Hosted by Tanya Yamanaka, Ola Ka Moku is a podcast for and about the people and places of Hawaii Island. Today, the word of the day is Beauty. Guest and photographer Sara Linton shares her love of Hawaii Island and how she followed her heart to capturing the spirit and wonder of our home. Sara sees beauty as a way of life, and way through moving through lifeʻs "lifey" moments. I hope you enjoy this episode.
Mahalo for listening to Ola Ka Moku, Hawaii Islandʻs Community Podcast. To support this show or listen to more episodes, visit www.olakamoku.com. For more information about Sara, visit saramariehawaii.com, thatʻs S A R A M A R I E H A W A I I.com, https://www.facebook.com/saramariehawaii/ and @saramariehawaii on Insta. Thank you for supporting her work.
This program has been sponsored by Hawaii Island Adult Care, a nonprofit adult day care and respite services provider in East Hawaii. For more information, visit www.hawaiiislandadultcare.org.
Ola Ka Moku – Our Island Thrives
Hosted by Tanya Yamanaka, Ola Ka Moku is a podcast for and about the people and places of Hawaii Island. Today, the word of the day is Beauty. Guest and photographer Sara Linton shares her love of Hawaii Island and how she followed her heart to capturing the spirit and wonder of our home. Sara sees beauty as a way of life, and way through moving through lifeʻs "lifey" moments. I hope you enjoy this episode.
Mahalo for listening to Ola Ka Moku, Hawaii Islandʻs Community Podcast. To support this show or listen to more episodes, visit www.olakamoku.com. For more information about Sara, visit saramariehawaii.com, thatʻs S A R A M A R I E H A W A I I.com, https://www.facebook.com/saramariehawaii/ and @saramariehawaii on Insta. Thank you for supporting her work.
This program has been sponsored by Hawaii Island Adult Care, a nonprofit adult day care and respite services provider in East Hawaii. For more information, visit www.hawaiiislandadultcare.org.
Ola Ka Moku – Our Island Thrives
Welcome to Ola Ka Moku, Our Island Thrives, Hawaii Islandʻs Community Podcast. I'm your host, Tanya Yamanaka.
Today we're talking heart to heart with a local photographer. The word of the day is beauty! When I first met my guest I immediately thought of this quote by Rumi, the 13th century Persian poet, Muslim scholar and Sufi Mystic. “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” Itʻs another of my favorite quotes and itʻs my hope today that you feel the beauty that this artist exudes. Sara Marie Linton is a professional photographer and a lover of life, beauty, nature, music, and art. She defines herself on her website as a free spirit with a happy heart and a hopeful soul, and it is her embodiment of this self-awareness and self-definition that, I think, led me to invite her as a guest. Sara has been photographing professionally in various forms since 2007 and has lived on Hawaii Island since 2001. Welcome to Ola Ka Moku, Sara!
Sara: Thank you for having me.
Tanya: So, let's, you know, talk first about, you know, how did you get into photography, especially professionally?
Sara: It was a long journey of a hobby that turned into a passion. That now turned into a career and it's been a beautiful, beautiful journey. Not the easiest journey, but it's been beautiful journey. I moved to Hawaii when I was 21 years old and I was gifted a camera by my dad for that first Christmas when I was here. It was a film camera back in the day, and I thought, while I have this really nice camera, I should probably use it. And so I started going out and capturing sunsets and flowers and all the beautiful things that Hawaii and the Big Island have to offer. And it was really the, the sunsets that captivated my heart, that captivated my soul, the same exact thing. The sun rising and then the sun setting every single day. The sun going down past the horizon in the ocean every single day. It was the same act that was repetitive. And the same act that repeated every single day was completely different every single day. The magic was different depending on the elements and just the different factors. Maybe it was even the mood that I was in, and that in itself, to me just seemed like pure magic because of the way it made me feel. And so that turned into a passion.
And so I talked, brought, brought my camera with me everywhere and it was at a, Kawaihae Canoe Club Luau, our annual fundraiser that I was sitting next to my dear, dear friend, mentor, motherly, figure, auntie, everyone, Carolyn Richardson. And she kind of tapped me on the shoulder and said, Hey, how would you like to take pictures during the day? I take pictures and I'm gonna need some help. And I thought to myself, yes, that's exactly what I want to do. And so I was actually hired as a photographic assistant with Carolyn Richardson, and I would go along to her photo shoots and I learned the technical things of photography and I learned, you know, all the things to kind of do it as a business, as an actual paid gig, if you will. And from there it just kind of, the camera, my camera was an extension of me. And I just started taking pictures of anything and everything, and it just kind of turned into this, wow, not only do I love it, and I'm passionate about it, but I'm getting kind of good at it too, and it's making me happy. And it was this cycle, this circle that it was like each time I re realized and remembered that it was making me happier, I got a little bit better. And when I realized I was getting a little bit better with my photos, it made me even happier. So it was this thing that kind of played on itself and added to itself and snowballed in itself. And now I look back and I kind of wonder how the heck did I get here? But I know that there's these beautiful lily pads. Some are people, some are summer experiences that let me kind of hop along. And here I am, and I pinch myself that this is what I do for a living. My job is making money with my camera, capturing beauty, whether it's homes on the island, people of the island, the flowers and the sunsets, whatever it is, I have a different, a couple different ways how I am able to make a living, you know, by capturing the beauty.
Tanya: Right.
Sara: And it's amazing.
