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Life and Work with Ashlee Crowden

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashlee Crowden.

Ashlee, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I run a wedding photography business. Let me tell you, it has been a long, long road to get to where I’m at. When I started 10 years ago, Instagram, Pinterest, even Facebook weren’t much of a thing. I’m basically self-taught. With the exception of a few film photography classes in college, I learned how to use a camera, pose clients, and edit all by myself. I think a lot of people have this perspective that if you have a nice camera, it’s easy to take a good photo. This is anything but the truth. Especially if you’re shooting in manual.

In a completely oversaturated market, how do you stand out? How do you actually make a living off of doing something you love? You hustle, and then you hustle some more, and even when you have a full calendar of bookings, you still hustle.

I have a degree in graphic design and graduated in 2012 from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. While I was in college, I interned with a couple that did wedding photography, for a full year. This really taught me the do’s and don’t to wedding photography and allowed me to work with no added pressure of delivering images to an actual client. I booked my first wedding for $500, and looking back, I give that couple mad credit for believing in me, and the clients after that, and really the next few years following that. Man, I WAS NOT GOOD. How I even kept up with it is beyond me.

I invested in better gear, I invested in online classes, I invested in better editing tools, I invested in myself. I pushed harder than I ever did, and the bookings started to come in. I still worked a full-time job doing graphic design while doing so though. Then I started to up my pricing, registered my business an actual LLC, paid taxes, bought Insurance, did all the things to make me ‘legit.’

When people ask me “how long have you been doing this?” I always laugh and say “well, I have two answers for you, when I started, 10 years ago, and when I became successful, which was about three years ago.” To get to this point, it has required educating myself on how to treat your clients like gold, send them thank you notes, respond to their emails within minutes, no matter what time it is. I have to post on social media constantly, edit more efficient and really craft my images. Doing free sessions to just simply practice my skill set. Learning that when clients tell me “no, you’re too expensive” that they are not my ideal client, and they do NOT define my success. I’ve also taught myself when to say ‘no’ to give myself a day off to keep from getting burnt out. There are so many layers that go into this business that people have NO idea what really goes into it, but I TRULY love it. I’ve traveled all over the world, met amazing people, and have work that I’m proud of.

Has it been a smooth road?
Nope, not at all. I’ve had clients tell me I charge too much, I didn’t do this or that right, but I have learned that not one single person can define my business or success. No one wants THIS business to succeed as much as I do, and I have to remind myself of that.

I had a client write me a two-page email of how horrible I was. She ripped me up and down and told me I should never do this again. I was shaking, I was in tears, but I didn’t let her stop me. I wrote a professional email back and apologized, but refused to refund her. I still worked for crying out loud, and most of the things she was complaining about were her own issues!

My advice to other women is… it’s a long road. I can promise you that if you are trying to run a legit business to make a living off of, your friends are not necessary to your clients. They are your free clients… those ones that will say “if you ever need to practice” like it’s a gift to you to have them a model for you. This makes me smile, and I actually have a policy now that I only ask people who have never asked for a free session to be my models now. I only do two-three free shoots a year anyway, but when I do, I chose wisely. If you really want to be a photographer, plan on paying to mentor with one. Saying “can I tag along with you sometime?” is not a way to learn. I have spent countless hours, and thousands of dollars to get to this point. I can promise you that I’m not handing out that info for free. Do you go to college for free? Nope. I know it may be a bit harsh, but you have to WANT it, so-so-bad, and most likely, work a job while doing so.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Ashlee Crowden Photography – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
So, I mostly do wedding photography, but I occasionally do maternity, newborn and some family sessions. My 2020 goal is to only do weddings and elopements since couples are my true passion. I’m kind of known for my moody, romantic, and use of light in my photos. I work a ton with my couples with outfits leading up to the shoot, so a lot of my girls wear big dramatic skirts. So, when you see my work, you can count on intense sunbeams with a big flowy skirt!

Were there people and/or experiences you had in your childhood that you feel laid the foundation for your success?
When I was a kid, I basically felt I wasn’t good at much of anything other than art. I’m dyslexic, so I was always in special classes. This lead to me having bad anxiety and constant lies that I wasn’t good enough. I played sports but I was always the worst player, haha.

I excelled in art, it’s truly was where I felt at home. It wasn’t until my high school photography class that I thought “I really love this”, but never dreamt of making a living off of it. I was in the darkroom in the photo room during lunch, yes, I was that kid! My parents told me I needed to go to school for something I could actually get a job in so that leads to my degree in graphic design. Which I still love and do part-time now on top of photography full time. I’m a total workaholic and I love it.

Pricing:

  • My average wedding booked is $3500
  • Portrait sessions are $550
  • Elopements are $950
  • Cost of doing business each month is roughly $400 + 30% of all profits goes to taxes

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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