ashley kelemen photography

I'VE MOVED!

2012-01-26T09:28:00.000-08:00

no, not THAT move - brian and I are still homeless, and just 10 days away from leaving on our adventure!

in the meantime, I'm so excited to share that ashley kelemen photography has a brand new home, with a shiny new blog! head on over to check out the new site here, and make sure you update your blog reader with my new address: http://ashleykelemenphotography.com/theblog

BEARD SEASON.

2012-01-20T15:06:00.000-08:00

in celebration of our sabbatical from life, brian, my normally baby-faced husband, decided to grow a beard. I wasn't that into the idea, as I'm not generally a fan of facial hair, but after 6 weeks I had to admit I totally loved it. he looked like a sexy lumberjack. yup, I just said sexy lumberjack.

he had to shave it because a full beard would be a little too warm for southeast asia (not to mention the horrible tan lines) but here's hoping this becomes a yearly tradition!

photos taken on fuji 3000b instant film with the polaroid back for the contax.

PITTSBURGH

2012-01-18T14:46:00.000-08:00

we spent new years in pittsburgh, visiting friends who had recently moved. now, I have to be honest: pennsylvania in the middle of winter did not sound particularly appealing, but the idea of spending time with these friends was enough motivation to get me there, and I'm so glad it did. I was completely shocked at how much I liked this city. it has a feeling of history and a gritty past, perfectly offset by development that is keeping it fresh and fun. I can't wait to visit again when there are leaves on the trees and we can spend some time outside!

pittsburgh has several of these inclines that were used to commute in and out of the city in a time when that was particularly difficult (now they are more focused on scenic views and a bit of history). we took one up for a fantastic view of the city while I enjoyed the novel feeling of being completely surprised & delighted by my surroundings.

QUIET TIME.

2012-01-09T10:48:00.000-08:00

we are having nothing but absolute downtime here in ohio, one of the perks of staying with my parents :) lots of reading, movies and relaxed photo taking. that also means that I have virtually nothing to say online right now - not a bad thing as we prepare for this trip, which should provide blog fodder for a year! I should have a couple family sessions to share here before we leave, but until then, here is some tasty film goodness. the soft & creamy tones get me every time...

FIRST SNOW.

2012-01-04T06:25:00.000-08:00

this has been the warmest winter I can ever remember in the northeast. not that I'm complaining, but 60 degrees on christmas just feels wrong to me for some reason. then, driving back from visiting friends in pittsburgh for new years, the snow finally hit. we literally watched multiple accidents occur because the snowfall was so heavy, but the fear didn't stop me from opening my window and taking a bunch of photos (most of which were of absolutely nothing since the snow was so thick) and trying to catch flakes in my hands. I'm such a little kid.

oh and yes, my hand really is that pasty. I'm just gonna burn up in southeast asia...

A NEW YEAR.

2011-12-31T12:35:00.000-08:00

I have no complaints about 2011. it was an incredible year for me in every way. it's a little scary, actually, to feel this lucky, but I figure I should consciously appreciate this feeling while I have it. Brian and I hit our financial goals in order to be able to quit our jobs, pack up our lives and jet off on a big adventure. I hit a whole new level with my photography (while knowing I've got a long way to go, but appreciating the journey) and was confident enough to take the leap into making it my full-time career. I get to spend every day with this man who loves and adores me (the feeling is mutual) and we get to plan this trip together with the glee of two little kids building a fort in the woods. seriously, what did I spend time complaining about?

I still think I can do better.

this trip to southeast asia is going to be life-changing. I cannot wait to explore these incredible countries & cultures. it's almost hard for me to talk about, I'm so freaking excited. then when we return and would normally enter into the confused depression that is typical of people returning from a great journey, we get to start a new life in a new place with a new perspective. and for me, the anticipation of getting this business off the ground is huge. I have so many ideas and thoughts and goals. after asia, I'm going to hit the ground running in a big way.

