We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ashley Vandervelde. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ashley below.

Ashley, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

The wedding photography industry has become filled with so much talent, especially over the last decade. A lot of couples when they’re looking for their wedding photographer, often feel overwhelmed with the amount of choices that they have & don’t know what to expect when diving in! From the outside looking in, most couples make their decision based simply off of a photographer’s portfolio. Yet, when hiring a photographer, looking much deeper than that & understanding the experience they’re providing you, is so crucial to finding your perfect fit.

10 years ago when I started in weddings I knew who I wanted to be as an artist & the imagery I wanted to create, but it took me about 4 years to learn who I needed to be as a storyteller for my ideal couples. After those initial years of capturing weddings, I reflected on the fact that those couples who I was able to create more personal & intimate connections with received the galleries that felt the most emotional, real, & held my favorite images. It seems like an obvious thing now, but at the time it was so eye opening. So I sculpted my business around that pillar. Focusing on serving each of my couples uniquely by providing them a truly curated, personal service, because no couple & no wedding day is exactly the same.

When working with me you get the artist & the storyteller. I want to know you, your values, how your love has grown together over the time you’ve been together, what your ultimate life goals are, & what this future together for you looks like. All of those things help me build this creative profile of how to capture your love in it’s most honest light. Your story deserves to be told both in it’s truth & as magically as possible at the same time, as if captured by someone who has known you your entire lives. Not from a list of popular poses or prompts found on the internet, but crafted intentionally for you & your partner.

Ashley, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My high school had an absolutely amazing fine arts program. Our photography department was equipped with everything from a fully functional dark room, to a professional grade lighting studio. I chose to follow the passion I had developed for photography over my high school years & attend Ball State University, where I graduated with a degree in Photography & Intermedia Arts with a concentration in film. It’s always mind-blowing to me to look back at last 14 years of my life & think that never once did I falter from knowing that photography was what I put on earth to do.

In the early years of my wedding photography career, I found it challenging to keep up with the latest trends & technology. I felt like I was falling into the norm & away from what I felt driven to create, but I was lucky to start having couples find me, who were looking for more of that artistic eye & appreciated the depth of what my photography background offered them. Those first few couples who allowed me the creative freedom to create with them & be myself, I truly owe the world to.

Over my 8 years of a formal education, I learned so much that shaped the distinction of the art I create today. Into my adult years I also started pulling inspiration from poetry, cinema, & the methods of the slow living lifestyle. When I’m working with my couples I have their story, values, & connection at the forefront of my mind, while the other half of me is always looking out for unique composition, light, & ways to lead my couple through this moment in time that will add to to the experience & story of the day. In a phrase, “romanticizing” their experience.

In my daily life I like to study art history, read, hike & scout new locations….as well as people watch. That sounds really weird, but seeing how others choose to interact with each other is very inspiring. Movies are scripted, but life isn’t. So getting to see snippets of interactions between real people just living their life, helps me to cultivate a more natural feeling experience in what is a very unnatural experience being in front of the camera.

For every couple I work with, I always want them to feel seen, heard & know that they are at the forefront. Not the other way around. I am a service first photographer who is here to be inspired by & document my couples for who they are at their core & tell their story.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

I started photographing weddings 10 years ago. I booked my first wedding on a whim, the bride was a coworker of mine at the time, & then I started to book more & more simply by word of mouth. I loved doing them right off the bat, but always approached it with the intention of it being just ‘a thing on the side”. I knew that owning a business & working for yourself was no walk in the park. I truly did not know if I could hack it & by keeping it as a side job, I didn’t have to confront any kind of fear of failure either.

So for many years I was working a full-time 9 to 5 job, as well as doing up to 20 weddings a year on the weekends. It was a lot to balance, but I was able to support myself while also pursuing my passion.

In 2020, when I was laid off due to covid 19, my amazing partner Austin pushed me to take it as an opportunity to go full time with my photography. Although I was unsure if it was the right decision at the time, it ended up being the best choice I’ve ever made. I’ve never looked back!

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Photography is a fairly easy business to start up, financially wise. Although most people in the industry will tell you differently, you do not need the latest & greatest camera to get started!

I began taking on clients with a older model, consumer grade DSLR camera & one zoom lens I bought from a discount electronics store. Because photography started as a side gig for me, I let the money I earned from those jobs fund itself. So over the years I upgraded my camera, added more lenses to my collection as needed, etc. When I decided to go full-time I had a nice little nest egg saved up where I was able to invest in upgrading to the higher end professional equipment, some of which I still I use today.

Investing in yourself & in your business is absolutely crucial for success, but if he funds aren’t there in the beginning for the latest & greatest gear, start with what you can afford because the art is in the person, not in the camera.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ashleyvanderveldephotography.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/avanderveldephoto/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/avanderveldephoto
• Other: https://junebugweddings.com/vendors/wedding-photographers/washington/pacific-northwest/Ashley-Vandervelde-Photography

Image Credits
Ashley Vandervelde Photography