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Meredith Sledge Kempf | Oahu Photographer

@meredithsledge

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Oahu photographer specializing in weddings, family & senior portraits. Film-inspired, natural images for meaningful moments in Hawaii.

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So beyond blessed to have a family like this. The older I get and the more kids I have, the more God shows me how precious life is — how being able to breathe, walk, and laugh each day is actually the biggest gift. I am truly grateful and hope I never take a day for granted. We are rich because we have each other. Thank you Jesus! And thank you to the incredible @paulinehammerphotography for capturing our family for the second year! Photos by her, edits by me. Oahu family photos taken in The Ritz-Carlton O‘ahu, Turtle Bay by @meredithsledge

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a month ago

Welcome to the world Henley Barnes Kempf! Our little guy was born 5/13 at 2:06PM weighing 8 lbs and 4 oz! He’s precious and another gift from the Lord!! For those of you who love birth stories, I’ll share below!! If you don’t like in depth details from an unmedicated labor, move right along. Haha!

This baby has been feeling really low for a month or more and I had been wondering if he would come early but absolutely didn’t want to get my hopes up! My due date was 5/18. But I woke up at about 4:30AM on 5/13 with a sensation that felt a bit familiar. I laid there for 30 more minutes and it happened a couple more times and I started to wonder if labor was beginning!

I have so many friends who have had very fast subsequent births and we live over an hour from the hospital so I ended up waking Sam and we decided to slowly start gathering our things and we let Raleigh’s amazing caretaker Janice (who is also a doula) know what was happening.

Contractions kept coming but were pretty mild for a bit but fairly close together. After a couple hours they were definitely getting a touch stronger but were very unorganized and all over the place but I didn’t love the idea of a car birth so we called Janice over.

When she got to our place forty five minutes later, my contractions stopped. Completely. I thought maybe they had stalled because Raleigh woke up for the day and I was a little stressed but I honestly mostly thought it had just been false labor. We sent Janice back home and about an hour and a half later after lots of second guessing, I decided it would be best to just go to the hospital and be close by. Laboring in the car with Raleigh was rough so I wanted to avoid that.

Continued in comments… taken in North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii by @meredithsledge

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5 months ago

I’ve been getting a few new followers around here lately so I thought I’d just say hi, introduce myself, and hopefully encourage you to book a shoot! I’m so excited to meet all of you! taken in Honolulu, Hawaii by @meredithsledge

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5 years ago

Happy Saturday!! It’s starting to feel a little more like fall here in Hawaii which basically just means it’s 5 degrees colder sometimes but it’s my favorite time of year!

Also today I am so excited to share one of my all time favorite family shoots with you and a fun fact about this one! It was calling for rain around our normal sunset shoot time and because I’ve had so many rainy shoots lately, I made the call to bump it a couple hours earlier. Well, as soon as I get there the sun blasts out from behind the clouds and was so bright. Usually for a natural light photographer (especially in Hawaii on the beach without trees), we love softer sunset light but the lighting in this shoot is honestly some of my favorite light I’ve shot in. I ADORE how these turned out and it just reminded me how when you get challenged and do something different, you might end up loving it!

Shoutout to the amazing Jahn family who came all the way from Austria to enjoy Hawaii and have me do their photos. They were so darling! Oahu family photographer taken in The Ritz-Carlton O‘ahu, Turtle Bay by @meredithsledge

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15 hours ago

A glorious senior session with the most beautiful sunset!! Can’t believe this is basically my backyard!!! 😍 Oahu Hawaii senior photos by @meredithsledge

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4 days ago

Unwell over this breathtaking family session! Sam and I got our maternity photos done at this location over three years ago and I’ve been obsessed ever since. It was a dream come true to capture someone else’s family here!!! @syderlinger, your family is PRECIOUS!!!! Oahu family photographer taken in The Ritz-Carlton O‘ahu, Turtle Bay by @meredithsledge

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8 days ago

Where do I begin with this gorgeous, precious family?! Before I even got pregnant with Henley, I was nervous for who would watch Raleigh when I went to the hospital to deliver. It was just something I had thought about early on. We don’t have family on Oahu so situations like that can be stressful.

After I got pregnant I had no clue what to do because at that point, everyone I thought of had their own young kids. Raleigh wasn’t sleeping through the night still and it made me so anxious every time I thought about it. I started praying that God would provide the perfect person and that He would show me who that was and a few months before Henley was born, I got a message from Janice, who goes to our church, letting me know she would be happy to be my doula or could help with Raleigh if I needed. It was seriously the biggest blessing EVER. Her kids are a little older now and she’s the most loving mom and I felt immediate peace about her watching Raleigh.

Little did I know Raleigh would get to know their whole family and absolutely fall in love with them. The videos they sent when we were stuck in the hospital for two long days brought me to tears. There’s nothing better than knowing your kiddos are being loved and taken care of when you have to be away. And now Raleigh is obsessed with Kira and Eden and we just feel so grateful to have gotten to know them!!!

I was emotional driving to their family shoot because if you know the Bowdlers, you know they really are the most generous and kind humans you will ever meet! I’m so honored I got to capture their love for each other. Hope you guys love these as much as I do! Oahu family photos taken in The Ritz-Carlton O‘ahu, Turtle Bay by @meredithsledge

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13 days ago

It has been the busiest couple months for my business and I am so grateful to be doing what I love!!! It’s also been rainy nonstop here and that has made being an outdoor photographer a bit of a challenge. Haha!! I’ve had to adjust shoot times, move locations, wait out the rain…. You name it! This was one of those shoots where it was POURING while we were supposed to be shooting. Thank the Lord after about thirty minutes it stopped and we were able to get the shoot done and it was PERFECTION!!!! You know I love my seniors!!! This one was so good! Oahu senior photos taken in Kualoa Ranch by @meredithsledge

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16 days ago

Happy four months to our Henley boy! God knew we needed this little guy. He is already a bright light who brings so much joy to our lives and I have a feeling he’s going to be bringing lots of joy to those around him as he grows older. When I was pregnant with Henley, I felt like he’d be calm and happy when he came out and that has been so accurate. I know the toddler years lie ahead so I’m sure he’ll find his wild side but I can’t get over how peaceful I feel because of him. I swear he cured my anxiety. Haha!! 🙌🏼 Oahu family photographer taken in North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii by @meredithsledge

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21 days ago

I’ve had the BEST time with all these seniors! Seriously my dream come true capturing so many senior sessions! Emma, I loved our time together!! Oahu senior photos taken in The Ritz-Carlton O‘ahu, Turtle Bay by @meredithsledge

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a month ago

I photographed this absolutely stunning family two years ago and it was truly magical capturing them again. We had the most gorgeous light and their kids were angels! Obsessed with these!!!! Turtle Bay family photos taken in The Ritz-Carlton O‘ahu, Turtle Bay by @meredithsledge

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a month ago

A few favorites of @luxurylifestylestudiosllc’s adorable family! It has been a month full of capturing families that I’ve worked with before and that is the biggest honor!! We barely dodged hurricane Lala for this shoot but didn’t quite dodge the rain. Thankfully we got some great ones just before the storm hit! Oahu family photographer taken in North Shore, Oahu, Hawaii by @meredithsledge

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a month ago