I've got no excuses for being unhappy or grumpy. ever. which brings me to 2012. I resolve:

. to take nothing for granted and appreciate the billion ways that I am lucky
. to either lose the measly 15 pounds that bother me, or shut the hell up about it and be happy
. to spend the time and energy to make & find beauty around me (visually and mentally)
. to kick ass with this business, because it's just me and there is nobody holding me back

bring it on, new year.

KATIE.

2011-12-30T05:56:00.000-08:00

katie contacted me to take some bio pics for her to use for work, and I had a blast working with her! in addition to being gorgeous, katie is super sweet and has such passion for the project that she's working on. it is a beautiful thing when people really care about what they're doing. in addition, she has lived abroad in singapore and had some great advice for me regarding our upcoming journey through southeast asia! I will never get tired of meeting incredible people doing what I'm doing. I feel very lucky.

and with this final post of 2011, I say goodbye to any lingering shoots in nyc...up next, reporting from cincinnati! brace yourselves.

BALTIMORE.

2011-12-29T13:06:00.000-08:00

after leaving new york, we headed to maryland to spend some time with friends and explore downtown baltimore - more specifically, the inner harbor and fells point. I had been to the inner harbor before, and once again found it lacking a bit in the personality department (but on a side note, the aquarium is PHENOMENAL). fells point, on the other hand, was a charming & pleasant surprise! these pictures hardly do the city justice, since everything is a bit uglier in the winter. sigh.

when my film scans came back, I was completely shocked to find that the husband had snapped a photo of me that I actually love. like many photographers, I'm far more comfortable behind the camera, but this picture just feels like ME (especially the messy hair & navajo sweater). I'm so awkward.

A BIT MORE ALICE.

2011-12-28T07:36:00.000-08:00

I popped into the city for a few hours for a shoot in early december (we were staying with my in-laws in new jersey) and met up with alice and her man-friend, jimmy, for a little fun shooting around union square. I don't really think I could get sick of taking pictures of her pretty face :)

NOMAD.

2011-12-15T18:23:00.000-08:00

about a week before we left new york, I was looking out the window at the busy streets and the fall colors and found myself getting misty-eyed and wondering if we were crazy for leaving. I loved that apartment, that view, and that time in our lives. then I reminded myself that I've moved 10+ times in my life and every time brought me somewhere new and amazing. so I decided to stop being such a baby, threw a roll of film in my camera, marched my weepy self outside and captured the scenes I loved most about our neighborhood. and that's all it was - a neighborhood. the thing that made it special was us.

LINDSEY & JASON.

2011-12-14T17:43:00.000-08:00

there are few greater compliments than being hired by a fellow photographer - we are incredibly critical, after all - so I was beyond flattered when lindsey hired me to do a shoot with her and her husband jason during their first visit to nyc. we met up in the west village for some gorgeous fall colors - between the gorgeous downtown setting and the most laid back, adorable couple ever, I couldn't stop smiling behind the camera!

GRANDMA LOUISE.

2011-12-10T08:31:00.000-08:00

meet my mama's mama. she's a handful, stubborn and says whatever she's thinking. she rarely gets our names right on the first try (to be fair, there are a lot of women in the family). but she always tells me I'm beautiful, and she loves my husband. she taught me to hug too tight and to ride a horse like the wind is chasing me. we share a love of the book my friend flicka and the new mexico desert. I adore her.

PUNTA MITA.

2011-11-28T15:42:00.000-08:00

we recently spent a week at the four seasons in punta mita, mexico. while the resort itself was spectacular, it lacked a feeling of authenticity that I generally like in my travels. we could have been anywhere in the world! regardless, it was fantastic to just relax, snorkel, fish and spa (yes, I use spa as a verb). and as you can see, it wasn't exactly ugly...

THE ONES WHO GET ME.

