Mariah Lea Photo

Mariah Lea Photo Commercial & Event Media | Professional Branding Photoshoots | Candid Lifestyle & Adventure Portraits

Didn’t know I missed the petrichor of spring until that first snow melts and you smell summer’s potential. It’s a decade...
05/03/2026

Didn’t know I missed the petrichor of spring until that first snow melts and you smell summer’s potential. It’s a decades-old olfactory memory that hadn’t been triggered in quite some time. 🌱

Seems like lately I have a bit of a hyperfixation with mountains. Maybe I do, but who in their right mind doesn’t? 🌄Moun...
03/16/2026

Seems like lately I have a bit of a hyperfixation with mountains. Maybe I do, but who in their right mind doesn’t? 🌄

Mount Hood & Mirror Lake photographed in 2024. 12 hours of work, and it only took me getting snowed in to finish this painting.

03/16/2026

Mirror Lake & Mt Hood, photographed in May 2024 and painted March 2026 🎨

The sheer audacity of my past self attempting to paint this many evergreen trees on a 5x7. Will not attempt for a long while. 🌲

What isn’t pictured here is about 13 hours of work. I love to share the most satisfying part of this entire process: removing the tape.

Mount Hood & Mirror Lake, May 2024

📍 Homelands of the Cascades, Molalla, Siletz, Grand Ronde, Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Nations

Sunrise over the Richmond Range on soft pastels, South Island Aotearoa 2024 🎨📸 XT5, 70-300mm
02/13/2026

Sunrise over the Richmond Range on soft pastels, South Island Aotearoa 2024 🎨

📸 XT5, 70-300mm

The Mpemba Effect! Visually pleasing and hotly debated among scientists. 🔥❄️If you’re in the Midwest this weekend, get o...
01/23/2026

The Mpemba Effect! Visually pleasing and hotly debated among scientists. 🔥❄️

If you’re in the Midwest this weekend, get on outside and do the hot water cup thing! Wear eye protection and make sure you throw it high enough so the hot water doesn’t fall straight back on your dang head. (I learned this the hard way.)

📸

The Mpemba Effect! Visually pleasing and hotly debated among scientists. ❄️If you’re in the Midwest this weekend, get on...
01/23/2026

The Mpemba Effect! Visually pleasing and hotly debated among scientists. ❄️

If you’re in the Midwest this weekend, get on outside and do the hot water cup thing! Wear eye protection and make sure you throw it high enough so the hot water doesn’t fall straight back on your dang head. (I learned this the hard way.)

📸

Before I left Hawaiʻi, my therapist asked me, “What does the time you had here represent to you?” I thought about it for...
01/15/2026

Before I left Hawaiʻi, my therapist asked me, “What does the time you had here represent to you?” I thought about it for a while and answered, “It represents free will.”

For several years, I was mentored by an amazing woman who helped pull me out of my rigid views that were likely the product of being the youngest child, staying afloat in competitive academia, and having a strict yoga practice.

Stepping into entrepreneurship was definitely an exercise of free will, as were our many travels, and now this transition back to Wisconsin. Some of the most valuable conversations I had before we moved revolved around manifesting your own change in life. Although it’s hard, it’s better to make your own big decisions while you can before life makes them for you.

I always knew our time in the ʻaina wouldn’t be forever. Sometimes it feels like I’ve woken up from a long dream and we’re back. I’m so excited for what lies ahead. Appreciating being in four seasons again through an artist’s eyes, enjoying Wisconsin’s more subtle beauty. I plan to continue to use this online space to share many more light quests. More film photography, more stories, and more on my journey learning plein air painting.

This predicates my announcement that I’m gradually transitioning out of entrepreneurship. I’ve been actively looking for full time digital marketing work while opportunistically taking on gigs since October, pouring over cover letters and weathering rejection. If you know or hear of any opportunities, please think of me.

Love & Light Quests,

Mariah

I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m thankful for the experiences I’ve had and for what’s right in front of me.Go...
12/04/2025

I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m thankful for the experiences I’ve had and for what’s right in front of me.

Golden hour on Gold 200 🎞️

Quick trip to Sonoma to take a break from the move. From Bodega Bay to the Russian River, foraging among the redwoods wi...
11/26/2025

Quick trip to Sonoma to take a break from the move. From Bodega Bay to the Russian River, foraging among the redwoods with friends, and the train ride back to SFO on film.

Almost nine years ago, Brock and I moved to Hawai’i with the intention to be here for 1-3 years. In a blink of an eye, i...
11/01/2025

Almost nine years ago, Brock and I moved to Hawai’i with the intention to be here for 1-3 years. In a blink of an eye, it’s been almost a decade.

We returned to Hawai’i after our summer travels this year both in agreement that we were ready to live on the greater land mass once again and be closer to family.

What started as a conversation, then a couple weeks sidequesting down the YouTube wormhole into being van people, then Zillowing all over the US, we decided to settle back in southwest Wisconsin.

Around this time, I got some news surrounding some family medical health, and the universe couldn’t have confirmed our decision in a more obvious way. But, it also means we are making a swift Irish goodbye to Hawai’i in six weeks.

I’m going to be listing a bunch of items for sale we won’t be shipping back with us. As we get closer, I want to have a few days of “open house style garage sale” where folks can come check out our sale/donation items and say a hui hou.

I’ve been a hot mess the last few days and probably will continue to be (just warning you, tears be flowing). It’s been a jolt to the system, but we know it’s right.

Although it’s a big a hui hou, we’re excited for a new beginning. 🌱

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