Photos aren't about people being perfectly posed and staged. Instead, photography to me is about crafting an experience that can create legacy. It's about being able to show generations that come after you the stories and photos of your life's adventures you've had before them.
Adventure
& art
Naupaka Photography
I believe in going back to the purpose of the camera: to document a moment in time. I'm not here to make people look like a Pinterest Pin, or to make them look like a magazine spread. Thus, I want people to focus on making a memory so that when they see their photos on the wall, they have a memory associated with it. Because that's the purpose.
I focus on memory based photography. Each photo session and experience with me, should have one main goal. That goal is to capture and hold onto a memory. My goal is to show people how wonderful and beautiful they are, and I want them to feel like they see themselves in my photos. I want them to understand that all I'm doing is snapping the photo in the right lighting in the right location.
Call me
about me
Hi, I’m Kuuipo. But you can call me Mo. I’m a photographer based out of the Western United States with clients in Washington, California, and all around the world. I specialize in mapping out the waypoints of your life and creating memory driven adventures and experiences rather than the posed photoshoots. Let's create memories together and I'll document them.
PORTRAITS - UNIONS - ADVENTURE SESSIONS
What I offer
Inquire
Hi, I’m Kuuipo. But you can call me Mo. I’m a photographer based out of the Western
United States. I specialize in mapping out the waypoints of your life. But, more importantly, I create adventures. Drop me a line, and let’s work together!
Inquire
In this age of social media, it’s easy to choose a photographer based on how you want to be portrayed: our editing style may evoke an editorial feel, our portfolio may seem glamorous. You choose us based on the hope that one day, our photos will make your feed, your life seem that way. And all too often, the photographer, like all of us, has a social media feed full of “highlight clients.” It becomes a goal to be a “highlight client.”
I’m here to take photos back. To take back the notion that you have to style yourself. Brand yourself in a specific way. That you need to fit a “niche” or a “highlight.” Because that simply isn’t true. And that simply isn’t the purpose of photography. It’s to freeze a moment in time, and preserve that bit of history for those that are here long after we’ve gone.
Together, we’ll work on tailoring our sessions to a memory–we will work on creating an experience that will give our photos more meaning and emotion. And more importantly, you’ll come away loving all of the messy, flawed, magnificent parts of you as you are.
The experience
Taking Photos Back
PONO.
'IKE.
ALOHA.
ALOHA – Hello, Farewell, greeting, love. A way of life, an attitude, a spirit, expressing one’s happiness and joy of life.
HOʻOMAʻEMAʻE – Living with respect and honoring one’s person and body inspires others by example. Pure, clean and to cleanse.
ʻIKE – Knowledge, awareness and understanding. By fulfilling one’s responsibilities and providing the highest level of service, one demonstrates ʻike.
MĀLAMA – To care for, protect, nurture. To mālama means to focus on the needs and well-being of both the individual and the whole. Mālama ʻāina, care for the land, Mālama kai, care for the sea.
PONO – Goodness, correct, proper, righteous. Pono is a way of life. To be pono is to consider all persons, relationships and present situations when making decisions.
core values are important here.
Mo was a HUGE party of the best day of my life. From start to finish, her service was stellar. She made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera- which is amazing considering how camera shy my husband is! She’s very personable, kind, funny, professional, and works her butt off to get the perfect shot. She even sat on someone’s shoulders for my bridal shot😂 And after the seamless planning and all the pre-wedding things…. We had the best day ever. The photos came back very quickly and they are everything we dreamed of and more! She really captured all the love, happiness, crazy partying, and laughs… We couldn’t recommend her more!! Thank you, Mo, for capturing the memories that will last us a lifetime!
-Hannah Kohlmeyer
stellar
service
I can't say enough good about this photography and photographer. Mo Forbes is a fabulous human, you feel it instantly with your session. Then she captures more vibrant colors, memories and love than you are expecting. She has this way of creating candid lifelike shots in the prettiest locations. The lighting, and confidence she will give you makes you shine. Thank you Mo! Your photos will be treasured forever.
- Jacquelynn Fabiszak
Core MEMORIES
Mo is a phenomenal photographer. My son has server autism and I’ve never gotten good family photos that included him. She listened to my concerns and created a whole session around Benson’s unique needs. She got MANY excellent photos of him and my whole entire family was so impressed.
- Alisha Nelson