Tanya: And I just love, as part of your story here, that the camera was gifted to you. The opportunity was gifted to you, uh, the mentorship was gifted to you.
Sara: Mm-hmm.
Tanya: I mean, you literally received this huge gift and just followed the intuition too.
Sara: That's exactly what it was. When Carolyn, at that luau, we were sitting on a a tree stump together. Really just enjoying ourselves. And when we had that conversation, it was like that whoever is up in the skies, whoever is that higher power, it was like they were tapping me on the shoulder going, listen, don't let this one go. Listen. And it was one of those, I didn't know why or how. But my heart and my soul were just, it was like a string was pulling me forward, guiding me to this. I didn't have as much many questions. I just was, it was like a knowing of this unknowing, but I just followed that intuition and it was, yeah, that's exactly, it has all been gifted to me. Sometimes I feel like it's been on a beautiful platinum platter with a pretty red bow tied around it. Gifted to me, and I've never taken that for granted. I've, I've, I've held that beauty of that gift. That feeling of that gift, kind of just looking around going, I don't know where this came from, but I absolutely love it and I'm gonna just go forward with it.
Tanya: So what's your favorite part of the photography process? I mean, there's the, you know, intuitive part of where you wanna go and shoot. Or if it's a business thing, it's scheduled, you know? And then there's the actual technical part of taking the photos, and then there's a post process. There's a, a lot of people don't realize, you know, we all have phones in the iPhones now, right? So we take pictures and we take our selfies. But professional photographers, it's a process that you go through.
Sara: It's definitely a process. And there's a lot of computer time, I won't lie. Right. Get your, get your prescription for your glasses because there's a lot of computer time. But my absolute favorite part is ...being able just to add that little twist, seeing the beauty and capturing the beauty of everyday things. We all pass by flowers. We all pass by street posts, whatever it is. But then when you see just the way that light is hitting it perfectly and it turns this lamp post or whatever it is into this work of art, and I just have to click a button and it captures it. I just love being able to, I mean, there are definitely times where I say, okay, I need to go photograph this, so I'm gonna go look for whatever that is that I need to photograph. But I love it when the things almost choose me to be photographed. You know, it's, you're walking by this whole row of trees, but there's one tree in particular that you have no idea why, but your attention is just gravitated right toward it. And it's like, okay, tree, I hear you. I see you. Let's do this. And I don't have any words for it. It's just this internal knowing. That's my favorite part, being able to go to a, maybe it's a sunset scene. Maybe it's in the grasses at Mauka. Maybe it's, maybe it's just in my front yard when I wake up in the morning, but just I feel like I'm very special that beauty kind of chooses me. It knows that my eyes are open to see it, that my heart is open to see it. And that's the best. It's just, it's like that intuitive, just, I don't know what I'm looking for, it'll find me, and that's like the best. Part of photography for me.
Tanya: Right. What are your favorite subjects?
Sara: I am a complete, sunset and star fanatic, so any kind of sunsets, whether it's in the grasses or out by the ocean, the night sky to me, I can get lost in the nighttime sky. All of the stars, the way the moon is, the way the clouds kind of pass and are lit up by the moon. I love flowers. I really like to capture flowers kind of in a different way. Like the backs of flowers, the backs of the petals, or the way you can get that sunburst coming through. Just like the little puka between the petals or something like that. Just capturing flowers in a different way. But definitely nature is my favorite. And I love capturing. I also love capturing, moments and action that are already happening. I don't wanna say, “Hey Tanya, go move over this way to the left a little bit, or this or that.” I wanna capture you and your element having a great time already, and just capturing that spirit from within without you knowing necessarily. That's my other favorite part of photography.
Tanya: Hmm. Especially with humans. Yes. Yes, because. Then we get to see a side of us that other people usually see. And sometimes you're surprised when you see. I might, I kind of like myself Exactly. More than I would, you know, like we're always inside of ourselves.
Sara: Exactly. Capturing someone genuinely smiling at someone else. Genuinely chuckling, you know, with someone else. And connecting with someone else. As soon as you say, “Hey, look at me, I have a camera. “All of that disappears, right. For the most part. Right. It's, and then it becomes a opposed picture, but just being able to capture moments in time that will be treasured for a lifetime. Is pretty amazing.
Tanya: Mm-hmm. Yes. My favorite photos are definitely not the ones of my grandson when I say, look at grandma, and then they put on the cheese. As cute as those are, it is. Not how I would capture that special moment?
Sara: Exactly.
Tanya: One of my favorite photos that I saw on your website that you've done is literally just a road scene, and I don't know why, but I love that photo because for me it just denotes like the road ahead. So it's just meaningful to me right now. And so, how do you, you know, as, as a business, photography, what the, what photos mean to you don't mean to the, the same thing necessary to people who are buying them. So how do you grow through that?
Sara: That's one of the funnest parts too, because like a lot of folks, what you do, whether it's for a living or for a passion, you put a lot of yourself into that. And what that means to me is there's a lot of emotion connected to that. So that particular road photo, I know exactly what you're talking about. It was this golden afternoon on the saddle road. Um, And it was actually out there looking for Poeo. I was out to photograph pueo (Hawaiian owl) and there weren't any pueo out there at the time. And I thought, well, shucks, this road is really pretty right now with this golden sun. Let's just see what I can do. And so I got down and I took this beautiful photo and I love it for the same reason you do it kind of. It's that road ahead to me. It means one thing to you. It means something different, and to someone else that's gonna mean something different. And I think that's such a wonderful part about photography is the interpretation of the photo. So I know, like I said, it was the time of day. I know who I was with. I know my intentions of that day. I know you know all the things that are going inside for me. But what I think is amazing is exactly what does it mean to you? Where does your road lead? This golden road. The name of the photo is Golden Road. Where does your Golden Road lead you? And what about him over there? Where does his Golden road lead him? And yours might be different today than it is tomorrow, than it was yesterday.
