Clifton Haley, the unsuspectingly talented artist tasked with the challenge of capturing earth’s most inspirational creation.  A gentle soul, battle weary.  One who is often frozen with fear of the unknown and overwhelmingly concerned with the realities of potential failures.  A man.  A husband.  A father.   A son.  A brother.  An uncle.  A worldwide photographer walking in the freedom of limitless independence.

A man born in Nashville, Tennessee.  A city full of dreamers and those in massive pursuits to be more and experience the greatest forms of themselves and their trade.  The beginnings of every story are crucial.  Knowing the first days, the first surroundings set the pace for every day and every moment that follows.  Our journeys are what make us the people we are today.  Our difficulties and our successes define the DNA of who we are and the pieces that have created our outlooks and perspectives on life.

At the age of ten, Clifton faced his first major battle – a mother diagnosed with cancer.  His mother has always been the source of his greatest encouragement and hope.  She exhibits all the characteristics of a true hero, choosing the salvation of others above all her basic needs.  She has been a constant source of firming foundations and development of greater hopes.  It was on one of the many walks at Radnor Lake, that Clifton took his first photo, of course at the urging of his mother.  At the age of eleven, passion was born.  Anything in its infancy needs nourishment and growth.  Anything in its infancy needs development and testing.  Anything in its infancy requires fuel and light.  Clifton’s photography aspiration was in its infancy form at best. 

Dreaming is not something that comes naturally for Clifton.  And this is why he has been sovereignly surrounded by those full of dreams – first with his mother, next with his wife.  All through the years, others have been his source of inspiration as to what he had the ability to achieve.  As one who has grown up in church with the Bible as the source of all truth and direction, the dreamers in scripture always created a curiosity in his soul.  In many instances he would be fascinated by those prophets of old who would see things in dreams and visions and then watch them unfold before their eyes.  With Clifton’s first breath he was born into the 7^th position of being a Joel.  Clifton Joel Haley.  Joel, the biblical prophet, spoke to the ability of dreaming dreams and seeing visions – which is where the irony is, as dreaming is not easy for Clifton.  The desires of his heart have always been to be financially secure and the confident leader of his home.  Being financially secure continually forced his hand even further away from his dreams. 

Not long after marriage, Clifton bought his first DSLR in 2007, a Sony A100.  His declared profession was architecture and design with his degree placing him behind a desk drafting buildings at their foundational levels in black and white.  In his evenings and weekends, he focused on capturing families for their annual Christmas card photographs.  For three years, his life was defined by the brand Clifton Fotos.  He developed a logo, website and began to pursue more in his photography talents and aspirations.  In 2010, he had the incredible opportunity to join the world’s largest school portrait photography company, Lifetouch – which is now owned by Shutterfly.  Which also led him to upgrade to the Nikon D300S and the photography journey expanded in ways he never dreamed.  He quickly was placed in a management role which extended his work hours even more.  In 2012, he started following Serge Ramelli online.  These sessions allowed Clifton to grow his talents in his own time – late at night with his computer.  He followed religiously and immediately executed the “how to’s” into his images.  He travelled many places on mission trips to capture the moments of the team loving people all around the world from Scotland, Nicaragua, Israel, Romania, Indonesia and Hungary.  His gallery grew, his talent grew – but his finances slowly trickled upward.

In 2013, the long-awaited heart desire happened, and Clifton’s wife was expecting their first child.  This child would radically change everything about Clifton’s dreams – financial-stability peace of mind ruled out and controlled all his decisions for many years after.  He left his photography position and began working a 9-5 job in the banking industry which brought benefits that his family desperately needed due to his daughter’s medical needs.  Two and a half years later, their son joined in an unexpected-surprise adoption.  Clifton was amid growing in manhood, fatherhood and a family with his wife.  A season when the dream of full-time photography was only a glimmer.  A faint light getting smaller and smaller over time and nearly was blown out.  And this mode continued until 2020 – when the world shut down.  At the end of 2019, Clifton had decided in his heart to take a leap of faith and begin a full-time photography career.  But he delayed.

In March 2020, Clifton was bound for another trip with his Pastor to Israel to experience the Christian pilgrimage once again.  However, this year – it was cancelled the week before departure.  And his flight headed in a different direction.  While the world shut down, Clifton and his mother took off to Arizona and Utah for his first official photography trip.  They diligently traversed 1800 miles of America’s most beautiful sceneries including getting the rental car stuck in a salt flat.  These moments with his mother allowed him to capture creation in its truest form.  These images built his gallery in a new way – raw transparency of beauty.  His passion was reignited.  His heart’s desire was reinforced.  And he boarded a plane wanting more.  But instead of pursuing it full time, he delayed. 

His delay cost him his photography time, slowed his talent, broke his sanity, and forced his family into a holding pattern of a man wandering.  His wife never lost hope.  His mother never lost hope.  Clifton lost hope.  He chose destructive decisions instead of walking in the freedoms of his talent and dream.  He chose to be bound by a world where he didn’t have the freedoms of schedule, time and money.  Clifton chose to let his dream be squashed and nearly destroyed.  And then the summer of 2022 came.  And hope reignited.  After dealing with the loss of two years of career work and purpose, he finally surrendered.  He took time off from all things that consumed his life and rebuilt a foundation.  He and his wife developed a business plan.  And in perfect, providential timing, an email invitation arrived.  Serge Ramelli invited him to join his Inner Circle.  And after his wife shouted with excitement for him to “DO IT!” he surrendered once again.  He became the first member of the Serge’s first Inner Circle.  And his dreams of photography took a real, live, tangible form.  This one step radically transformed his finances, his talents, his confidence, and his future.  This one step was a pivotal point.  A marker of sorts.  A clear, precise sign of what was coming next.  His dream and his purpose realized.

Life can be challenging, and starting a business aligned with your dream even more so. Along the way, Clifton has been distracted, but never lost sight that God exalts who He exalts. God is always with you and that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Take time today to know your core and find the truth.