Conversations with Brandon & Ashlyn Kile

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon & Ashlyn Kile. They and their team shared their story with us below:

The story of Back Deck Spaces is something more of a love story than a business plan. Ashlyn and Brandon met at Arapahoe Community College in 2017 during an art history 101 class that was required for our Associates of Applied Science in Commercial Photography.

Ashlyn focuses on wedding and portraiture photography, and Brandon focuses on commercial food/beverage, product, & real estate photography. During this class, Ashlyn didn’t think much about Brandon as he was more chaotic & sporadic than she’d like; but, Brandon thought she was something incredible. Needless to say, we didn’t talk much in that class. It would take a photography study abroad trip to Kyoto & Tokyo, Japan that would connect us together. While in Japan, we knew of each other from the art history class and that we were in the same photography program, but not much else. We found ourselves clumping together in our group of friends while traversing the cities and temples. Before we knew it, we had become each other’s, dedicated travel partners.

When we returned to Denver, we continued texting night and day for about a week before we went on our first date.

Fast forward to our final semester in the program and a year into our relationship, we are tirelessly working on our graduating portfolios every week at Ashlyn’s parent’s house in Aurora – usually working out on their back deck which is where the best lighting was for Brandon’s food/beverage & product photography was. After graduation in the spring of 2019, Brandon went on to work as the in-house photographer for a major auction house in Boulder & Ashlyn continued pursuing a career in the wedding photography industry.

In February 2020, we got engaged in the middle of a snowstorm on our way to the Dillon Ice Castles; but, got stuck in traffic before the Eisenhower tunnel. Not wanting to get stranded in Dillon until the storm passed, we decided to cut our losses and turn off the highway to head back to Denver. We pulled over on a random trailhead just before the tunnel with our best friend, Matthew Greenfield (who was also in the photo program with us and who Brandon had asked to photograph the engagement without Ashlyn’s knowledge), walked 50 feet up the path and proposed right there in three feet of fresh snow during a blizzard and on the side of a highway. She said “YES!” And before we knew it, we were planning our wedding in the middle of a global pandemic. We got married on May 29th, 2021 in Fort Collins, Colorado with our friends, teachers, and families all in attendance – literally one week after the local government opened up the public to “normality.”

A few months later, Brandon was looking on Indeed for a new job as his hour commute to Boulder was putting a lot of wear & tear on his car and on himself. He came across a job posting for a “full-time wedding photographer in Maui, HI. Full benefits & relocation assistance – 1-year contract.” Not being a wedding photographer but being married to one, he sent the listing over to Ashlyn. She applied that day, interviewed a week later, and accepted the position a week after that. Within five months after our wedding, we had packed our entire apartment into a 10×10 storage unit, said our “see you later” to our friends & family, and were off Maui for a year!

From October 2021 – November 2022, we were living our best lives on Maui. Ashlyn ended up photographing up to two weddings a day, every day, for a year, and loved every minute of it. She gained a wealth of real-world knowledge by working with clients, wedding vendors, planners, and everything in between. Brandon also expanded on his real estate & architecture portfolio while on the islands and ended up photographing the Grand Wailea’s ‘Ikena & Lolu restaurants after their remodels, the Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa’s new marketing images, and countless vacation rentals.

When we returned to Denver, in November of 2022, we decided to rebrand Brandon Kile Photography with Ashlyn running the behind-the-scenes office management & Brandon taking the creative lead on all photoshoots from start to finish. After months of discussing what we wanted our brand to be and it’s aesthetic, we went back to our roots and took inspiration from our final semester of college and the final portfolio class – the many hours spent on that back deck with a camera and lights while Ashlyn’s parents watched from the living room. Thus, Back Deck Spaces & Back Deck Studios was born.

Back Deck Spaces focuses on all things interior design, real estate, and architecture photography related while Back Deck Studios’ focus is on commercial food, beverage, and product photography. We launched the BDS Brands on January 11th, 2023, and are striding toward the future – both as a happily married couple and as business partners til the end.

We are excited to be serving the Denver Metro areas and beyond!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Generally speaking, the journey to this point in our lives & photography careers has been reasonably straightforward. We both did the typical go to college & get a degree path, jumped feet first into our respective niches, following our dreams and aspirations to Hawai’i, and are continuing to pursue the same goals now that we’re back in Denver and under a new brand.

The biggest hurdle we’ve had to face as individuals and as a photography couple is the inevitable imposter syndrome and self-doubt that comes with pursuing a nontraditional career field. There are days when we find ourselves asking if we’ve earned the experiences we’ve been through in living in Hawai’i, working with some truly incredible clients & national brands, or even if we’ve chosen the right career path for us. It’s also hard to accept that the work you’re doing is quality work when you’re scrolling through social media (specifically Instagram) and you’re bombarded with hundreds of thousands of other creatives who have such incredible portfolios of work and you start comparing your work to theirs. We’ve found ourselves spiraling down the mindset of “well if I just had the same equipment they had, I could do so much better than what I’m doing now.” Or even being annoyed at someone else’s success when it feels like all we’ve heard back from potential clients is “no.”

What usually helps us to overcome these self-doubt spirals is to disconnect from social media for a few days and check in with our loved ones. Getting out of the apartment without the camera and go touch the grass for a couple of hours. What Brandon does, specifically, is tends to his jungle of houseplants – repotting them when needed, deadheading crispy leaves and florals, and will take his time watering each plant giving it a thorough check-up.

Ashlyn on the other hand, will disassociate into a Minecraft server or start a new Sims family while Achievement hunter plays on the TV. Much like Ashlyn’s wedding portfolio, her Sims game is next level as she’ll spend hours upon hours creating a new family with a different theme set around them – a family based on household condiments that live in a refrigerator-style house, a family based on colors who’s house is a crayon box or a family based on plant aesthetics who live in a greenhouse.

It’s all about recognizing the spiral and doing what you need to do to care for yourself. Realize that people may be at different points on the same path as you and that some are jogging it, some are walking, and some are taking a five-minute breather.

The best piece of advice we were ever given is that “your 100% one day is not the same for the next – and that’s okay.”

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Brandon & Ashlyn Kile are the power couple behind Back Deck Studios & Back Deck Spaces. What was once Brandon Kile Photography has been rebranded and divided into two new brands. We want our clients to leave each shoot feeling confident in the work created that the final images will represent their brands in the best light possible, in a free-flowing workflow, and with enjoyable memories created behind the scenes.

Back Deck Studios specializes in all things product, food & beverage photography done in the studio or on location in a lifestyle fashion. We’ve worked with national brands that include Los Sundays Tequila, Reeds Ginger Ale, HelloFresh, and Kellogg’s along with other Denver-based brands such as The Post Brewing Company, Jax Fish House & Oyster Bar, and Yummy Lotus Jams.

Back Deck Spaces focuses on all things real estate, interior design, and architecture photography. We’ve worked with some truly amazing brands and resorts such as The Grand Wailea, Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa, Roth Living, and Arapahoe Community College.

The Back Deck brand is designed to feel like a summer evening spent on your best friend’s back deck with good food, great drinks, and better company. Working with us should feel seamless and naturally flowing, and when everything is said and done, you leave with great quality images that leave your customers saying, “we’ll have what they’re having.”

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
The best way to find us is directly on our websites: www.BackDeckStudios.com & www.BackDeckSpaces.com. We are on Instagram at @backdeckstudios & @backdeckspaces.

We are also available directly at hello@backdeckstudios.com & hello@backdeckspaces.com.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.BackDeckStudios.com or www.BackDeckSpaces.com
• Instagram: @backdeckstudios or @backdeckspaces

Image Credits
Back Deck Studios