Tanya: It does, it changes for me.
Sara: And to me, I think that's so wonderful. And so that is one of those styles of photos that I do like to take. Another one of mine that is kind of popular, if you will, are those beautiful stairs down in Kawaihae that lead you into the ocean. Well, where do those stairs lead you? Where do that, you know, and to me it, it leads to a place of wonder. To a place of magic. It could be, well, shucks, that road's gonna lead me to the store I got some shopping to do. Or right. It can lead me right to this magical world of wonder. And to me like that, I mean, you can see the way I'm talking. I'm getting all excited right now. My hands are moving because of this is the juicy deliciousness of photography is the internal interpretation. I wanna know your warm fuzzies. Where does it lead you? How does it make you feel?
Tanya: Totally, totally. And that's what I love about a lot of your shots is they're like a moment in time, but every day for some reason, that moment feels a little different. You know, and it's kind of like what you said about the sun, uh, sunsets and the sunrises, you know, they happen every day, but they're different every day, every time you see one, just like anytime you, you know, go the volcano or go anywhere, it's different every day and you capture that and then it just makes me realize, oh yeah, we live on a great planet where it's exactly, it's changing every moment, and yet it's, there's still a regularity.
Sara: There's still, a regularity and, and that for me, let's, let's be honest, life is really, really, really good. Life is amazing, and life also has its challenges. Not every day is pretty unicorns and daisies. And it can be, yeah. You know, beauty is that constant. It's that when the world is shifting, when there's all these crazy things going on. When someone maybe rubbed me the wrong way or maybe I rub someone the wrong way, I don't know. It all works hand in hand. Beauty is that constant. It's as important as gravity, as air. As the wind, the breeze, it's, it's as sunlight, you know? It's, it's, it's in an ever-changing world. For me. It's the constant that beautiful sun is always gonna set into the ocean. That beautiful flower is always gonna bloom. And then it's up to me if I decide, I wanna look at it and see it and feel it, because you can get caught up into, into life. Life is very lifey. That's one of my favorite quote. Life can be very lifey at times.
Tanya: That's a great quote.
Sara: And, and it's kind of like, you know, I know a lot of people who start their day with, whether it's a gratitude journal or at least thinking things that they're grateful about or, or, or writing it down. And for me it's that, okay, be grateful and, and also just be intentional in observing it. It's that, you know, wake up in the morning and the first thing that I do is I open my front door and I look at Mauna Kea. Sometimes it's completely covered with clouds. I live in Waimea and even then, I know what she looks like behind those dark rainy clouds because of every single morning I wake up and I see her golden or purple or, or shining and green or whatever it is. You know, it's that intentional. And it's not, it's, it's not even like searching for beauty. Beauty is everywhere. You don't have to take a drive. You don't have to, you know, necessarily have it be this big deal. Just take the time, the 20 seconds, the 30 seconds to look outside and to appreciate it. Look at the way the grass is blowing and reflecting the light or the dew drops on there, you know, because how easy is it to wake up in the morning and start our to-do list right away? Make the coffee, brush the teeth, make your list, or whatever it is. But if you're listening right now, I really encourage you when you make your daily to-do lists, maybe at the top or toward the top of there, take 30 seconds or maybe five minutes or however long you have.
Tanya: Stretch it. As long as you can, stretch it.
Sara: Stretch it as long as you possibly can. And what is, what captures your interest? What is beauty to you? My beauty might not be your beauty, but I betcha you have that beauty that you appreciate and that you're passionate about. And I have a feeling that it makes you feel really good. And if it makes you feel really good, I have a feeling that you might wanna continue doing it. And so I just encourage you to just keep doing that. Just seeing it. I have my camera. That's my passion. I like to capture it. Those moments in time. I like to figure out what buttons I need to push or what dials I need to turn to make it look exactly how I want. But even without my camera, we all have that camera. It's our mind, it's our heart. You know, we get to carry it with for the rest of our life. And I just think that, you know, appreciating and acknowledging and just seeing beauty, it can be a way of life. And even when the, the unicorns and the daisies of life are a little bit, um, more faint. Just bring your back, bring yourself back to center, take the 20 seconds, take a breath and just look at something pretty. And I don't know, it works for me. And so I'm a, I'm a, I'm a testament to, to beauty in itself and nature in itself and whoever created or whatever collective created all this beauty together. Like, there's not, there's not a word big enough to express like my mahalo for it. You know?
Tanya: I mean, You just, you're so excited about it. I just love it. Um, but as an entrepreneur mm-hmm. Cuz that's what photographers are. And artists have a hard time mm-hmm. Many times being an entrepreneur, being business people. There's a business side to it. You have to sell Uhhuh, you know, you have to market. You have to value your products at a rate that people will pay for it. So how have you been able that, tell us a little bit about that side of the journey.
Sara: Yeah, my, my good friend just yesterday was, we were kind of joking and she said, yeah, parents don't really, you know, have their kids grow up and they say, oh, you know, I'm my, my son or daughter is gonna be an artist when they grow up. You know, it's, it's kind of like, okay, great as a hobby. But they don't necessarily, you know, they're thinking, well, how are they gonna make the money?
