ABOUT celeste

Hello! I'm Celeste Durham, owner of Beyond Photography and artist local to the Midwest region. My main focus is on creative photography and costume design, where I aim to provide a unique experience that goes beyond to create photos of fantasy-based aesthetics and storytelling. I do this by designing and hand crafting a variety of costume pieces like wings, armor & headpieces along with the set itself to achieve the desired expression for each personalized photoshoot. When planning a set with a client I start with a consultation where I can get a feel for the look they want to go for as well as get a better feel for their personality while learning how to use my designs to bring that out in the session. I then will book a fitting day to make sure everything looks how we want and to make any adjustments before the day of the actual session.

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I fell in love with photography as a little kid after being mesmerized by my grandfather who always had a camera in his hand taking photos of the family. I wanted to do that so bad, but I was too young for a camera of my own, so I “built” my own camera out of cardboard and pretended to take photos while mouthing a ch-click sound with every “snap”. I would pray that when I passed, I would be able to see all my photos in heaven. Eventually I was allowed disposable cameras, I would beg for a new one every week though my shots were of stray cats, porches, and sidewalk chalk. When I got a bit older, I practiced often with my point & shoot before inheriting my grandfather’s camera, finally taking some classes, and eventually entering competitions. It was a love that was passed down, continuing to grow then and now.

The main thing that drives me the most is seeing someone feel amazing during a session or when they share with me how they feel when they see the photos for the first time. Being able to show someone I work with that they are gold and to have the honor of helping bring out their inner god/goddess is priceless and indescribable.