We recently connected with Kelsey Webster and have shared our conversation below.

Kelsey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

Success is a challenging thing to adequately depict because it’s a culmination of a million things. Foundationally, I think that being successful takes an unwavering belief in yourself. Knowing your worth and fully believing that you are capable of your dreams is so meaningful when it comes to building any business or brand. I am motivated by the things that I want to accomplish, and that’s not always easy. Oftentimes, I have to take a moment to put things back into perspective for myself when things start to feel overwhelming, and I think learning that lesson was really hard and really crucial. The ability to take a moment and reevaluate has allowed me the space to breathe and take the next step that I need to take. As a result, I’ve learned firsthand that the most rewarding things won’t be easy. Being successful means that each and every step is important to that journey, regardless of whether that step is a win or a loss. At the base, I know that I can achieve the dreams that I have for myself, and I’ve piled on other necessities like perseverance, hard work, resilience, and creativity. I feel like I have placed success at the top of a pyramid and I’m constantly working on strengthening those building blocks to get to the top of my pyramid.

I’m also a big believer of surrounding yourself with people that love and support you. I’m human, and I do struggle to stay on my game sometimes, and I have been incredibly lucky in my life to have the people that I do who motivate me. I’ve experienced success because I have people in my life who want me to succeed, and more than once I have had to rely on that support when my own confidence has wavered.

Kelsey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Kelsey Webster and I’m a freelance photographer. I have always been creative in some capacity, but for some reason photography always stuck. Growing up, I was always uncomfortable being in front of the camera, so I started to put myself behind it. I would photograph everything around me, especially landscapes and things in the world that I thought were interesting. For many years it was just a hobby that I enjoyed doing in my off time, but I dove headfirst into it during my senior year of college in 2019. I took a class during my last semester of college that was centered on learning large format film photography, and I truly haven’t looked back since. During that class, I learned how to develop my own black and white film, how to print my work in a darkroom, and how to manipulate film in ways that aren’t possible with digital cameras. When I graduated college in December of 2019, COVID-19 wasn’t too far behind and I ended up at home just like most everyone else. I decided to put my extra time into going through the work I’d created in my film class, and I didn’t want any of my newfound skills to get rusty. I bought a large format camera that just so happened to have bright yellow bellows on it (my favorite color), which was the basis for my company name. I now shoot with everything ranging from a large format camera, a medium format camera, a 35mm camera, and a digital camera. In total, I have between 13-15 cameras in my collection, and I use each and every one. Specializing in film has really provided me an excellent understanding of photography as an artistic medium. I utilize both digital cameras and film cameras for most of my shoots now, and the look of film is truly unmatched. I’m still learning as a photographer and as an artist, and I hope I never stop doing so. I’ve been incredibly lucky in the two years since I launched my website, yellowbellowsphotography.com. I shot my first wedding in June of 2021, and as of the end of 2022 I will have shot eight weddings in total, with more on the horizon. I’m really excited to see where this takes me! I shoot anything from headshots to family gatherings, to weddings, to couples sessions, to maternity and more.
I thrive in environments where I can be creative and push boundaries of what a traditional shoot would look like. My favorite things about photographing weddings are coming up with an exciting new pose or a new angle, and that translates into my stylized shoots as well. I have so many ideas and so many photos that I want to make, and each time I get to is so rewarding. Every couple, or model, or event I get to photograph is such an immense honor for me because someone is putting their trust in me to capture an important time in their life. I take that trust very seriously, and I’m so appreciative of every opportunity I get. I put a little bit of myself into every shoot I do, and I’m very thankful for that outlet creatively.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Being a creative person is incredibly rewarding, but it also comes with a lot of highs and lows. Oftentimes, it means that I live inside my own head a lot, whether it be emotionally or creatively. I have a constant stream of ideas for photoshoots or other artistic projects swirling through my brain and I don’t have enough time to accomplish them. I have to do my best to either immortalize them in writing somewhere or cycle through those ideas in my mind’s eye so I don’t forget them when I have a new idea pop up. I think this can sometimes present itself as if I’m not paying attention, or even like I’m a little scatterbrained, but ultimately, I’m constantly planning something new in my head. I have a planner that I keep with me constantly that is equipped with color-coordinated highlighters for each event or idea that comes up, but it also means I have a million sticky notes with illogical scribbles in every pocket, on every screen, or in every backpack. On the other hand, when I do get the time to create one of my ideas, I often over-glamorize it to the point that accomplishing my mental image can be really, really challenging. That can lead to a reevaluation of the project; do I stick with it, or do I move on to a different idea? One that may be more plausible? As a result, I find myself with a lot of half-finished or mostly finished projects. All in all, it makes me and my head feel like a very colorful rollercoaster ride.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

Being an artist has taught me so much about who I am as a person. Everything that I create and put out into the world is a reflection of who I am, and that’s something that I want to be proud of. Using my creative vision to look both outwardly and inwardly has resulted in so much growth on a personal level, and I’m forever grateful for it. It’s very rewarding to surround myself with a thing that I love so much, and it also enrich my life. My art has been a huge catalyst for improvement in so many ways. I understand my mental health better when I see it through the lens of my work, and I’m able to work out my emotions. I’m also able to see exactly what I hope for myself and my future when I image all the ways I can use my art to get there. The ability to express myself with such a visual medium has given me another way to communicate, and that is such a freeing feeling. It’s even more rewarding to be able to use that skill to benefit those around me. It is such a special thing to be asked to photograph someone’s wedding, engagement, or family event because I’m able to provide them with the memory of that day while also taking that burden off their shoulders. Being allowed to photograph some of the most important days of someone’s life is so rewarding because it’s a positive way that I can provide a service. Being able to use my art to make someone happy wasn’t something that I would have thought possible when I was younger, and knowing that I’m at that place now makes me really proud.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.yellowbellowsphotography.com
• Instagram: @yellobellowsphoto