Tanya: And all the, you know, all the things actually, to teach that. Like I know when my daughter went to high school, she said she wanted to be an artist. Took her freshman year and they said, well, how are you going to, where do you see yourself being in business with that?
Sara: Yeah. So really, so it is challenging, um, I won't sugar coat that. It is challenging and it's completely doable. You know, there's a lot of brilliant photographers. Everywhere in the world. I, I have a couple different, um, um, areas of photography that I specialize in. Some of them are, more of like a luxury. That's where my fine art and you know, the, the beautiful gallery, you know, prints on the walls, things like that. My Etsy and all that. There's like the, the pretty stuff you can have a, a, a thing that you can hold and touch and carry with you. But the biggest thing that is, is, is proving to be a better income flow for me is providing a service. I have the luxury of photographing the beautiful homes on the island. I help people, you know, transition into the next chapter. If they're selling a home, if they're buying a home, if they're maybe, you know, doing a, a vacation rental system or think, you know, with their property. I help people capture that for their marketing and such. So I provide the service and I work with realtors and property managers. I work with home owners. They need professional photos of their homes taken. And that's where I come in. And so that's a great way with your camera. I mean, yes, we want everyone to be purchasing our artwork, but you know, only so many people in the world might want a sunset picture or you know, such, but providing a service. So that's one of the things, family photography. You know, that's another service. That's great. Family photos are one of those things that people always talk about. So I encourage them, Hey, let's put this, let's, we can talk the talk, but let's walk the walk. Let's set a date, let's set a time. Let's get your ohana together. Let's do this. And that in itself, I mean, it pays the bills and it brings families together. So it's kind of this beautiful thing. Like it, you know, you get more than what you bargain for. You get these beautiful photos and you get the memory, this shared experience. So being able to provide a service with your camera, if you're thinking about doing professional photography, is definitely one of those suggestions I would do. So find your niche and you might not know it, and so take pictures of anything and everything for a while, right? And then when you find what you're good at, What is needed and what, you know, you can kind of, um, be happy doing consistently. Over and over again because it's like, I photograph homes and, you know, it's how many bathrooms can you photograph? How many kitchens can you photograph? But at the same time, every, it's like a sunset. Every single bathroom is different. Every single kitchen is different. So you just find that special thing, you know, and so, so, Being able to provide a service is huge. And I'm not gonna lie, I was a professional waitress for many years and taking pictures too. So I needed that bridge. I didn't just all of a sudden decide, I'm gonna stop waiting tables and take pictures full-time. I needed that supplemental income and that supplemental income allowed me to have more freedom with my camera because I had the money coming in. Right. So I could kind of dabble a little bit.
But it was really, it was, yeah, it was providing a service. And I also suggest getting to know other photographers and being able to bounce ideas off of each other. I was blessed to, like with my, with my mentor, Carolyn, her whole philosophy was, there's enough work out there for everybody. Thank goodness I'm not the only one doing this. Could you imagine how busy I would be if I was the only person photographing home? So it's kind of like finding your hui, finding your people doing the same thing, having the common interest and being able to, whether it's past business to each other or ask for help or whatever it is. But yeah, that's, that would be my suggestion. And we all. No matter, it doesn't matter really what you do. Like, like you said, building that confidence. We all have imposter syndrome. And it still creeps back up in me.
Tanya, having this podcast with you, I was talking, I'm going, what would I possibly have to talk about? And then I was reminded, Sara, you've got a lot to talk about. It's just, it comes from within, you know? But that's kind of my suggestion. Finding a service and, you know, having a supplemental income is not horrible. Right? You know, it, it, we live in Hawaii. It's, it's expensive to live here and the value and the things that we have here that cost $0, the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on, and that's what I love to capture, right? The things that don't cost any money. Nature doesn't cost money. And that's like the biggest value that we could possibly have here.
Tanya: Absolutely. And it, I, there's so many things I loved about what you said. I mean, even going back, you know, a couple paragraphs ago when you said, you know, your mood can affect you know, your pictures. I mean, that's just such a great analogy to life. Your mood affects how you perceive things, how you perceive situations and everything, so, right. I mean, as a photographer, it seems like you have to be really in tune with yourself.
