Kelson Burns is a creative media professional who specializes in action sports, portraiture, nature photography, and graphic design. With a background as a sponsored skier and leadership experience at premier, world-class resorts like Lake Louise and Vail, his work is shaped by real-world experience in environments where precision, adaptability, and performance are essential.

Additionally, he has continued to refine his leadership and operations expertise across both resort and hospitality settings. At the Vail Ski Resort, Kelson played a key role in supporting and guiding a team of 18 mountain operators in a fast-paced, high-responsibility environment throughout the Back Bowls. Similarly, at the Lake Louise Ski Resort, in Alberta, Canada, he oversaw kitchen operations at the major base area, managing workflows and supporting a team of 8 to ensure efficiency during peak service periods. Recently, he expanded upon his leadership experience in the hospitality industry through a two-year tenure at the premier Graduate Hotel in Bloomington, Indiana, where he supervised a team while consistently delivering strong results in guest satisfaction and optimized employee efficiency through check-in processes and valet vehicle retrieval.

He also holds a degree in Creative Media from Indiana University with a minor in Marketing. He utilizes his expertise in photography, art, and graphic design to create content that is both visually striking and strategically effective. Whether through a lens or a layout, his work focuses on bridging the gap between artistic creativity and real-world marketing application.

Importantly, his professional history is defined by a commitment to leadership, continuous improvement, and high-performance results across multiple industries. At a leading hotel in central Indiana, he generated 80% of all TripAdvisor mentions and outperformed team members in guest feedback by over 65%. In retail, he led monthly sales at Tilly’s for consecutive months, achieving top-tier results in significantly less time than his peers. Lastly, his performance at the Vail Ski Resort in 2020 led to an offer for a management position, reflecting his leadership potential, the skillset he brought to the team, his ability to quickly learn and adapt, and the impact he had within the organization.
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The Photography Side of Kelson

I  believe in experiencing the world, learning firsthand about cultures, and delving into the bigger picture of life. To me, the bigger picture is creating images of moments that tell a story with a thousand words. ​

How long have I been taking photos? I have been taking photos on a DSLR camera since 2017, therefore, 2026 is my ninth year taking photos (my fifth year professionally). I have discovered a few important photography tips/tricks through online forums such as Reddit and Facebook. However, I have taught myself many of my photographic techniques, such as panning and long exposures, through trial and error. Despite the trial and error, many photos I capture (96-99%) are absolutely terrible. There are very few photos that I actually deem "perfect" images, because an individual will always continue to grow their knowledge in a specific field, which means their newly created artwork is usually better than their previous. Therefore, I occasionally decide to remake some of my original photos, but far better than before.

Some people also ask, how are my photos so vibrant and crisp looking? My photos are very vibrant thanks to my Pentax-K3 iii camera, which captures intense hues and vibrant colors perfectly (except for certain reds). Unlike some cameras, what you see in person is exactly what the Pentax-K3 will capture in a photo. Therefore, a majority of my photos are not edited, or edited very slightly to increase the saturation or vibrance, or make the clarity of certain objects more defined. My camera also converts photos into 6000+ by 4000+ pixels, as well as files up to 30mb (if photographed in Raw), therefore my images are extremely crisp and clear because of the high pixel rate. Additionally, my Sigma 150-500mm lens also helps improve the quality of certain images, especially panning shots, because of its optical stabilization.
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What cameras do I use? - Pentax K-3 iii, K-1, ME Super, Reto Ultra Wide, and Fujica DL-100. Which do I like best? - The Fujica DL-100 (a film camera), because it's compact, lightweight, simple to use, and takes great photos. ​Lenses? - Sigma DG 150-500mm 1:5-6:3 APO HSM, SMC Pentax DA 18-55mm, and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di VC LD Aspherical.​

Where have I been? - Canada, Russia, China, Australia, South Africa, Italy, France, Switzerland, Monaco, Germany, Vatican City, United States, Mexico, Spain, Turkey, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Turkey, Belgium, Finland, Liechtenstein, and Japan.​

Where do I plan to go next? Italy, the United Kingdom, Romania, Thailand, Laos, Slovenia, and Norway.​
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Where do I want to go? I want to go on a European adventure during the summer of 2025 or 2026. I'd like to visit many of these countries: the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia, Greece, Laos, Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary, Montenegro, Austria, Albania, Singapore, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Norway. Even though many of these countries are not part of Europe, they are still countries that I would love to visit in the future.