2011-11-25T19:13:00.000-08:00

as we prepare to leave new york and say goodbye to the life we've built here, I've stressed quite a bit over how to maintain my closest friendships from a distance. there are a few people I'm simply not prepared to live without: the ones who get my weird sense of humor, who will listen to me weighing the pros and cons of two different cameras for days on end, who make sure I know when there is a friends marathon happening on thanksgiving, who patiently view 12 pics sent from my iPhone when I'm trying to pick an outfit & who feel comfortable telling me when I'm being a total donkey. these friendships have shaped me, and my heart aches when I think about not seeing these women all the time. however, I know we've got a lot of adventures ahead of us, and I'm so grateful that we all found each other. they get me.

oh, and the answer to my worries? skype wine & sushi dates.

this photo was a joint effort between me and alice.
she gets my excitement over things like creamy film tones and mustard yellow shoes :)

*reading over this (and in response to a reader comment), it occurred to me that I haven't formally announced the changes in our life on this blog! brian and I are leaving nyc for good on wednesday. we'll be spending time with family over the holidays, and leaving at the beginning of february to backpack through southeast asia for a few months. when we return to the states in may or june, we plan on moving down to nashville, tn to start a new phase in our lives. and to make all this more exciting, I'll officially be doing photography full time! I'm so pumped for everything to come, and look forward to sharing our experiences here :) that being said, a teeny piece of my heart is staying behind in this city.

KATE & TED | HOLIDAY SESSION

2011-11-22T07:10:00.000-08:00

what can I say about kate and ted? well, they're ridiculously good looking, successful, smart and hilarious. and despite all that, just incredibly nice people.

POLAROID.

2011-11-16T06:46:00.000-08:00

I've always been a tad obsessed with instant film, so when I saw someone selling a polaroid back for the contax for next to nothing, I jumped on it. these were my first two shots (pardon the repetitive location - there is NO light in our apartment on cloudy days) and though I missed the focus slightly on the flowers, they have that dreamy look that makes me so happy. can't wait to try it out on clients!

VETERAN.

2011-11-11T14:08:00.000-08:00

we lost my grandpa 8 years ago, and when I went home to new mexico in september, grandma and I went to santa fe national cemetery to spend a few moments remembering lt. colonel arnold austin.

I was lucky to have grandpa in my life for as many years as I did. he fought in world war II, vietnam and korea, and came home safe every time. we were luckier than most, I know, and I'm grateful that I was able to know him rather than just hearing stories told by my grandma. she still tells the best stories though. they were married when she was 17 and he was 18, about to enlist in the army. she made her father sign the papers, threatening to run away with him if he didn't. the contrast between the strong, levelheaded woman I know now and this impetuous lovesick teenager that she describes is a testament to the life that they lived together. it's a beautiful love story.

I thank them for the life they devoted to this country, and for raising my father (a west point grad) to be the man I love, respect and depend on. I am grateful for my family.

grandma loma & my father

HOME.

2011-10-25T04:43:00.000-07:00

I've moved around my entire life, with few ties to any one place. when I was an adolescent, this was a tragedy. now that I am an adult, I see that it has shaped a large part of who I am. I am a wanderer, an explorer, and a fearless adventurer. I've also come to the realization that three things give me the familiar feeling of a home: my husband, my parents (wherever they are) and the desert. though I only lived in new mexico until I was 10, it's what I associate with a wild childhood spent riding horses through the mesa, time spent with my grandmothers and where I fell in love with wide open skies.

A TASTE OF SANTA FE

2011-10-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

before we met up for our evening with bailey & gadi, brian and I spent some time wandering around downtown santa fe, one of my favorite places in the world. it was sunny, crowded and full of color - perfect for ektar 100 film with its bright contrast & punchy colors! if you've never spent any time in new mexico, santa fe is the place to start. it's full of culture and history, with great art galleries and RIDICULOUS mexican food (not to be found in new york city).

DIAMOND.

