Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ce Chel Kresa. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Ce Chel , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?

In 2022, my husband and I, along with our two rescue pups, would drive around rural areas of Kansas. In the beginning, it was so that I could take photos of some of the antique but warped dolls we had recently inherited from my grandparents house that had been abandoned for over 30 years. Dolls have been an incredible fear of mine and taking staged horror photos with them has helped me conquer my fear. I have been in and started many of the photography groups on Facebook for Kansas. After posting some of the photos that we really liked, and a ton of criticism that I received over “taking photos with my dolls”, we decided to leave them behind and do more landscape and abandoned building photography. The name Exploring Kansas came shortly after and on some platforms we have added Photography at the end. We always joke that I am the photographer and he’s my chauffer.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My Husband and I started a hobby called Exploring Kansas. Our favorite past-time has been driving around rural areas of Kansas that we had never been to before with our two rescue dogs Maverick and Dixie. Some of our favorite subjects to photograph are landscapes, buildings, antique cars and a lot of nature photography. After creating a few different platforms for our hobby, it took off fairly quickly. Now we have a decent following on most social media platforms. I am hoping to save up for a drone to be able to do more aerial photos and videos that I would not normally be able to take from the ground. We are looking to expand our business with a few different ideas. One would be creating some photobooks for anyone interested in buying them, a long with some interactive books for kids. We are still working a few of those ideas out as we speak. We’re currently on Tiktok, Snapchat, Facebook/Instagram, Youtube, a long with a few others. Google maps has a lot of our photography added as well.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Our goal with this hobby to let others know that Kansas is so much more than just wheatfields, cornfields and flat lands. Kansas has a ton of gorgeous views that so many people will never see because they do not want to get out of their towns and drive around. There are three sets of hills that expand across this state and most will only witness one of them from a highway instead of dirt roads, sand, mud or other fun styles of roads that we have come across with our Ford Ranger. Escape the city and see what’s is out in the countryside. We do like to remind others that are fully against trespassing and we never stray from the roads.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have always been on social media since the times of Myspace and early Facebook. We started out with mainly using Tiktok, Facebook and Instagram but quickly created a snapchat account that anyone can follow and view our adventures in real time. Recently, I have been adding more information, reviews and photos on google maps to add more for some of the unknown locations. One thing on social media platforms I would highly suggest is making sure that posts are consistent. This summer, finances have been a lot tighter on us than last year, so we haven’t been able to explore near as much as we would like to. I am definitely noticing the growth of our snapchat followers decline a slight amount but still stays consistent for the most part.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exploringkansasphotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExploringKansas/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX52inIyikshc_5cv-vzKqw

Image Credits
Ce Chel Kresa