Where Has Kelson Skied?

Lake Louise Ski Resort in Banff, Alberta, Canada - Skied more than 65+ times
Banff Sunshine in Banff, Alberta, Canada
Revelstoke in British Columbia, Canada
Panorama Mountain Resort in British Columbia, Canada
Kicking Horse Mountain in British Columbia, Canada
All four of the mountains in Aspen, Colorado, USA, which include: Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk
Steamboat Ski Area in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, USA
Telluride Ski Resort in Miguel County, Colorado, USA
Jackson Hole in Teton Village, Wyoming, USA
Arizona Snowbowl in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA
Beaver Creek Ski Resort in Beaver Creek, Colorado, USA
Keystone Resort in Summit County, Colorado, USA
Breckenridge Ski Resort in Breckenridge, Colorado, USA - Home of the highest chairlift in North America at an elevation of 12,840 feet.
Arapahoe Basin (A-Basin) in Summit County, Colorado, USA
Loveland Ski Area in Clear Creek County, Colorado, USA
Vail Ski Resort in Vail, Colorado, USA - Skied more than 100+ times 
Caberfae Peaks in Cadillac, Michigan, USA
Boyne Mountain Resort in Boyne Falls, Michigan, USA
Crystal Mountain in Benzie County, Michigan, USA
Bittersweet Ski Resort in Allegan County, Michigan USA
Perfect North in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, USA
Paoli Peaks in Paoli, Indiana, USA 

Personal

This section describes some of Kelson's personal interests.

Other than skiing and photographing, Kelson has an array of interests, hobbies, and favorite things he likes to enjoy in his free time. These include: playing videogames (Fortnite, Minecraft, Skyrim, GTA 5, Cod Mobile), making music, painting, hiking, traveling, playing competitive trading card games, and watching movies/TV shows, and go-karting.

Some of his favorite shows are Beverly Hills 90210, Suits, Friday Night Lights, The 100, and Top Gear/The Grand Tour, Avatar (Cartoon), and the game show Survivor

Favorite Movies: Tombstone, Cars, Speed Racer, Gladiator, Avatar, Shape of Water, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift, The Dark Knight

Places I've lived: Lake Louise in Banff, Alberta, Canada, and the town of Vail in Vail, Colorado, USA

I enjoy collecting objects like streetwear clothing, Hotwheels cars (mainly ones that resemble real-life vehicles), Legos, artwork that shows scenic locations, and decks of playing cards (like aces and spades).

Like many others, I'm a big fan of Formula 1, albeit I became a fan far before Drive to Survive was a thing. My first year watching Formula 1 was in 2013, which was the first year Lewis Hamilton drove for Mercedes. Since watching Lewis win all those races with the Silver Arrows, I'm still a fan of him at Ferrari, and many other drivers like Sainz, Bortoleto, Hulkenberg, and Albon. Fortunately, I was able to attend the 75th annual Monaco Grand Prix during the Spring of 2017 in May, which was also my first F1 race in person.

Kelson is also a fan of automobiles. He frequently attends late-night races at local dirt tracks or at other venues, or even car shows.
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Kelson is also a lifelong enthusiast of automobiles. He frequently attends late-night races at local dirt tracks and iconic venues like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as well as regional car shows and enthusiast gatherings. For him, automotive culture represents more than horsepower and speed — it reflects precision, design, elegance, engineering excellence, and the shared passion of a dedicated community.

Kelson also enjoys attending air shows and air museums. His favorite plane is the SR71 Blackbird.