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  • spent more time in the fiat than on the beach but saw the most amazing views I’ve ever seen in my life grateful for this life and the people in it
  • island living for 9 months so far and I’d have to say my only complaint is the fact that I’d have to hop on a flight to go to a majority of the concerts I want to see. @greenday @weezer & @falloutboy are touring together next year so I better start planning a trip to cali soon
  • Bought a flight to Maui six hours before my plane took off to join @hbspaige & @wyattaolive on their vacation. Not disappointed with that decision.
  • Stoked is an understatement for @photoconhawaii this weekend! Last year I was grateful enough to attend @zaknoyle aquatography class with @aquatech_imagingsolutions & @canonusa | It was unreal to finally be able to shoot in the ocean and really inspired me even more so to make my move here. I’ll be attending some informational workshops throughout the weekend and doing the @axisgo phone aquatography class!
  • It’s been a year since I shot this photo on my vacation to Hawaii before I moved here officially this January. Before moving here I owned my own portrait photography business as well as being the Creative Director/Content Creator of a jewelry company. What I didn’t realize until I took a step back from creating for other people was the rapid rate at which my passion for photo/video was fading. When you’re an artist sometimes the ability to make a living off of your work can cause you to lose sight of your original dreams and style. As much as I loved being able to capture special moments in peoples lives and make an easy income off of photography, it kept inching me further away from my goal of shooting underwater inspiring ocean conservation, creating for brands like @vans , @billabong and @rvca , filming videos for my personal YouTube channel and creating a portfolio of work bigger than myself. As tempting as it is to accept portrait requests and make easy money I’m reminding myself of the long term goal. I’m grateful to be gaining my inspiration back of creating out of love and passion, not solely for money. Can’t wait to share more art with you.
  • Imagine @_anbruton_ and I fully unprepared and inexperienced hikers scaling down a mountain for these tide pools. Please like my photos because we almost died.
  • that golden light ✨
  • If only 5th grade pukashell necklace wearing, aquamarine obsessed Rachel knew when she was 24 she’d live in Hawaii ~been manifesting this move my whole life
  • “What if I just moved back to Orlando? I wouldn’t have to worry about shipping my car, jumping through holes to move my dog Maui here, finding a relatively affordable apartment alone that allows dogs... I wouldn’t be a 12 hour flight from my family and I’d be on the same mainland as my friends. It’d be so much easier.” Sometimes when dreams get challenging we tend to romanticize the past and want to revert back to old seasons of life. Chapters that are conquered and closed for a reason. I’ve had those thoughts every now and then after doubles and doubles of serving tables and nights where home feels so far away. But a mantra I keep close to my heart when I want to give up on this Hawaii dream and fly back to the east coast has kept me motivated —> SHORT TERM SACRIFICE FOR THE LONG TERM GOAL <— I’m typically the type of person that feels the itch to make a huge life decision every four or five months. Whether that be moving states, apartments or countries. Getting a new job, building a business, adopting a dog.. etc. In the past that’s helped me gain a lot of life experience and personal growth but hasn’t left me with much of a secure financial foundation. I tend to lose sight of the bigger picture and get impatient when it comes down to putting in the monotonous hard work when it comes to laying the foundation for everything I aspire to achieve. This year is all about giving myself the space to actually THINK a little more before just jumping. Finding that balance of responsibility and recklessness. Putting in the hard ass work to set myself up to actually thrive here in Hawaii. The things we want most in life aren’t always easy, but they’re always worth it. We’re worth it.

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Copyright, 2015