Meet Kelsey Templeton | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelsey Templeton and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelsey, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I love being able to express things in a way that isn’t just words. I am way more of a visual person than verbal. Photography has allowed me to put emotions into a visual perspective and help share my love for nature and the outdoors with others. Nothing makes me happier than spending time with people outside and being a part of all the intimate moments that come along with it.

In photography, without words you can really see what a person is experiencing in that moment. When I first started out I was 5 years old running around my grandparents house with my grandpas film camera taking photos of family and friends at the holiday gatherings. Now as an adult I’m running around taking photos of people at weddings, elopements and engagements out in nature, as well as restaurants. Capturing all the fun, happy, sometimes even sad emotions playing out throughout the day. Even when I look back to a lot of these old photos I took as a child I may not remember the moments very well itself but I can see and remember all the feelings and emotions and I love that I am able to provide that sense to other people though a creative career.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What sets me apart I think is I try to make my art feel emotional, bring connection and feel adventurous. My brand is focused around all of those things, from elopements, engagements, brands and art. All of it involves connection with each other and to nature.

I constantly put myself out there and told so many people what I do. I moved to Colorado and started my business only a few months before the pandemic. I had put so much energy into it and money with marketing. I had a bunch of consultations. Then just a few days later people started emailing me back saying they would have to hold off on booking and just a few days after that everything shut down, all the potential clients I had vanished in just a matter of days. Just as I thought things were going to take off they were forced to be put on pause for a year. I almost gave up during that time but now I’m so glad I didn’t. I have learned If you really want something and you work really hard at it and put all of your energy into it, it will work out in the long run even if it seems impossible.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would probably take my friend on the biggest trip possible in that week to show them why I love Colorado so much. When they got here I would start them off with a more relaxing day, we would grab coffee at Corvus on Broadway, walk all the cute shops on pearl street then have dinner at Woodie fisher downtown. The second day would be where the adventure began. I would take them to Huckleberry for coffee first thing in the morning, then to rei to stock up on camping meals and Parisi for some afternoon pizza before taking off. I would be taking them outside of the city for the rest of the week. We would do a big road trip car camping and sight seeing mountains. Drive down to aspen and independence pass for sunset. We have tp spend a day in crested butte and have Butte bagels for breakfast and do some wild flower sight seeing and biking there. For the last portion of the trip I would take them down to Silverton and drive down million dollar highway and up cinnamon pass so we could hike Handies Peak, one of my favorite hikes in Colorado, before heading back to Denver. I would want to give them the fullest Colorado experience I could while they were here.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
That’s a tough question, there are so many people I would want to give recognition to! A lot of my success, support and growth came from my sister Bailey. She constantly supported me and still does, Before I got into the industry I am in now, we always went out to take photos of her in clothes and jewelry brands sent to her back when she used to model. Now she is also a wedding and brand photographer/videographer we constantly go to each other for advice and to hype each other up when we aren’t feeling like we are doing the best we could. Every time I wanted to give up she pushed me right back up and helped me get though a lot of the walls I hit.

There’s also my high school photography teacher Mrs. Haggin for forcing me to enter my work competitions and made it part of my grade so that I would. She always pushed me to keep going when I wasn’t sure it was what I wanted to do or if I was really any good at it.

Website: www.kelseyjeanphotography.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/ke.l.se

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelsey-j-templeton/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelseyjeanphotography

Other: www.gingerandpinephoto.com

Image Credits
Connor Koldeway