Photographer looking to move to maui or oahu - advice please :) (Kihei: fit in, to rent)

[peacelove&photos]

I know, I know - another photographer in hawaii - right.
But its my passion , not my job- It just happens to make me money - and surfing is my other passion. And I just absolutly fell in love with the way of life there!

So, we are a family of 4 (my boyfriend and I, and we have two daughters a 5yr old and a 2yr old) Im just wondering if we are going to be able to make it there? Should we not try at all, we will fail, is it not fair to my daughters? or should we give it a go, you only live once?

My boyfriend and I run the photography biz together and are fairly priced I think, we like to provide beautiful photos to people for what they can afford. We do family,senior,weddings, etc... He can also take up a construction job (if there even are any?) and I also do a bit of graphic design from home. We are currently living comfortable off about $2000 (which i know would probably only cover our rent there) a month. But our "comfortable" im sure is a lot less comfortable than most We dont need a huge place to live (we will be renting btw) and do not need all the unnesecary extras. We just want to live and enjoy the outdoors, and teach our daughters to appreciate the important things in life!

SO my questions...
should we make the move? (we currently really DISLIKE where we live)
Is Paia a good place for a family?
If not where do you reccomend?
Can we do the photography thing? or will we need to do something else?
What is a good savings to save up before we make the move?

-the whole schooling issue- is not an issue with us, the schooling is bad here too drugs however we would like to stay away from, but we currently live in a pretty meth head infested area now. THanks so much for any info!! - Sorry for the novel, but whenever i dont give background info i get unwanted answers

[Calico Salsa]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Even though you felt like you wrote a lot, I don't think we would know enough to answer your questions.

You may take lovely photos, but as I'm sure you know the bigger hurdle is always getting the client, or selling your work. If you are good at both of those, then you'll survive anywhere. But if you only take great photos but are not so good at self-promotion, then you won't make it in a place where there may be others who are more established.

Should you move? Not enough info. If you want to, are willing to risk it and figure out how to make it work, then sure. If you want a guarantee, tend to blame the circumstances, or want a lot of easy time, then no. Personally I think it is worth the adventure, but you won't know until you try.

Paia is a good place to move, depending on what you like. You'll end up driving across the island to most of your clients - weddings are almost all in Wailea or Lahaina. Family - again probably most of your work will be away from Paia, but that shouldn't stop you if Paia is what you like. More rural, more hippy than Kihei. Nice coast, but often very windy, and wetter than the other side. Fewer sidewalks, fewer stores, but those who live there like that.

What do you mean by "fair to your daughters" if you "fail"? It all depends on how you let it affect them. They are too young to understand finances and such. They will only know how you treat them, and how happy you are. If you greet them always with smiles and love, if you spend time with them, if you go to the beach or go for walks, or play in the dirt, then they don't care. But if you are going around with a frown and worry and grumble all the time, then they won't be happy. If you constantly tell them you are poor and what they can't have, they will think they are missing something. They are only 2 and 5. Their riches are time with you and experiences, not things.

If you are living comfortably off $2000, then maybe you don't really need a lot of extras. The basics cost more here, but if you don't need all the "stuff", then you'll adjust where ever you are.

[eureka1]

Have you done Step One, which is to research the market and your competition?

[peacelove&photos]

Thank You, Calico Salsa!
I have actually posted here before, I had just forgotten my login/password since its been awhile ha ha. but Thank you for the welcome !

I would say we are pretty good at self promoting - we are actually overbooked here, I have to Send clients elsewhere a lot lately i am so overbooked. ( i should be editing right now) ha ha. I know it will be more difficult there since we will know no one, but I think like you said we will never know until we try!

We actually live in a very very small rural town in the middle of no where , so we are used to driving an 1hr+ to our clients.

So you think paia will be fine for the kiddos? I was only there for a couple days, but it seemed great!

I agree completely with you about my daughters, I have just had a few people tell me im crazy for wanting to do that to them. But in my opionion it will only benefit them! But all people here care about is money- they dont see the bigger picture.

Are there any other nice rural towns we should check out? Is paia pretty expensive?
We liked oahu's north shore as well, but heard housing/rent was pretty expensive?

Thank you so much for reply, its very much appreciated!

I have eureka1 - Thanks!

[Calico Salsa]

Depending on where you live in Paia, there may not be other small children within easy or safe walking distance. I mean safe as in sidewalks without blind curves. But then again you could luck out and live on a block or street with other kids.

At 2 and 5, your kids won't yet miss the ability to walk outside or down the block to play with other kids, so that may not be a problem. And of course by the time they are ready, you could have moved or other families moved close to you.

If you have any specific medical needs, the distance from Paia to a hospital is something to consider. Not just the miles, but consider the 2-lane road that's often bumper to bumper during peak hours. I'd hate to be stuck in traffic with something urgent going on, although here people are great about moving over for an ambulance.

Makawao is rural, and just up the hill from Paia. Kula is further up than that.

Gosh it all depends on what you like to do. Staying low is nice if you like it warmer and near the beaches. Upcountry is nice if you like it cooler (and often wetter) and away from the visitor crowds.

The other thing is that you can always move. If you come over and rent, you'll live where ever you start, find out a lot about the island and what suits you, then you can relocate to try another area.

[peacelove&photos]

Awesome thanks so much!
Eh, ya the sidewalks and no other kids are not a problem! There are no kids where we live now, barely any people for that matter, Its just cold,wet, and dark. and the nearest hospital is an hour away from here as well.

Im pretty positive that we will like an area there, lol! But like you said that is definitly the plus side to renting, we can just move if we dont like it! - which we are pretty easy going so i dont really see any downsides that we will dislike that much.

I think we are just going to go with it and go wherever we can find a place in a rural area in maui or oahu! as long as we are out of washington we will be happy! Thank you again for your imput and maybe I will see you over there in about 8 months!

[Calico Salsa]

Great! Keep us all posted on your process of moving over, it will help everyone else contemplating the same.

Lots of good info on this site about packing, shipping, what to bring & what to leave behind.

If you have dogs or cats, better start now and look into the process for moving them.

When you do get relocated, send me a message and I'll introduce you to a good photo lab for your printing.

[Dthraco]

Originally Posted by peacelove&photos

... as long as we are out of washington we will be happy!

Definitely feeling that. Driving to work in the dark and driving home in the dark sure puts a damper on being outside.

Not to mention...we have that 20 days of not seeing the sun at all (rain) coming up in mid december. I think one of the things that people not in Wahsington don't realize is that when it's overcast and raining here, it's not just one layer of clouds droping rain. It's several layers trapped between mountains pretty much blocking the sun all together.

But hey! Makes for great book reading / movie going / fire snugglin weather!

[whynot?]

Think it really depends upon your image of yourself as an "event photographer." My background is as a high-end (retail) art director.

We have a friend who came over as a similarly high-end (even celeb) event/wedding photog who was -- momentarily -- entranced. Then reality set in. She realized it would be a lot of (for her) one-off, married-on-Maui-which-actually-happens-every-day events v. a fairly dependable stream of unique events that she can fit in between her fine-arts interests.

If you want to make a living and have talent, it can work. (But there are mainstream/real-world compromises.) Don't want to quash your dreams, but do be practical.

Best of luck.