Sunset Ceremonies
This is what you need to know before you choose a sunset time for your ceremony:
We can't shoot directly into the sun or use the sunset as a background for ceremonies for the number and variety of shots we do for the ceremony part of the coverage. It's just too bright. When we do shoot into the sun, we usually need to use deep colored filters for silhouette shots unless there is enough cloud cover to filter the light down enough so our flash and lens combination to works.
The actual sunset is visible only from a few beaches in Honolulu which are used for wedding ceremonies and it's not visible at all from any Windward locations. It is visible from the North Shore and West Oahu (though it's a strong side light from West Oahu, so we'd prefer the North Shore). Note: If you want that very blue colorful water, you'll probably want your wedding earlier in the day.
For sunset weddings, we schedule the ceremony at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before the actual sunset time, whiuch ever is closest (all weddings start on the hour irrespective of sunset time) because: It's the best light angle, about 30 degress above the horizon It gives us the best odds for good light just in case there are clouds on the horizon which would block an actual sunset and make it shadowy and get darker far earlier.
For sunset light weddings in in the Honolulu area there is Magic Island, Ft. DeRussy/Duke Kahanamoku Beach, and Portlock Beach. In the summer the sun actually sets behind the west mountain range so actual sunset is not possible, but we can get late afternoon light at Magic Island and Ft. DeRussy. North Shore during the summer is also a good sunset location, but it’s very far to drive. West Oahu, Ko Olina is another spot which requires extended travel, access is limited, and the sun comes directly from the side which is not a good direction (we'd prefer the North Shore).
Honolulu/Waikiki - Visible starting middle Fall, Winter, and up to late Spring.
East Oahu - Visible starting late Fall, Winter, and up to early Spring.
West Oahu - Visible all year round at all locations.
North Shore - Visible late Spring, Summer, and early Fall.
Windward Oahu - Not visible at all.
Sorry, we don't do sunrise weddings. Besides having to get up early in the morning and trying to get out to locations in the dark, the thing with sunrise is that you never know what the weather will be like i.e. for as many days as it may be clear, there are more days that have ocean squalls blowing in "morning showers" and it's clouds i.e. no sunrise, just a grey morning and that's the worse. And it's usually windy and chilly at sunrise. Finally, because of the angle of the sun, the water color is dark and grey, almost black and both the ocean and sky do not have that beautiful blue color we like, if it's not that, it's all glare. We don't like it, we don't do it, sorry.
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