Photo: Kel Casey shooting a CHS basketball game. Photo by Bob Weissenfels.
If you follow local sports, attend community events, or are interested in school activities, there’s a good chance that you’ve either seen Kel Casey in action, or seen her work. As a well-established local photographer, Casey’s images of all things Coronado appear in a variety of places on the internet as well as in the Eagle & Journal newspaper.
Kel grew up in a small town in Minnesota. Her husband, Mike, grew up here in Coronado. “His father and grandfather were both Naval Officers,” said Casey. “Right after we got married, we flew out (from Virginia) for the annual family Thanksgiving. We went for a walk the morning after we arrived, and I told him that one day we were going to live here. It took 10 years, but we made it happen,” she said of her Coronado story.
Casey discovered her passion for photography during her teen years. “When I was in my 20s I got my first Nikon, and it just went from there. I didn’t always know what I was doing, but I knew what I was trying to achieve in a photo, so I just kept working at it.” Currently, Kel uses a Nikon D700 as her main camera.
Today, Casey is one of the most well-known photographers in Coronado, and she seems to enjoy her job. “I love working with the Eagle. Of course it gives me great opportunities for photographing sports, but I also get to cover things like the homecomings of our aircraft carriers, the annual parades, local government happenings, and a variety of cultural events. One of my favorites was shooting the International Festival of Dance.”
Photo Credit: Kel Casey/All Rights Reserved
Casey shoots a variety of activities. “I love sports and floral photography,” she said. “They’re obviously different, requiring different settings, light, and lenses. My favorite sport to shoot is water polo, because that’s where I really got started with sports photography. The action is very intense. The floral close-up work gives me a nice balance– it’s relaxing, and I don’t have to worry about the flowers moving out of focus!” Casey is also a contributing photographer for USA Water Polo. She says that the best part of that job is that the Men’s National Team includes several Coronado natives. “I feel pretty lucky to be able to say that I’ve photographed Olympic athletes in action!”
Kel also generously donates her photography services to Coronado schools, charity events, and sports booster clubs. She will soon be working at the CSF Connect-a-Thon. She also works with local restaurants and caterers to provide food photography.
As involved as Mrs. Casey is in our community, she is also a freelance businesswomen. She sells most of her photography on her website, www.kelcasey.com. If anyone is interested in information on having her photograph a sports or family event, she can also be contacted via her email, [email protected]
Photo credit: Kel Casey/All
Rights Reserved
So, what if someone wants to follow in Kel Casey’s footsteps and become a photographer him/herself? Here’s her advice: “Practice! Take the camera off of auto mode, go out with the camera manual or a good basic photography book, and start taking pictures using different settings. Even basic point and shoot cameras have a lot of options. Pay attention to your light– how much there is, where it’s coming from. It’s the single most important thing to understand.”
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Sophia Zaller
Online Editorial Intern
