The challenge winner of last week's 'Country' theme has shared some more of her gorgeous work as well as given us a peek into what makes her tick! Read on to learn more about Chelsey Hawes....
1. Please tell us about yourself...
2. Can you describe your style in 3 words?
Cheerful, simple, and relational.
Why those words?
Over the last year, I've found myself most drawn to photographing families and children. Although I adore styled shoots, I love capturing who my subject is in that moment. When a mother closes her eyes and pictures her child, I want my image to be true to that vision. In terms of families, I'm passionate about capturing the connections between family members. The love that we have for our family members is often difficult to fully express and I think that capturing interactions through photography is a way that people feel like they have a tangible expression of those feelings.
3. What sparked your passion for photography?
Two things sparked my interest in photography: my daughter and bokeh. I bought my first DSLR three years ago, while I was pregnant with my daughter. My goal was to simply document her life and I did that in a very straightforward way for almost a year. Then I stumbled across a tutorial on how to take photos of Christmas lights and was instantly drawn in by the bokeh in the image. I bought a 50mm 1.8, started practicing with it and realized that in addition to documenting, I also had the desire to create.
4. What's in your camera bag right now?
My bag is a purse that I converted into a camera bag. A few years ago, my family decided to exchange handmade gifts for Christmas and my husband sewed a camera bag insert for my purse. It's worked really well but after a few years of hard use, it's days are numbered. I'll be sad to see it go (well, mostly sad). I shoot with a Canon Mark ii and switch between a Tamron 28-75 (for day to day), a 50mm 1.4, and an 85mm 1.8. I also keep a lens pen handy, a remote shutter, tissues, and bribery candy :) 
5. What is your dream shoot or project?
I'm really passionate about documenting my family. I recently completed a 365 project of my daughter from age two to three and I'm currently doing a project 52 with my 4 month old son. Once I'm done with that, I think I'd like to attempt a family portrait per month, which is a stretch for me since I'd be getting in front of the camera (and would finally get some use out of that remote shutter).
Professionally, I love photographing births but quickly learned that having two small kids at home is not conducive to the "on-call" lifestyle. However, in the last 6 months, I've done several hospital visits after the babies of friends and family were born and I've found that photographing the parents and baby within the first day is pretty amazing to experience. Each time I arrive at the hospital/birthing center, I get butterflies in my stomach. It's such an beautiful thing to capture. I'm hoping to start offering hospital/birthing center visits to my clients. I feel like that will tide me over until my babies are old enough for me to offer birth photography.
6. What are some of the misconceptions you had about photography and photographers at the beginning of your photography journey? Have they changed, and how?
Until fairly recently, I had this idea that a "perfect" image had to be a certain way and that I was educating myself in order to learn how to attain that perfect image. Like there was some checklist out there and if all the boxes were filled, your image was "perfect". Now I realize that photography is so much more subjective than I initially thought. What some photographers would consider too warm of an edit or over exposed, others might think it's spot on. What matters is that I created what I set out to create.
7. What advice would you give to newbie photographers?
Use your resources and make connections. At the beginning of my photography journey, I took a class from an amazing local photographer and she offered to meet up with me at her favorite photography spot and show me around. I took her up on her offer and it was the single best thing I did in becoming a photographer. Not only did we become fast friends but she became an incredible resource along the way (and continues to be). Now that I've been doing this for a few years, I've had friends ask me photography questions and I am more than happy to share whatever knowledge I have. I think that the majority of photographers are eager to share what they've learned so don't be afraid to ask.
What advice do you wish you'd been given at the very beginning?
I wish that I would've learned to say no to clients sooner. When I was building my portfolio, I was so excited to be asked to do a shoot that I would bend over backwards to accommodate client requests. As time went on and my clientele grew, it took me a little while to realize that the conditions of a shoot had to work for me also. I ended up doing way more shoots than I should've and quickly burned out. After my son was born, I decided to be much more intentional with my schedule and the number of shoots I take on and it's helped me feel more balanced between my home life and work life.What advice do you wish you'd been given at the very beginning?
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