Meet Your Photographer
Hello, friends! Oh my goodness, it is with such joy and happiness that I write this blog!
My name is Chelsea west, and I am a photographer in west Texas! I was born and raised in Midland, Texas. I graduated from Midland High in 2004 and attended Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas. I graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in 2009, and for the better part of the next decade, I taught middle school History. Teaching was all I had ever wanted to do. When God’s plan changed mine, I turned one of my favorite hobbies into my new career!
Chelsea West photography truly began in 2019, and for the last several years, I have been testing out several different genres. I have captured; families, grads, sports, businesses, newborns, weddings, wildlife, and so many more genres. Some of them I have loved, and some of them… well, not so much. Not due to any particular reason; I just didn’t feel as confident.
As 2022 began, I made a promise to educate myself as much as I possibly could. I took classes, upon classes, upon classes. I tried out a few more genres, tested different editing techniques, and even purchased a few things that I thought I needed at the time… turns out I definitely did not. I gave myself permission to fail this year. I sought out failure as often as possible. To me, it is in failure that we learn. Friends, I learned so much this year.
I learned what I wanted my editing style to be, not quite bright-and-airy and not quite Oompa-Loompa orange, somewhere in the middle, where the colors are still true, and you can feel the warmth from the sunshine.
I learned that I am beyond capable of making Chelsea West Photography successful. I just need to shush those quite little voices of worry and fear… and the handful of people that doubt me along the way.
I learned that regardless of what I try, how hard I fail, or whatever crazy ideas I have, you, as a community, are sticking around. For that, I say thank you! You are wonderful, and I am forever grateful.
I also learned, most importantly, that I, more than anything else, love taking pictures of graduates (kinder, 8th, High School, and College). I feel my most confident there, I feel my editing is best there, and I feel like it is where I am truly meant to be.
With that being said, moving forward in 2023, I will be niching down to Graduates, Schools, and sports. Basically, if you are in school, I’m your girl.
Friends, I do not make this decision lightly. I have prayed about this decision for months, I have made all the pro/con lists I can stand to make, and I have spoken about this to a handful of trusted confidants. With all that being said, I am so excited to make this move!
I am so excited to work with the graduates. They hold such a special place in my heart. It brings me so much joy to see The eagerness to move on to the next chapter, the nostalgia of everything they are leaving behind, and getting to see a peak inside who this graduate is about to become. Having the opportunity to capture means the world.
Friends, thank you as always for being here, and I can’t wait to show you what all I have planned for the next year! Cheers to ‘23!
Class of 2023, let’s Chat! If you are ready to get your graduate session on the books, let me know by clicking the link below!
