We were lucky to catch up with Ashlan Skidmore recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ashlan , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Doing photography long inspired me from my grandmother’s photo albums and I truly enjoyed how photos looked even as a little girl going through that photo album. Photos showed such an authentic love and I knew I wanted to keep that passion and love in my photography today. My grandmother was a golden women who always pushed me as far as my dreams could take me. My grandmother’s faith in me and God truly inspired to keep going. I want my photos to truly represent authentic love and use this opportunity to share the love of Jesus through my art.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello my name is Ashlan! I am a wedding and elopement photographer. My husband and I took on this passion in 2013 and we couldn’t be more grateful to be where we are today. In 2013 we had our first daughter and I wanted to stay home with her but I wanted to also help provide for our family. I always did photography for fun but I truly felt like God was pushing to try to make a business out of it. We took off after our first wedding and definitely took that as a sign that we are exactly doing what we are supposed to be doing! We fell in love with capturing love!!! After being married for almost 13 years and being hopeless romantics, this just seemed like a dream. Now we couldn’t see us doing anything else! We mainly capture weddings but do it all! I am also a mom with 2 daughters now and I am a care taker for my brother who has Down syndrome. So you can say life is pretty crazy for us! They come to shoots with us sometimes and I love that we can all enjoy this art together as a family. My girls love bringing their own cameras and capturing photos during shoots as well. I would say what sets my photography apart is how I genuinely capture candid moments. Our number one review we get is how we truly make our clients feel comfortable and laugh all the time. I like to crack jokes saying that you get a comedian as well with your photos! I absolutely LOVE complimenting people. You never know what someone is going through and I truly hope my jokes and compliments leave them with joy. Then they can also remember that joy through their photos! We often become great friends with our clients and hang out outside of photo shoots. I am proud of just how far we have came, so many doubted us at the beginning of our journey and to see where we are now is just amazing to me. The main thing I want my potential clients to know is we are here for you, what ever you need or questions you have we are. We want to know you and be your friend, and not just your photographer. Trusting us with your day and memories is such an honor and we want to show you just how valued and loved you are.

How’d you meet your business partner?

So my partner is my HUSBAND! I love that him and I get to work together and we truly are a dream team. We met when I was 15 and he was 18. I was a freshman and he was a senior. The moment we dated in the first 3 months we knew that it was meant to be! My husband initially was not a photographer but he is a creative and picked up the passion right along my side. We love sharing interest and hobbies together.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think the biggest thing that helped my reputation was being attentive and taking extra care with each of my clients. I made every relationship with my client personal as well. We also go above and being on your wedding day. Need help putting an earring on? Need us to go get somebody for you? Cleaning up an area? We got you. We don’t want you or your guest to over work more than you need to so let us help! We try and be more than just your photographer.

Contact Info:

• Website: ashlandashawnphotography.mypixieset.com
• Instagram: AshlanDashawn Photography
• Facebook: AshlanDashawn Photography