When traveling to the Island of Maui, you will definitely want to bring back the most beautiful photos and memories with your loved ones, here is a short guide of our 5 best spots to do photography in Maui.

As you probably already know if you have been reading our blog, Maui is one of the most beautiful Islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, and you can get amazing photographs in pretty much any corner of this Island.

But if you want to create a memory of a lifetime with your loved ones, it will need some preparation and anticipation.

If you yourself are an amateur photographer or if you are planning to hire a professional, it is important to understand why some locations are better than others.

To help you understand this blog, here is some basic knowledge that is good to know about photography:

Lighting is Key!

Any hour near sunset or sunrise will offer you a nice soft and low light, creating nice defining shadows on the face of your models without bringing to much unnecessary / anesthetics details. Definitely avoid the middle of the day.

It is hard to get ready and look good for a sunrise photoshoot, looking beautiful and awake at 6 pm is a real challenge! This is why most photoshoots happen around sunset time, to give you time to do you hair and makeup!

If shooting during sunset, it is recommended to find a beach that is not facing directly West, otherwise the sun glare on the water will be extremely strong and achieving this beautiful group portrait with the Ocean in the back will be a real challenge.

Deep and uncrowded background

Once you figured out your lighting, remember that the background matters! Do not forget that you are in Maui, you definitely want to showcase the magical surroundings.

A long beach, a point of view or a magnificent rain forest are without doubt the best types of locations you can find on this island!

At sunset time beaches can get really crowded. If you do not want some kids and swimmers “photobombing” your background, the best options will be to find an uncrowded location. Shoot at sunrise, or hire a professional photographer such as thehawaiianlifestylestudio that will be able to work around the crowd and also photoshop people out of the photo!

Now that you know the bases about what makes a location photograph friendly, here is our 5 favorite locations:

IronWood Beach:

Located on the West side of Maui, 10 minutes North of Lahaina, this beach is a perfect sunset location.  Offering unbelievable sunsets. This beach is facing north, which means you will not have too much sun glare on the water and can get beautiful portraits with the ocean in the background.

On top of that, the beach offers lots of diversity: a beautiful coastal trail, cliffs overlooking the ocean, and of course a beautiful white sand beach with clear blue water!

The access is pretty easy and only takes a 2 minute walk from the parking lot.

The only inconvenience of this beach is that it get really crowded. With weddings and photographers at sunset time, finding a parking spot can be difficult. The beach is really big and you will easily find a spot  away from the crowd to get your perfect shot!

Also it can get really windy, making the ladies hair fly! if you want to avoid crowds and wind, than we recommend that you wake up early 🙂

Honolua Bay Rain Forest:

Not really a secret location either, but damn it’s beautiful! Straight out of a fairy tale, it’s a perfect romantic and unique location.

Easy to access, only 15 minutes north of Lahaina. It offers an insane amount of beautiful trees, logs, palms and flowers to use as backgrounds and props!

Let you creativity take over, climbing the trees, playing with the roots, running on the paths etc.!

Again we recommend going when the light is softer. Otherwise the high contrast between sun spots and shade will be hard to work with.

If you are planning to do a long photoshoot, mosquito repellent is also recommended!

Haleakala National Park

It is way more more work to plan a photoshoot up there! Long drive and cold weather or part of this mission!

Our two first locations are definitely much easier to access and make happens. But if you are a real photo hunter, what is better than shooting over the clouds?

Not only, you will be floating on top of clouds, sitting on a mountain that looks like Mars. But on top of that you will have a 360 degree view letting you experiment with all light angles.

Haleakala means  “House of the Sun,”and is a sacred place, unlike anything you’ve witnessed before. Observing the sunrise break through the crater is a unique experience. Make sure to book a reservation for sunrise access!

Ulua Beach

If looking for the classic Hawaiian tropical look, Ulua beach is the place!

Beautiful calm beach with palm trees in the background. Cute boardwalks and hidden coves makes it a perfect location for a family shoot.

Located in the south shore near Wailea. We recommend going there at sunset time for the best lighting and a sky painted in soft orange and pink pastel colors.

Surf shoot

Make it different! Book a surf shoot!

If you are a more adventurous style, and like to do things differently, try booking a surf shoot with the Hawaiian Lifestyle Studio. 

Bring or rent the most beautiful surfboard you can find, and be ready to get wet!

Start on the beach by posing with our without your board, and continue your way into the ocean. Playing with the water, sitting and relaxing on your board and of course surfing!

Launiupoko is the perfect location for this, small friendly waves all year, beautiful beach park, and most importantly an astonishing view on the west Maui mountains in the Background!

So have you decided where you will plan your next photoshoot? Make sure to grab a coffee at Belle Surf Cafe to have your eyes fully open during morning shoots!