter was born so I was really looking forward to these and he did not disappoint. I definitely recommend hiring him for your photo needs.