Jean-Marie Biret's traditional Tahitian dance troop MANAHAU is performing every Saturday night at the Sofitel Hotel on Tahiti.  The "Season of the Wind"  is the theme of the new show starring Aruhoia Biret voted best dancer of Ori Tahiti at the Heiva Festival in 2010.  Come and enjoy this stunning show performed around the pool area.

 

A few years ago, the TMK team was mesmerized by the beauty of one of the dancers in the Tahitian dance group EI TAHITI.  She had the grace of Audrey Hepburn and also exotic charm for which Polynesian women are renowned, with her long shining hair and voluptuous lips.  Her name was Rauata Temauri.  In addition, Rauata proved to be a talented model to work with -  smart and down to earth, a real natural.  After graduating in Communication Studies, she became a teacher but continued to do a few modeling jobs for us :  the Hinano campaign and catalogue, OPT, Enchanted Isles, GIE Tahiti Tourism, Surfeuses swimsuit issue, etc.   At 22 years old, she unsurprisingly won the title of Miss Tahiti 2011.  The TMK team now  supports her to become Miss France 2012 at a ceremony on 3rd December in Brest, France,  broadcast by TF1….  We're all behind you, Rauata !

Tahiti Tilted !

Check out Tahiti as you have never seen it before.
Aerial images of French Polynesia using the tilt shift photography effect.

"Tilt-shift" photography encompasses two different types of movements:  rotation of the lens plane relative to the image plane, called tilt, and movement of the lens parallel to the image plane, called shift. Tilt is used to control the orientation of the plane of focus (PoF), and hence the part of an image that appears sharp; it makes use of the Scheimpflug principle. Shift is used to adjust the position of the subject in the image area without moving the camera back; this is often helpful in avoiding the convergence of parallel lines, as when photographing tall buildings.
Tilt Shift lenses are frequently used in architectural photography to control perspective, and in landscape photography to get an entire scene sharp. They can also be used  to create a selective focus area to simulate a miniature scene. Outrigger canoes, small boats, jetskis and surfers are perfect subjects for this.  This is the photographic effect Tim has been working on while flying around French Polynesia these last few years.
 

Tahiti Iti from Above
A bird's-eye view of Tahiti's Peninsula island.

Take a trip above Tahiti's spectacular peninsula known as Tairapu or Tahiti Iti.  
Tahiti Iti means 'small' Tahiti and is situated to the south of Tahiti's 'big' island, Tahiti Nui.  The two "islands" are joined by a small isthmus at Taravao.  It took Mother Nature 4.5 million years to build this stunning volcanic island.

Prized by the most famous chefs worldwide, Tahitian Vanilla,Vanilla X Tahitensis, takes its unique flavours from its long maturation under the sun of the Polynesian Islands of Tahaa, Bora Bora and Raiatea. The Assembly Hall of French Polynesia will host  'Vanilla Week',  "La semaine de la Vanille" from the 8th - 11th June.  See http://www.vanilledetahiti.com for more info.

Based in the Marina Taina, Papeete, Tahiti for the last few months, Miss Kulani, a brand new 75-foot Marlow Explorer motor yacht,  is now ready to take groups or families on charter trips around the Polynesian Islands.  Captain Stanley Chave and his crew will take you on a dream tour through the turquoises waters of the South Pacific. The yacht can host up to 8 guests in four cabins. The ideal solution for visiting French Polynesia's paradise.

Aquos Yachts is re-defining Expedition Yachting with this luxury vessel, the "Big Fish".  From "transformer-style" swim platforms to the world's first stone deck,  Marshall Naval Architects, Canada have re-invented every corner of this stunning yacht making it one of the most innovative  worldwide. We were lucky to be able to shoot it while it was crossing French Polynesian waters after its launch in New Zealand.

Soon available for charter in Polynesia, luxury sailing yacht BLISS is a 37,00m (121' 4") yacht launched in 2009, designed by Dubois Naval Architects and constructed by Yachting Developments.  This 37m yacht is one of the southern hemisphere’s largest composite sloop's and one of the finest yachts built in its category in recent times.
Top crew comprises Captain Ross Haerle and his wife Susan who is an excellent chef trained in the best French gastronomic restaurants and Peter & Emma Weller respectively engineer and stewardess.

Check the Bliss site for more information.   http://www.sybliss.com/index.html

Tim McKenna photography signs the  2011 Hinano Calendar with original photography enhanced by amazing light tattoos created by graphic designer Pierre Guillaume Baret.  This calendar is destined to  become a collector's item.

In October 2009 Tim was commissioned by Nikon to shoot images in French Polynesia for the promotion of the new Nikkor lens range 2010. 
His mission included surf and kitesurfing action images but also night scenes, fauna and landscapes. Here is a selection of what he came up with.