Dallas, Hawaii

Photographer Dallas Nagata White at Fort DeRussy Beach Park, which is one of her favorite spots to shoot PHOTO BY ANTHONY CONSILLIO

Photographer Dallas Nagata White at Fort DeRussy Beach Park, which is one of her favorite spots to shoot
PHOTO BY ANTHONY CONSILLIO

In the summer of 2012, when a striking, surreal photo of a couple kissing in the rain while lava erupts behind them went viral, everyone on the Internet was on the hunt for the genius behind it and the secret of how she did it. The photo was entered in National Geographic‘s Traveler Photo Contest, then shared by The Atlantic‘s In Focus section — and then it went pretty much everywhere, showing up in various photo blogs, Huffington Post and Glamour.

The photo, “Lava Kiss” (pictured on the cover), was taken by Oahu-based freelance photographer Dallas Nagata White, who explains that the epic picture was really more of a lucky accident than a planned shoot. White, her husband Ed and some of their friends had been on a guided tour around Kilauea during an eruption, and she set up a photo shoot (via timer) near where it was flowing. Just as they were finishing up a round of photos, Ed said “one more” — and that’s when he dipped White and kissed her.

“That was such a spontaneous, not planned picture,” White recalls.

It is that sort of spontaneity that White welcomes as a part of her creative process in her work as a freelance photographer and sole proprietor of Dallas Nagata White Photography. When composing her vast landscape shots, dreamy time lapses and stunning fashion portraits — all swimming in bold, vibrant colors — White tends to go in without a strict plan. Instead, she brings a concept and lets the surroundings speak to her.

“I don’t ever plan things,” she says. “I just show up and work with the environment to capture it at its best.”

After all, her foray into photography was something of a lucky accident in itself — she only signed up for a photo class her first semester in college because all the other introductory art classes were full. Her first love was drawing — a passion that was sparked when she discovered anime such as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z on Cartoon Network’s Toonami lineup as a kid on Maui. By the time she moved to Oahu to attend UH Manoa, she was pretty set on majoring in art to focus on drawing and painting.

It was while studying abroad in Italy, enchanted by the sprawling landscapes and ancient architecture, that she really got into photography.

While finishing her BA in studio art, White was recommended by one of her professors to be an assistant to a fashion photographer. (White had seen the request on an email blast, but assumed she wasn’t experienced enough to do it. “I have had a very fortuitous life where stuff just gets shoved into my lap, and then I can’t run away from it,” she jokes.)

As an assistant, White contributed to shoots with well-known brands such as Tori Richard and Honolua Surf Company. Soon, she also was picking up portrait and wedding jobs on her own, later branching out into commercial and editorial work.

These days, she’s busy. She’s garnered an impressive list of clients that includes several local publications, retailers and musicians. Recently, White has shot a road trip across Ireland, a wedding in Palm Springs, a series of ads for Pepsi and local singer-songwriter Erin Smith’s new album cover.

“What appealed to me most about Dallas’ work is that she has a way of showcasing the subject and the background — without losing the subject,” Smith says.

“She has a really, really great eye for composition,” says Amber Chesebro of Salty Girl Jewelry, for which White has conducted product and marketing shoots. “She has nailed every photo shoot that we’ve done together, and I’m always blown away by how the resulting images are so close to what I had in mind.”

Flipping through her portfolio, White has a story to tell for each of her images.

“This one I took right after meeting the Dalai Lama, when he was blessing the Hokulea a few years ago,” she says of “Blue Hawaii” (pictured above, bottom right).

“In this one,” she says pointing to “Underwater Meditation” (above, bottom left), “my friend Lauren wanted to go swimming, and when we were swimming, I saw the coral and thought it would be cool if she would go down the rock face.”

While White jokes that her somewhat off-the-cuff style stems from “laziness” when it comes to planning, it’s obvious she’s just being modest. She’s adaptable; she feeds off of a situation to get at the heart of what is going on. Her images are carefully crafted, composed into snapshots of beautiful moments.

Like “Lava Kiss,” for instance. When it went viral, most people loved it; the main reason anyone had any negative commentary about it was because they thought it was Photoshopped — it’s that perfect. (What does it say about us that we think anything beautiful has to be fake?) It’s a delicate, fleeting slice of life. And there is a true disciplined skill in curating and capturing those moments.

That ability also, it seems, runs on the belief that these tiny, real happenings are better than anything we can plan for.

“I try to be candid,” White says, “illustrating the moment … It’s just about being aware and paying attention and finding these moments.”

For more about Dallas Nagata White and to view her work, visit dnwphoto.com.