Stephan Tuifua - Making A "Heavy Impact!"

From America's Best Dance Crew - "Heavy Impact" - Golden Boy - Stephan Tuifua.

An amazing dancer to say the least. I don't think ABDC did this guy any justice. As a lover of dance I was pretty amazed at this guy's dancing ability and influences. He can do anything from hip hop, jazz, to contemporary which surprisingly enough is his favorite style of dance. We had a great time shooting and talking about his inspirations and future plans in dance. Be on the look out for this young man. He will be in many productions on and off tv screen! 

If you didn't follow last season of ABDC here is a small clip of the group "Heavy Impact".

The shoes say it ALL! 

RM GENTLEMEN'S CLUB!: SNEAK PEEK!

Here is a snippet from my new "GENTLEMENS CLUB": Featuring fresh new polynesian talent! It is in preparation of a small project that I have coming up next year so needless to say that I am very excited to give you a sneak peek. 

More coming soon! 

Mike Mapuni Saunders (Model)

Stephan Tuifua from last season of America's Best Dance Crew - "Heavy Impact"

Viliamu Alo - (Model)

Grown & Sexy with Clarisce...

Had an awesome time with Ms Clarisce Tolston and shooting her headshots. Approaching another year in her life she celebrates it with lots of laughter, champagne, beautiful beach scenery, and her beautiful dogs. 

I had a blast with Clarisce on a roof top of her condo in Downtown Long Beach which is literally right across from the beach! I have to say that the views from on top were breathtaking which was much like our photo session together... full of life, laughter, and sass! Happy Birthday Clarisce! You were fabulous!

RM Raffle Give-Away Winners!...(drumroll)

Thank You All that have participated in the RM Raffle Give-Away.

We have 3 TOP WINNERS! 

...and the WINNERS ARE: ...

1. Margaret Lita Sagato from Sandy, UT

(chose: Target Gift Certificate) 

2. Marianna Ah Quin from Laie, HI

(chose: American Express Gift Certificate)

3. Nemaia Satele from Long Beach, CA

(chose: American Express Gift Certificate)

CONGRATULATIONS WINNERS! 
You will receive your gift certificate in the mail within' 2 weeks!

Thank you again everyone for all your continued support! I have another give away for the summer coming up soon!

TAKING IT WAY BACK! - Delia + Tommy Engagement!

Let  me take you back... waaaay back! Delia & Tommy first met at a phone booth in high school. Delia needed to use the public phone that Tommy was on and she needed some change to make a call. Not knowing that this was a conversation that would start and lead to a lifetime of commitment and love! 

I had an awesome time getting to know how Delia & Tommy met and where it all started! North High School in Torrance. 10 Years strong this young couple is still together and taking a big leap in their lives to be "ONE". 

Tommy is also known an as Kahlee Tre Dime (click on link for his musik!) and his some of his awesome musik for you hip hop heads! He used to make mix-tapes for Delia in high school. That totally reminds me of a time back in the days of love notes that read: "do you like me? circle yes or no!" Haha! I had a lot of fun with these 2 shooting at the very place that they met!  

Congratulations Delia and Tommy on the Engagement!

Strength & Beauty Campaign

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of traveling to Anchorage, Alaska to shoot the Strength & Beauty Campaign! I met a team of young polynesian women who taking tremendous strides in bringing an awareness of Pasifika Women in our communities locally & globally! I have to take my hat off to Elisiva Maka ; creator of the Women's Conference in it's third year. When we met it was like we knew each other for years. We collaborated creatively on the photo shoot and what kind of things we wanted to do. I was really drawn to her selfless spirit and her passion to empower Pasifika women! I can't say enough about this young lady. Strong relationships were formed and she was backed up by a team of just as talented women.

Thank You Eseta Okilani for being the best tour guide and chauffer - you inspire me with your work with breast cancer and congrats for reaching your goal on the funding for the breast cancer awareness.

Thank You Jenny & Janet Mahe, Liz Posey for being the best sisters especially since I didn't know anyone in Alaska. You guys treated me like one of your own brothers. For that I am grateful. 