Sara: I agree with that completely. And trusting and like, it's, it's. I will go down, let's say I'm gonna go photograph a sunset tonight. You know? And so I'll be walking and for whatever reason, I like my body direction. Just turns the other way. And I'm going, I don't know why I'm going this way, but I'm gonna turn my eyeballs and I'm gonna look this way. And for whatever reason, it guides me to whatever, maybe it's a beautiful seashell or something like that on the sand that I didn't have any, any intention whatsoever of go anyway. It, it's, it's, yeah, your mood, it can just, completely be your compass to guide you to what you wanna photograph. And photography has definitely been a therapy for me as well. As I said, life can get quite lifey and there was a particular, let's all you know, no need go into details, but January, February, March of 2020. Along with the whole covid and the life getting crazy, I had a lot of things happening in my personal life with my family back home in Wisconsin with me personally here in Hawaii, and it was so overwhelming. There was a lot of, um, there was a lot of grief. There were a lot of kind of traumatic events that were happening. I lost my uncle, I lost my grandmother. My sister got very badly injured, and I'm sitting here in Hawaii floating on this island in the Pacific, feeling completely helpless. I couldn't be with them. Covid was happening and I dove into nature and into beauty, and I used it as my therapy. I had this mantra, this thing going, just turning pain into beauty, turning pain into beauty, turning pain into beauty. And it wasn't that I was shutting the pain out. It was more like me saying, you're not gonna get me. You are not gonna get me. I'm not gonna succumb to that. So, you know what? I am feeling really low right now. I am feeling really down right now. I am going to pick myself up, get in my car, go drive down to the coast to the ocean, and I am gonna photograph because you know what? As down as I feel and as low as I feel, look out there, Sara. Look up. Get outside of yourself. Look out there. Let your heart and your soul see the beauty because you know what it is there. And so some of the photos that I have, some of the most beautiful photos that I have, you would never know, but my tears soaked the sand as much as the ocean. And it was just this like, I don't know how I'm gonna get through this, but I know I am. You know, those question marks all over. But it was just that knowing that I am, and I'm gonna hold onto this because it's so constant. Life can get so crazy. There's so many unknowns. There's so many uncertainties. But I know one thing, I know the way I feel when I look at a sunset. I know the way I feel when I see the turtle sunning himself in the distance on the beach. I know how that makes me feel. And if I can't create it, I'm gonna look outside and I would rather look outside at something natural and beauty. You know, and, and, and, and allow that to help me, you know, and so anyhow, so the mood definitely affects the photography. And so even more why? I love, okay, I know I was bawling, crying, taking that darn picture right there, but what, how does it make you feel? And just to hear someone else's interpretation about it.
Tanya: Like you're gonna have different emotions attached to a photo that you've taken. Mm-hmm. And we see the beauty. Or we see, you know, oh, this beautiful mm-hmm. Moment in nature. And I'm just cur, I wonder, like, I'm sure there's no studies on this, but I'm wondering how your, a pH a photographer's, emotions and emotional process, And what they energetically put into the photo and how that's related to the sales. I don't know why,
Sara: I'm a curious too, because I, I'm just curious, so much energy of you in those photos, and I think people can feel it. Like, and, and I just love, you know, especially here on the Big Island, just those, those spots, those common places, like the stairs, my quiet, high stairs. I, it was for me when I took it, it was one of those blissful days off. It was one of those just perfectly blue, clear, amazing, ocean calm day, you know, just everything was Lottie Dotty perfect, you know? So I took this beautiful photo. So to me it's bliss, and I was set up at a Waikola night market when I was doing that, and I had someone stop in their tracks and they started crying looking at that photo. And so we started talking. They had spread their brother's ashes at the bottom of those stairs, and to her, it was this bittersweet, taking her back to that moment, feeling the pain and the beauty at the same time. So for me, I mean, completely night and day experiences at those stairs. But captured in a way that everyone can appreciate it, that everyone can be taken to their own happy spot at the end of those stairs. And I just, that to me is the coolest thing about photography is let's, okay, let's silence my emotions about it really quickly. Cause I wanna hear yours about it. And to me, that, that's one of those stories that will always stick to me. And I don't take it for granted. Life is so fragile. Like we always say, you don't know what someone's going through. Be nice to everybody. Same with photography. We have no idea the experiences people have felt or lived in these different places on the island. And so the blissful stairs to someone is the grief where they led their brother to rest, you know? And I just, I, to me that's beautiful to, that's paint turning pain into beauty. That that's,
Tanya: And it's connection. It's connection, you know? Cause it connected two people. In a way that you could not have.
Sara: Exactly.
Tanya: You know, without you taking that photograph.
Sara: Exactly. And along with connection, beauty is universal. We don't have to speak the same language. We don't have to be the same color of skin, we don't have to be the same sex, we don't have to have the same philosophical theories. We don't have to say, have the same education or anything. We don't have to say a single darn word to each other. With one little glance. We know. We know. We feel it. That beauty just connects people to, it's the universal gravity that can bring people together.
Tanya: Especially like the beauty of nature, like for all of us who live here. You know, on
Sara: When you have, when you take those moments, I completely make those moments. And it's humbling, but it's empowering at the same time. Oh, completely. Completely. And we do have the luxury of being here on the Big Island in Hawaii. You know, we do have so much natural beauty. We don't have the tall city skyscraper buildings and all that, and. I do wanna add, some of my favorite photos have been taken, like in parking lots. I have a few photos in particular of these grasses with the sunburst, the starburst coming through. Tanya, it was at the Kona Harbor parking lot. There was not, there was not intentions to go. We were waiting. I was crabby. I was cra- you know, it was hot in the sun, Tanya. It was, you know, all the things. And then all of a sudden I looked over though, and the way this fountain grass was being lit up by the sun I couldn't get, and it was just tiny, tiny, tiny little patch of grass growing through the concrete. And I just sold that photo to someone who has it on their wall in like a 20 by 30 inch because it's gorgeous. There's this sunburst coming through this fountain grass. And if everyone, like, if people only knew that was in the parking lot, and that's what I think is so cool because it's like you don't have to search far at all.
Tanya: I mean, it turns your own, uh, mental state around. It's like a way of living. It's a way of like, you could write a book like Sara Marieʻs Life Tips.
