Hi! I'm Ashley.
"Taking pictures is like tiptoeing into the kitchen late at night and stealing Oreo cookies."
-Diane Arbus
Photography is an exhilarating part of my life, and my excitement about it hasn't been tarnished by time. In high school, it served as a mysterious and confusing hobby, a way of connecting with others, a channel anxious energy. In college it became an outlet, a service, and an escape. After that it became a business and a passion. Still later, it taught me discipline and confidence. And now, it's a whirling, ever-changing mixture of all of these things: and the more I devote myself to it, the more vast the possibilities seem. It feels like a friend, one that's always waiting to teach me no matter how distracted I become.
In the past, I've been told that students of photography were taught that their specialty and succinct and identifiable visual language were paramount and required to succeed. If you were going to be a wedding photographer, you were a WEDDING photographer. If you were going to shoot still life, you had better specialize in only still-life. Better yet, be the guy who shoots spoons better than anyone else. That way you'll be sure to book all the spoon jobs. I’m not the spoon guy: I spin a lot of plates.
I'll take that expired Polaroid film you're throwing out and use it. I want to shoot your clothing company's fashion editorial spread in the studio. I’ll shoot your band’s promo pictures. I want to make your image in wet plate collodion (tintype) out of a tent in the middle of the woods. I would love to shoot your wedding or elopement, whether you prefer a modern digital style, or on black and white film. I aspire to someday master printing in historical processes like platinum palladium, photograveure, and albumen. I get my hands dirty developing my own film. All of these applications of photography fascinate me, and I don't feel the need to choose. Photography is cool. Photography is an adventure. There's more to learn.
I hope we can get together soon and talk about your big ideas, and the ways in which my experience with all these interests will inform your experience as my client.
Let's Connect!
tintype website // www.alchemytintype.com
Instagram// @ashleyjenningsphoto
Facebook // www.facebook.com/ashleyjenningsphotography
What about weddings?
I shot my first wedding in 2006, and loved everything about it. I feel so privileged that I get to be there with the couple on what is quite probably the most important day ever for them, watching and capturing the few seconds that they'll think of their entire lives. I love that I still sometimes tear up during the father daughter dance, and that sometimes I catch myself walking through the reception grinning because I'm having so much fun. I love the friendship I always end up making with the flower girls, and cracking jokes with the groomsmen. I love watching your big Jewish Russian family teach your husband's quiet Texan family how to dance the Hora. I love when you turn tradition on its head and walk each other down the aisle to punk music. Elopements? Courthouse weddings? Yes. Traditional or not, religious or not, as long as you're having a great time, I'm up for anything. Let's do it.
I'm proud and happy to photograph people in love of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
Because your wedding will be totally different than every other wedding, I'd like to put together a custom quote for you. You're getting married, for pete's sakes... You deserve a custom quote. Most couples choose to invest $2900-$4000 in their wedding packages. My goal is to provide every couple with a completely personalized experience and beautiful photographs.
I would love to talk more about personalized pricing and payment plans, discounted travel expenses (ask me!), and all the little details you've been tossing around in your mind. (Maybe you'd like me to shoot a couple packs of Polaroid film? Maybe you want me to ONLY shoot film?) It's one of the biggest days of your life, and my belief is that your photographer should make things easier and happier, not more stressful.
For access to a much more extensive portfolio, please shoot me an email at ashleyjenningsphotography@gmail.com, and I will send you a link. While you're at it, let's set up a time to get coffee or happy hour drinks and talk about your wedding!
Can't wait to meet you.
