The most rewarding part of Melody Revnak’s business is the emotional connection her work brings to her customers.

A sunset photo Revnak had turned into a larger-format art piece was taken in a special spot for a customer from the mainland.

“At the Made in Hawaii Festival, a girl from Texas … wanted it as a memory of where (she) got married,” she said.

Dozens if not hundreds of images are grouped into categories on her photography website, including Hawaii seascapes, landscapes, panoramas, florals, sea life and wildlife, and similar types of photos from other far-flung locales. Photos in her “Portholes” collection are taken using a fisheye lens, which provides a unique perspective on otherwise familiar scenery.

“I sell photographs in high-quality, museum-grade prints,” she said — as well as something called metal fine art, in which the inks producing the images are infused into the surface of aluminum — “and they put a UV coating over it, so it’s probably the strongest substance in terms of longevity of the image.” The process and the coating make the image resistant to fading.

Revnak’s artwork sells for $20 up to $2,000, and some of the images are facilitated by her husband Terry’s “passion for sailing,” she said. Being able to shoot from out on the water “is really kind of unique,” she said, “but it also tends to be a little more challenging. … Everything is moving,” she laughed.

The artwork is an aspect of Revnak’s other business, Hawaiian Music Boxes, which offers customers a choice of image, box style and music.

People have personalized boxes with “You Are My Sunshine” for their grandchildren, or because their mom always used to sing it to them, or one that plays “Hawaiian Wedding Song” (known in Hawaiian as “Ke Kali Nei Au”), because that was their own wedding song, she said.

That is “the fun for me,” she said. “Just those personal, emotional stories … they’re real rewarding.”

The inspiration behind the music boxes was not just another way to present her art, but to offer customers the option of a “nontacky” tourist gift.

“People are always looking for memories, something to take back from Hawaii,” so Hawaiian Music Boxes offers several song choices which Revnak has worked with manufacturers in Japan and China to create, addressing royalty payments and other issues.

Additional song choices — or 18 notes’ worth of them — include “Aloha ‘Oe,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “Blue Hawaii,” “Here Comes the Sun,” “Canon in D” and “Hawaii Five-O.”

Hawaii residents who favor travel to the ‘ninth island’ might be intrigued to know that Revnak also has images of Las Vegas that could be added to a music box, as could other images she has captured during her travels.

The music boxes start at $60, and “kamaaina prices” are available at the craft fairs she participates in and at the Island Artisans kiosk at Marriott’s Ko Olina Beach Club.

Her website also offers customization service for personal mementos, but she also has done some rather high-profile work for the 43rd president of the United States.

While an exhibitor at a national trade show, Revnak was commissioned to make music boxes for President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush. “They ordered them from me, as gifts to dignitaries,” she said. The boxes bore a picture of the White House, signed by the Bushes.

The Kapolei-based professional photographer has participated in art shows since her high school and college days, and now she shares her knowledge with guests at the Marriott Beach Club during weekly photography workshops.

“A lot of people are buying professional cameras and using them on ‘automatic,’” she said. “I get them off automatic” and show them how to take great pictures of their Hawaii vacations.

She has another photography workshop for guests using iPhones and iPads, which tends to be an older crowd. “I’m not a young chick, but they are in their 60s and 70s. … They’re texting and emailing pictures to their kids and grandkids, and I applaud them for that,” Revnak said.

“Buy Local,” each Aloha Friday, is about made-in-Hawaii products and the people who make them. Reach Erika Engle at 529-4303, erika@staradvertiser.com or on Twitter as @erikaengle.