Lily Day has spent years capturing the world—chasing light, movement, and the feeling of being completely present. For her, paradise isn’t just a place; it’s a state of mind. It’s the rare moments when everything slows down—when she’s deep in a creative flow, surrounded by nature, or lost in the quiet magic of a perfect shot. It’s about being unburdened, open, and fully in the moment. We caught up with her to talk about creativity, travel, and the feeling she’s always chasing.
"Book that ticket, take the leap, don't let fear and the frenzied chaos it brings to your mind have any influence over your life. There's this quote from Basquiat that I heard last year and I find myself repeating it a lot now — like a personal mantra. 'It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.'"
Tell us about yourself
I was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico—a small town of adobe homes and buildings nestled in the Sangre de Cristo mountains. Growing up, I was always involved in sports (though my hand-eye coordination is truly horrifying, and for a photographer nonetheless!) I struggled with math and science in school, and always felt like I didn’t have a creative mind. Something I did feel like I was quite good at, though, was dreaming. I had a deep curiosity about the world beyond New Mexico. I didn’t know exactly what I would do or who I would become, but I knew I would explore the world, seeking the kind of experiences I craved while growing up in the Southwest.
Now, I live in Newport Beach, California, with a life that’s been shaped by travel and creativity (I think the twelve-year-old version of myself wouldn’t even recognize me now). Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with global brands in the surf and outdoor industry, capturing campaigns in small seaside towns of Morocco, the hot, humid beaches of Brazil, the Swiss Alps, and even the streets of Seoul in the dead of winter. Each journey has been an extension of my desire to explore not just the world, but different ways of seeing and capturing the way I see it.
As I’ve grown outside of New Mexico, I've come to realize how deeply my Southwestern roots have influenced both my work and my sense of self. For years, I distanced myself from them, but now I feel called back to that foundation—a return that feels both grounding and expansive. My creative work reflects this balance, a fusion of the raw and rich culture and landscape of the Southwest and the elevated, timeless aesthetic of coastal living. It’s an ongoing dialogue between two places that continue to shape and inspire me.
When did you start photography and what was the spark?
When I was fifteen, my dad bought me my first camera: a modest digital Nikon we picked up from the only camera shop in Santa Barbara, a place that would unfortunately close its doors just a few years later. At first, I filled the memory card with everything I could see outside the passenger window: stop signs and shrubbery. Images that quickly left me uninspired. I found myself with a thousand versions of the same shot, and the novelty wore off fast. Photography, I thought, wasn’t for me.
But at nineteen, my dad gave me something different: a Canon AE-1, my first film camera. That’s when everything shifted. The world of film photography felt entirely new—intentional, precise, and deeply artful. Each frame required thought, and each image held meaning and intention. The process was slower, more deliberate, and there was something poetic about not really knowing in the moment what you were creating. I became captivated by the texture, the colors, the raw beauty of capturing a single moment with a loud shutter click.
From that point on, everything I’ve done in my career has been rooted in that gift—the spark it ignited, and the love it set in motion for photography as an art form. The rest is history.
Name of location and why you decided to choose this place.
Paradise can be a place, sure, and I’ve traveled to so many places I could easily say ‘Yeah, this was paradise.’ But I rather think of paradise as a state of mind lately. Not something so easily or readily defined in a single destination but in the feeling of utter freedom and total calm. A place where my mind is unburdened and my heart is open to whatever experience or moment I am in — where I can truly appreciate my surroundings and my life. I often get this feeling of true paradise when I allow my life to slow down and I am able to escape the chaos of everyday routine. Often when I’m shooting something super creative, or immersed somewhere in nature, this paradise state of mind finds me super easily and I just try to savor every fleeting moment that it’s there.
What makes this destination Paradise to you?
Honestly, freedom. When my mind is completely free from anxiety, fear, resentment, doubt, resistance, I feel calm and peace.
Naturally, I have a very chaotic mind. I often multi-task not just in my life but in my thoughts as well, constantly consumed by thread after thread in a never-ending cycle that tends to make me easily overwhelmed. It’s not often that my mind is unburdened from the chaos, but on rare occasions when everything slows down and I’m either shooting, or in the sea or mountains immersed in nature — everything settles into calm and I feel as if I’m right where I’m meant to be.
And in that paradise, there is peace, a peace that is not fleeting or conditional, but profound and lasting.
Type of Camera used
All of the images I share here were shot on my Canon EOS-1V. If I have to mark a single turning point in my photography, it was transitioning to this camera with my Canon 70-200 lens. Absolute game-changer.
I also never go anywhere without my Yashica T4 point and shoot. So many point and shoots have gone viral with the rise of film on social media, and I’ve tried nearly all of them for myself, and this one is still the best in my humble opinion.
Anything else we should know?
Book that ticket, quit your 9 to 5, take the leap, don't let fear and the frenzied chaos it brings to your mind have any influence over your life. There's this quote from Basquiat that I heard last year and I find myself repeating it a lot now — like a personal mantra. "It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not."
The beauty in these images for me is their simplicity and warmth — to me they are true classics. The hues of pink and orange feel like sunlight directly on the skin, and the hues of green and golden brown transport me right back to the island of Mo'orea. Captured in various warm locations like Tahiti, Mallorca, Bali, Costa Rica, and California — these images blend together to expose my opposing foundations — while the muted and natural tones illustrate my dream color palette. Each of these images was more challenging for me to see in the moment, and it wasn't until I focused my viewfinder and everything became sharp that I knew I had captured something magical.
Follow along with Lily Day here
