Somehow, this is where I was always meant to be
Hey, I’m Chelsea — a family and couples photographer based in Southwest Florida. I am a former teacher, turned homeschool mom of 2, capturing life's fleeting moments the best way I know how.
Photography has been part of my life since I was a kid. I was always the friend bringing my digital camera, and taking the photos before everyone had the convenience of a smartphone. But the reason I pick up my camera now is different than when I started. Somewhere along the way, I became a mom. I watched my own family grow and change. We packed up our life in Vermont and traded it for a new one here on Florida’s Gulf Coast. And through all of that change, photographs started to mean something different to me.
My girls are growing up right in front of me. Our family looks different than it did a year ago, and completely different than it did four years ago. There are things they do today that I know will disappear so gradually I probably won’t even realize the last time is the last time.
Not because every moment needs to be documented. Not because life needs to look beautiful all the time. But because there are seasons of our lives we’d give almost anything to visit again.
A photograph gets surprisingly close.
I don't take any of this for granted
Today, I photograph families and couples throughout Venice, Nokomis, Sarasota and Southwest Florida. And I genuinely love doing it.
I love meeting a family I’ve never met before and, an hour later, knowing exactly which kid is the comedian. I love watching people loosen up when they realize this isn't going to be an hour of standing still and smiling at me. I love getting home after a session, opening the images on my computer and finding the one I know they're going to love before they've even seen it.
There is something pretty incredible about being invited into a small piece of someone else's life and getting to turn it into something they can keep. Not because you need more pictures - you probably already have thousands.
But because every once in a while, you deserve photographs that let you put the phone down, be present, get in the frame, and be part of the story yourself.
That's not lost on me.