Sara: Yeah. Based on my photography. Exactly. And that's totally what it is too, because it's like, it's, yeah. It's like, shucks, there's no beauty anywhere. That's bogus. Really? Yeah. There is. I dare you to find it and I dare, I bet you once you start, you're gonna go, oh, look at that there. And look at that there. And look. Oh, shucks, I didn't notice that over there. Look at that there too. There's so much beauty everywhere. It doesn't, you don't have to come to Hawaii. Just step outside, look around in your home. Look at the way, maybe the sun is coming through on your cat that's laying in the window, that's beauty. You know, just to and, and it's like just being able to take that. So, yes, I love that we live in a place that's so natural, beauty, but I just, it's like sneaky beauty. That's what it, it's sneaky beauty. Sneaky beauty. I love sneaky beauty. It's sneaky beauty. And if you can find the sneaky beauty, I think that that is far more valuable than having money, than having the, the best. Things like physical things in the world, you know, if you have that, that power, and I think it is a superpower, it's a super, to be able to super power to see sneaky beauty, because like I said, it's, it's same like gravity, same like gratitude, same, like, you know, it's like all, it's, it's, it can just shift your perspective. Like I said, life is lifey and maybe we're having a bad day. We all have, we get to have bad days. We're human. That's part of it. But I also think we get to change our mood. And we get to shift that. And it's not always easy, I'm not gonna lie. It's not always easy, but it can be.
Tanya: You know, I love because you've said the word gravity now, at least twice and in this conversation, and it seems like beauty is what gives you gravity and grounds you.
Sara: It stitches my soul to the world. It stitches my soul to the universe. I was prepping for this podcast. I was kind of trying to think, you know what, what ties this together? What is the common thread that can weave, you know, all of the things that I wanna talk about, all the things that I feel, what is it? And I was just trying to think like, gosh, what the heck is that common thread? And then I realized beauty is the thread. It is the thread that sews people, that connects people together. It connects people, it connects me to this world. It connects me to what I, um, hold most valuable in my life, but it connects me to people. I have some of my photos printed, like things like on a tote bag, and so I bring my tote bag, you know, with my beautiful picture, my Sarah Marie photography picture on it. I go to KTA and I go and buy all the things that I need, and I'm standing in line. And the joy and the bliss it brings for people.
Looking at my tote bag with this picture, cuz they've been to that place, they recognize it. It's really pretty. So it strikes up conversations. Auntie behind the register is commenting on it. So we have like me and the, the auntie and the person behind me in the grocery store line are having this beautiful, you know, 45 second relationship. This beautiful connection with each other, right? I go about my day, they go about their day. And our days were completely changed by each other's just appreciation of beauty. That, to me, I think is amazing. That is beautiful in itself. It's that thread that just stitches us together.
Tanya: I, I don't even wanna say anything because I'm just, it's like a, a feeling of awe that I have.
Sara: Yes, yes.
Tanya: Right now that, um, people like you change the world without even realizing it, just by being you.
Sara: That's one of the wonderful, most wonderful things anyone's ever said, you know, and thank you for that. And, and I think I wanna touch on something you just said. The word awe. And, and having a camera. Just being, you know, in my life and, and having that passion for beauty, it's allowed me to basically live in a complete constant state of awe no matter what.
Tayna: No matter what kind of awe it is. Like it could be horrendous. Awe. It could be tragic awe, or it could be painful. But it could also be like, by us being able to go to those depths, we can also more regularly go to the high heights. Yes. You know what I mean?
Sara: Yes. Because it's all necessary. It's all necessary. We wouldn't feel the awe, the high, the beauty, the blissful awe. Right. If we didn't allow ourselves to feel the deep and the sorrowful, right? But I don't know about you. It feels good to feel good.
Tanya: It feels really good to feel good.
Sara: And we're meant to feel good. And so when I found find myself not feeling good, I really try to just. And it's not just like all of a sudden snap out of it by any means, you know? Right.
Tanya: Because you wanna honor it for what it's bringing.
Sara: Exactly. Right. Exactly. I wanna honor it and move through it and know that it's okay to feel good even when you're feeling bad.
Tanya: It's a gift, right, for us to learn to get to that place.
Sara: Yes. It's okay to still see the glimmer in the shadows, you know, because there's going to be the shadows. But how the heck are you gonna get out of it if you can't see the glimmer? And so, and, and also with other people, those that we love, maybe people we don't even know, if we know someone's having a, a bad day or something like that, it's okay for them to feel that. And even if they don't, you know, if they're not ready to come out of the, the, the shadows just yet, you know, they need some time, it's still okay for, we could be sitting side by side and it's okay for me to feel blissful and see the beauty, even though you might not be, you know, and it just works hand in hand and I just feel like it's leading by example.
Tanya: So was the child, Sarah Marie, this feeling and connected with her feelings and thoughts of beauty, like when you were a child?
Sara: In all honesty, I think I became who I was meant to be, or was when I moved to the Big Island of Hawaii. I decided I wanted to move here and I didn't know why. I didn't necessarily have an answer when my mom and my family were saying, why would you wanna do that? Please don't go so far away. And it was so far away. You know, my dad was here, so I had, I had my, my dad out here, which was wonderful. So I had, you know, family, but I didn't really allow myself to open my heart, open my mind, and have just that open mentality until I moved here. When I was 21 years old and kind of just allowed myself to have this open mind. I love, love, love where I was raised. I love how I was raised. I love my family. I love everything about it. And I in Wisconsin, you're not necessarily, well, I wasn't necessarily raised with that. It's okay to, to, to, to follow the butterfly and, you know, the metaphoric butterfly into your, you know, it was, you know, you, you grow up. You go to college, you get a job, you work it, you get paid. Doesn't really matter if you like it or not. You're just gonna do that. And then you're gonna do that again next week and next week and next week. And then you're gonna retire. And then you're gonna start living, right. And I moved to Hawaii and I was 21 and I was kind of just ...It was, it was like this,
Tanya: I'm gonna live now.
