We are thrilled to welcome Sara Bosquez to the blog today and congratulate her on becoming an Unraveled Expert Artist!

Sara Bosquez is an emotive maternity and motherhood photographer in the US Virgin Islands on the island of St. Thomas. Her work evokes emotion and serenity. She has a wonderful way of capturing movement with the wind and absolute stillness at the same time. Each image feels like stills from a dream in slow in slow motion.

Sara loves beach days with her husband, exploring new island spots, a good horror novel, and her two orange tabby cats. She is originally from Fairbanks, Alaska, and is so excited to be able to grow her photography business in such a magical place like St. Thomas.

For more inspiration from Sara:

Website | Instagram

Here is Sara, Unraveled…

What inspires your art?

Emotion. Hands down. I don’t really like the “pose for the camera” shots. They aren’t my thing. I want to tell a story through my images. I want my images to feel like art. When I lived in Alaska I felt like my work looked a lot like everyone else’s. I really found my voice once we moved to the Virgin Islands. I am inspired by the water, sunsets, small sandy toes. I am inspired by my subjects too. Each of my clients are so unique and have such amazing stories, and I try to capture those through my work. I have always been drawn to the ocean, and I feel like I am meant to be here.

What do you shoot with? Camera body and favorite lens?

I shoot with a Nikon z6ii, a Sigma Art 35mm 1.4, and a 50mm 1.4

What other ways do you express your creativity?

I love to cook, and bake. I am a very “immediate gratification” person when it comes to my hobbies, and like working towards and having that final product almost immediately. I think that’s why I am so drawn to photography. If the image sucks, I can just retake it a different way! I play musical instruments, and love writing.

How do you de-stress at the end of the day?

I love to read. Reading is the best form of escapism for me. It’s the one time during the day where my brain is “off” just focusing on the words on the page. My ideal end of the day is a good horror novel (yes I’m weird haha), a cup of tea, and some calm classical music on in the background. My husband and I also love to play board games and Mario Kart on our Nintendo Switch.

What kind of music do you listen to while editing?

This is going to sound SO weird, but I either listen to Harry Styles (I don’t even like him that much, but his music is just a vibe and hits the spot while I edit) OR, I listen to true crime podcasts lmao

What is your favorite book?

This is a hard question because I have read so many books, and I love different books for different reasons, but my all time favorite book is probably The Terror by Dan Simmons. I love horror, but this one was just built up so well, and the imagery and wording was incredible. I felt like I was there on that ship while I was reading. It was a HUGE book, and I read it over a long weekend. I couldn’t put it down.

Name one movie that inspires you.

Anything directed by Baz Luhrmann. I think he is an absolute genius. The bright colors, the way they are filmed and the cinematography, the music, the costumes, just everything really. They are all wonderfully weird, but also emotional and to me, have a lot of depth and detail that you don’t catch at first glance. You have to watch it a couple times to get the full effect.

How do you handle self-doubt or creative slumps?

This is hard. Because I REALLY struggle with self doubt and comparing myself to others. I usually give myself time to be down about it (because emotions are meant to be felt), and then I pick myself up and try something new. I’ll watch a YouTube video on a new technique and try it, or I’ll find a photographer I really love and try to replicate a technique of theirs on a self portrait in my house. If I’m in a really bad slump, I’ll do a model call and tailor the photo session to what I want to do, not just what a client wants. That usually gets my creative juices flowing again. Finding new locations helps too! I found a new one the other day after living here for almost 3 years and was so excited.

What has been the most difficult part of your creative journey?

Trying to break the mold, and do my own thing. I think a lot of photographers’ work looks very very similar. Orange tones, bright colors, etc etc, and I didn’t want to look the same. I wanted people to look at my work and say “oh Sara took that.” But for a long time, my work DID look like everyone else’s and it’s taken me a long time to find my voice and a unique style. At times I felt like I couldn’t be creative because clients wouldn’t like that, or they want this type of photo. But now I know they book me BECAUSE of my creativity and that’s been really refreshing.

What is your favorite pizza topping?

Pineapple. I’m gross I know.

What is your most favorite kind of light and why?

Golden hour. I know probably everyone says that, but at the beach, doing photos at 3pm is almost impossible with the way the sun hits the water. It’s blinding. Every single beach on my island has the most incredible golden hour because of the way the sun sets on the horizon and behind rocks and trees. You don’t get that broken golden light like you’d get in a forest or field or something. It’s SO creamy and it’s just *chefs kiss.*