it's not what you see, it's how you see it...


At an early age I absolutely fell in love with ART. I found museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC to be my inspirational safe haven - an escape away from my adolescent insecurities.

I became lost in awe & delightfully overwhelmed by the evolving time periods and diverse talents. Forever fascinated by techniques, textures, perspectives, and overall composition used to showcase style, creativity…and of course, some awesome dynamic storytelling.

Room after room, wall after wall,  full of remarkable masterpieces: establishing a sense of time, place, purpose, history, emotion and overall beauty.

Besides the appreciation, there was a deep connection that I could see and feel. I simply loved to draw, color, play with design and make crafty things.

I constantly entertained my artistic imagination with crayons, pens, markers, color pencils and of course those 80’s “friendship bracelets”. However the more I advanced into art classes, programs and projects as a young artist, I found something personally missing between concept to execution.

The process of creating exactly what was in my minds-eye was always difficult to purely capture or replicate by hand. I guess you could call it my artistic "visual translation" of mind, heart and soul...to create and express what I truly saw, felt or imagined… 

That was until my first photography class in 11th grade. I borrowed a family friends old Yashica 35mm camera, loaded the film, framed my eye up into the viewfinder - clicked the shutter, and got busy in the darkroom! -- THE CONNECTION was made. I opened my heart and eyes to the wonderful world of photography.

Being a photographer has and continues to be a great motivational force. It gave me the purpose and the courage fresh out of high school to move to Venice Beach, California - It was the ultimate adventure in visual stimulation that I craved at the age of 17. I became more aware of the “eclectic real world” and thankfully learned how to shoot better images & talk to strangers 😉.

In 2000, I moved to the beautifully creative city of San Francisco and graduated from the Academy of Art University in 2005. I learned the power of visualization and developed a strong personal connection to fine art photography. I embraced different film types, development techniques, camera equipment, studio work and eventually adobes’ digital workflow…the rapid evolution of the digital age and my obsession for dynamic long-exposure photography took over.

My love for photography has propelled me in many wonderful directions: artistically, educationally, professionally and personally. The passion is to always keep learning, search out the LIGHT & not be too afraid to look into the shadows while crafting a photographic style of my very own…slightly tilted and always evolving.

Botanical beauty, majestic bridges, fabulous fireworks, spectacular sunsets, long exposures, night photography, the magical milky way, stunning time-lapse moments, travel adventures, intimate weddings and impromptu portrait shoots...there is ALWAYS that insatiable desire to translate light, shadow, form and emotion into an impressionistic scavenger hunt full of visual harmony and a some CHELAPHOTO style.

I am delighted to create and share my imagery and passion of pictorial photography with those who take time to enjoy the beauty around them too …✌️♥️📷!!

Cheers,Chelsey

Cheers,

Chelsey