Sara: Yes. It was like my college experience that I never, you know, I didn't go away to college. I came and went for a life experience and it was just, it was the people that I met. It was the land in itself. It was the magic. I can't believe I haven't even said the word magic yet, cuz that's a whole other part of this whole beauty thing is the magic. But, I didn't move here thinking that I would grow and blossom into this amazing, like human that I am becoming, and thank God that I came here because I just feel like my Wisconsin roots needed to be firmly planted for these Big Island, these Hawaii blossoms, to be able to grow.
Tanya: Well, because you self describe yourself on your website as a free spirit. So I was just curious were you a free spirit as a child.
Sara: Yeah, I was kind of the one, you know, I was kind of the, you know, I did break away, move to Hawaii, right. Was the one that was, you know, kind of. Yeah, looking in the ladi dodi world, if you will, in this very black and white, which seemed like at the time. You know, I was very, it wasn't the gray, it was the rainbow in between. There's black and white and then there's the rainbow, and I was the rainbow thinker, you know? And so, yeah, it was, I, I was a little bit, I guess I knew there was more and I didn't know what that was. I just knew like, I don't, like, I don't think this is life just working my butt off until I don't anymore, and then start living like, no, living, like let's live this life now. And coming out here just allowed me to kind of take off those,
Tanya: Those disguises, preconceived those ideas.
Sara: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. And think for myself and, and it's been beautiful and I still sometimes feel misunderstood by a lot of people. And I'm okay with that because I understand me, right. Isn't that way more important?
Tanya: I understand. Way more important. Do you take self portraits of yourself? Do you do selfie selfies? Are you a selfie?
Sara: I do selfies sometimes. And then the brilliant thing about, uh, my camera, there's a timer on it, so sometimes I can go set it up, push the timer, run in front of the camera real quick and take, I actually took some. I'm not in a lot of pictures. It's so funny. I'm a professional photo photographer and I need to find someone to hire to take some head shots of me because it's like all selfies. But I took some really beautiful photos, um, out in the field in Yme, and it was just one of those, it was, it was for the first time that I felt like a photo actually matched the image that I felt. Because there was the sunburst behind me. It was the golden hour. It was just like the wind blowing in the hair and everything. And so, so I don't take a lot of pictures of my, sometimes I do, but I like to take pictures of other things than other people. I always joke out of like the, the 5,000 pictures that I have, I'm in six of them. You know what I mean? Like, cuz I'm never in front of the camera. I'm the girl. I'm the person that I don't enjoy photographing in front of the camera because I feel, I feel silly. I'm the one that's making the silly faces and I'm the one that I'm like, fidgeting. Fidgeting and going, okay, look here, Sara. Okay, well I already did. Let me look over. You know, it's, it's so. It's so funny. So that's I guess why I'm behind the camera most of the time.
Tanya: I wanna ask you about Moonbeams.
Sara: Oh, moon bows.
Tanya: Moon bows. Yes. Moon bows.
Sara: Yes. So moon bows are, they've changed my life. It's if, if you're listening and you don't know what a moon bow is, it's basically a night rainbow. It's created from the light of the moon. And there's some other factors in, you know, element factors. You need the same thing. You know what makes a rainbow? You need the moisture, you need the light, you need, you know, certain things. So same with the moon bow, and it's, it's. Moon bows to me are magic because you, you have the list of of elements you know that you need, and you could have it all perfect on paper and sometimes that thing still won't be around, or it can be quite the opposite. There's no way I'm gonna see a moon bow and all of a sudden, bam. It's right there. It's, it's honestly one of the most magical things you could witness. It's literally a rainbow at night. It's not the ring around the moon, although those are beautiful in themselves. Those are amazingly beautiful. But your life will be changed when you see a moon and living here in Waimea, it's amazing because Waimea is rainbow country. So basically where you see rainbows, you're probably gonna see moon bows if you don't have a lot of light pollution, that is, no street lights and city lights and things like that. So moon bows, they're, yeah, I, I never knew they existed. Until probably like 15 years ago, and someone mentioned it and I thought it was the ring around the moon, you know? And I thought I was all excited until I saw my first one driving home in Waimea. And it's, it's literal, like, I don't know how much more magical it can get and to be able to capture them. Um, another photographer here on the island, you know, Warren Fince, he's amazing. He taught me about the moon bows and how to capture them and I mean, mahalo to him.
Tanya: - another mentor.
Sara: Mahalo for that. Exactly. And that's, that's, yeah, photographers are amazing. And if we're willing to share information, some photographers aren't, which, I guess, to each their own, do you. But I think it's just so much more beautiful to share information. Like, we all make this world a beautiful place. Why not band together and help each other out? But yes. Um, feel free if you wanna see, if you've never had the experience of a moon bow, I have some on my website. Go check it out. SarahMariehawaii.com because your mind will be blown. They are absolutely beautiful.
Tanya: Very magical.
Sara: They really are very magical, and the longest wife actually witnessed one. They, it lasted about three hours, three solid, solid hours, and I witnessed it. I photographed it the whole time, but it was literally being in awe for three straight hours.
Tanya: I mean, that's a spiritual experience.