Thank You Tani & Gwen Maka, Leaso Posala (and your beautiful daughters), Tia, Nicole Suapaia, The Leniu Family (Jill) for all participating in the photo shoot! You ladies are fierce! 

Special Thank You: Elisiva Maka: For understanding the need for our young youth to be a part of communities small or large. Anyone can make a difference and it starts with us. Giving your heart into what you do and allowing people like myself to add our own special touch. Thank you for letting me have creative control in this shoot. Your selfless acts will take you far and you will continue to inspire those around you at the same time. I am forever grateful for making me realize that Pasifika Women  (and all Women for that matter) truly are god's gift to man.

For more info on the conference & facebook page click here

 This poem is dedicated to all of my new sisters in Alaska!

...The Beauty Of a Woman...

The beauty of a woman

isn't in the clothes she wears,

The figure that she carries,

or the way she combs her hair.

The beauty of a woman

must be seen from in her eyes;

Because that's the doorway to her heart,

the place where love resides.

The beauty of a woman

isn't a facial mole;

But true beauty in a woman is reflected by her soul.

It's the caring that she cares to give,

the passion that she shows;

And the beauty of a woman

with passing years only grows.

SNEAK PEEK!: "DADDY'S GIRLS" (RM'XD)

SNEAK PEEK! From a family session... aren't they just adorable? LOL... More coming soon! 

RM RAFFLE GIVE-AWAY! 10,000 + VIEWS! - CLOSED!

We hit 10,000 views everyone!

I have to celebrate this momentous occassion. Granted my schedule has been bombarded with shoots, events, and collaborations! I have not forgotten you awesome people that come to my blog and read my every day happenings and photo work... and for that you deserve a GIVE AWAY! 

This is a token of my appreciation for the love & support that you all have shown me in the past couple of months!

So here we go!!! 

RM RAFFLE GIVE AWAY:

I will be giving away 3 Gift Certificates (valued at $50 each) of your choice: (from the following)

American Express, Best Buy, Target, or Wal-Mart! 

How to enter...

Leave a comment below with the following information!

1. Leave your name (first & last) 

2. City & State (International may enter as well for my NZ/Aussie/Samoa friends! lol)

3. Email address

The winners will be able to pick which one of the gift certificates they would like! 

                   Gift certificate will be mailed to you 1-2 weeks after winners are announced! 

All winners will be announced on June 15th, 2010 when I pull the names from the RAFFLE!

Yes it is that easy! Thanks again everyone and Good Luck!!!

-RM

CREATIVE ART: "GROWTH"

In the past couple of months I have spent time growing creatively and opening my mind to drawing inspiration from all types of sources. 

There is truth to the saying "stop and smell the roses" and you really have to. 

When I started doing my photography work I was too worried about getting somewhere faster and not really living in the moment. I was too busy trying to schedule photo shoots, pump work out like a robot, and the whole time not realizing that life is just passing me by.

The reality is... I am work a holic! I can be on 24 hour run from working a full time job to doing my photos full time. I am sure that is not how people should live their lives but this is how I have been living mine.

I realized that you can succeed at whatever you do but in order to do that you need to find that balance between work and life. I have spent time really soaking in the simpler things to be happy about and to be inspired about. Family, Friends, Personal Growth, and Service to others.

Yes, I may sound like a hallmark card but I truly love what I do and in order for me to continue to do that then I needed to do something with this talent and was to let people see things through my eyes.

So I did. I layed down under a tree with my ipod on just looking up into this tree that I found really fascinating. 

If you look at its a regular old tree (on the surface) but for me it spoke to me. The one word that kept coming out of my mind was "growth". I was drawn to the lines which represents all the different paths in life, the orange & greens in the leaves represented new life & new beginnings, and lastly the blue skies represented this big world we live in. All of which made sense to me in this one image. 

Allow yourself to GROW and make time for you and JUST YOU ONLY and appreciate the smaller things in life. Let's start with being able to see another beautiful day like this one...