Sara: Yes, yes, yes, exactly. It's, It's like I stutter over my words trying to like explain it because there's no words to match it. It is a complete spiritual experience, as is a lot of those moments. And that's why I think I love photographing the nature of photographing those because it, it put, it puts me in these situations. They're just completely magical. There's, you know, it's the colors, it's, it's like the sounds or the lack of sounds. It's all the things that, to me, are just pure and so exactly. It's a spiritual experience that I'm passionate about and that I'm making my living from. Win, win, win, and then some.
Tanya: Did you wanna be an artist when you were a kid?
Sara: No, I had no idea what I wanted to be, grow when I, what I wanted to be. I always envied the people who wanted to be like a teacher or a nurse or a, knew what they wanted to do when they grew up.
Tanya: So when you moved here, you didn't have a plan?
Sara: No. Really at all. I actually, I was a dancer. I had, I have not moved to Hawaii, I most likely would have either been an owner or a big part of the dance studio that I was going to, that I was help teaching at. You know, before I moved, I moved to Hawaii not really knowing what the heck I was gonna do. I just, I just, It was just annoying. It was just, I knew that I needed to, I came out in February of 2001, to visit my dad who lived out here. And during that trip, he took me camping to Makalawena. And so we were camping under the stars.
Tanya: That'll sell ya right there.
Sara: Yep, exactly. And we were camping with, with another friend as well. And, she kind of looked at me and she just said, why don't you move to Hawaii? And my thought was, I can't move to Hawaii. What are you thinking? Oh gosh, I live in Wisconsin. I have all these things, da da da da da. That was like in a, in a split second, all those thoughts. But you wanna know what my response was? Why don't I move to Hawaii? You're exactly right. And it was that seed planted on the sand and my sleeping bag under the stars at Makalawena. That one single question changed the trajectory of my life. I had no thoughts of moving to Hawaii. That was February of 2001. I was here by October of 2001. I tried to move September 11th, 2001, but we all know that the world kind of got a little funky on that day, and so I moved out here. I never thought I would be out here. I never thought I would be an artist. It actually took me only a couple years ago till I considered myself an artist. You know, so if you are listening and you do have a passion, just keep going. You are an artist. If you're creating something that you think is beautiful, you're an artist. And so I try, I remind myself of that all the time, that I am an artist, that what I do does matter. Not just to me, not just to my friends, but to the stranger on the streets to the stranger's grandmother who they share the picture with, to who at, you know, it does matter.
And so, no, I never thought I would be, I never thought I was, and now I know that I am, and it makes me smile from the inside out to say, yes, Tanya, I'm an artist. I am a photographer, and I am an artist.
Tanya: And you're surviving and you're thriving, and you're sustaining yourself.
Sara: Exactly.
Tanya: Doing what you love.
Sara: Exactly.
Tanya: I just absolutely love talking to you and this is why I wanted to interview you, cuz you're just absolutely such a delight. Your energy is just like so vibrant. And, fun-loving. I feel the beauty. Yay that you are. I have a last question. What, um, is your favorite song that comes to mind that captures this conversation We just had?
Sara: That's such a great question. And you know what? It's my life motto song, the one and only Bob Marley. Three Little Birds Rise Up this morning, smiled at the Rising Sun, three little birds right there on my doorstep, singing sweet songs and melody. So pure and true. This is my message to you. It seems, it's like, it's so simple. That's my song.
Tanya; I love that. I love that. And your message to everyone is, feel the beauty. Feel the beauty. Feel the beauty. So how can we find out more about you? Wonderful. Wonderful. Yes. So I have, of course, I have a website that you can see all of my beautiful photos. That's www.sarahmariehawaii.com. I have an Etsy store that has some of my other photo products, so I wanna, I want everyone to be able to have some of the art, some of the beauty. So whether that's a big print, you know, metal gallery print hanging on your wall, or maybe it's a water bottle or a notebook that I have my, my photos on too. And that would be at my Etsy. And so my Etsy, as well as my social media handles are @SarahMarieHawaii. So s a r a m a r i e H A W A I I. So Sarah Marie Hawaii. That would be great. I'm not doing many in-person events right now, but just I would, and if you are listening, like follow me. I would love to hear if you have a story, if you see one of my photos that takes you back to a memory that is so special to you, that takes you to a feeling. Please let me know about it. I wanna hear about it. That makes like it fills my heart like no other. It makes my soul smile like no other, to hear your interpretation of it. And so that would be how you can, how you can find me. And I live in Waimea. Reach out. Let's go get coffee. Bring your camera. We'll go take a walk.
Tanya: I love that. I'm sure that everyone who's listening now, their heart is smiling after having this conversation with you. Sarah, you are absolutely delightful. I just love you and like I said, you just remind me of that Rumi quote. Let the beauty of what you love be what you do, and you do beauty and you do it so well. So thank you so much for joining our podcast today.
Sara: Yay. Thank you for having me. All right. Yay. Thank you. So thanks for listen. Have a beautiful day everyone. Aloha.
Mahalo for listening to Ola Ka Moku, Hawaii Islandʻs Community Podcast. To support this show or listen to more episodes, visit www.olakamoku.com. For more information about Sara, visit saramariehawaii.com, thatʻs S A R A M A R I E H A W A I I.com, https://www.facebook.com/saramariehawaii/ and @saramariehawaii on Insta. Thank you for supporting her work.
This program has been sponsored by Hawaii Island Adult Care, a nonprofit adult day care and respite services provider in East Hawaii. For more information, visit www.hawaiiislandadultcare.org.