2011-10-20T19:40:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago I needed to burn up the rest of a roll of portra, so I suckered my friend erin into being my model. I ended up shooting a whole extra roll of film - I just couldn't stop. she's so full of personality. plus, well, my camera totally dug her tom ford glasses.

SANTA FE LOVE STORY

2011-10-19T04:47:00.000-07:00

I used to babysit bailey when she was little (I feel old), and to see her all grown up and married is kind of awesome. she and gadi are so good to each other, and have such a fantastic sense of adventure together. we met up for some off-roading out on the mesa in santa fe, stopping to shoot off several rolls of film in diablo canyon. we watched the sunset, with the sky burning pink, and I shed a tear over the wild & beautiful desert life I could have had if a thousand bends in the road hadn't occurred. but I shook it off and we went downtown for a huge plate of enchiladas with green chile and long conversations about all the big things coming our way.

GRATUITOUS PRETTY.

2011-10-09T10:12:00.000-07:00

I tend to rush around trying to keep up with myself, and rarely allow for the time to stop and focus on pretty things. it may sound silly, but as an artist, it's natural that visually attractive scenes really give me a bit of a buzz. just grabbing some flowers on my way home totally changes my mood! this week I challenged myself to seek out that luxury and snap a few photos of the things that made me smile...and now I'm hungry for more macarons. good thing bouchon bakery is so close!

U.S. OPEN

2011-10-07T18:31:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge sports fan. I honestly think basketball is kind of dumb, and can tolerate baseball only with a cold beer and a big hat. I'm more of a pilates kind of girl. but tennis...I love. it's all about one person and what they bring onto the court that day. two years ago, brian and I went back to london (have I mentioned I love london?) for a week, and camped overnight to get center court seats at wimbledon. let me tell you, sitting 8 rows behind roger federer for practically no money was a pretty awesome experience, and seeing the master so close just makes you more aware of what a personal struggle it is for the players.

we've been to the u.s. open a couple times now, and it's a great setup because it's really easy to stalk the players on the practice courts (notice the hasty photos of roddick & murray below). I think in the next year or two we'll hit the french open as well...but the big dream is australia. the day you see a blog post about our trip to australia for the open and to scuba dive the great barrier reef, you will know one of my lifelong dreams has come true :)

ALICE.

2011-10-06T08:49:00.000-07:00

I'm a major believer in talking things out. I discuss the big (& not so big) dilemmas in my life with everyone I care about (yes, I'm a handful). but over the past year as I have learned and grown and struggled with so many aspects of photography, it was alice who kept me sane. there are things I can go to her with that my husband and friends just don't understand, mostly because they're the super nerdy technical & artsy pieces of the biz. she's been incredibly patient and chill about it all, and I owe her a lot for helping me get to where I am today, and where I will be going in the future. she's just awesome :)

these were taken at a bar in soho where we popped in to meet a few friends, seconds before the sky opened and a torrential downpour hit the street. in new york, when it's pouring outside, there is really nothing to do but order another drink...

THE NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN.

2011-10-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

I do my best not to compare new york to london, my favorite city, because, frankly, london wins almost every time. there is just a history and charm to the english city that has resonated with me since studying abroad there. one of the things london does best is gardens, and the husband and I are particularly attached to kew gardens, with its beautiful old greenhouses and free-roaming peacocks. after a couple years of trying to drag me out to the new york botanical gardens (it's in the bronx, and I'm lazy), brian finally got me out there this summer. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised at the stunning lily ponds and sprawling nature walk. and though kew gardens still has my love, the bronx layout runs a close second!

jenny & trevor

2011-08-18T06:27:00.000-07:00

I missed jenny & trevor's wedding last summer because, well...I was in hawaii learning to scuba dive. I felt awful but knew that jenny of all people would understand! these two epitomize west coast cool, with their breezy, carefree attitude (and stunning natural beauty). I was so excited to catch up with them in the west village a year later - they're so sweet with each other, and just an absolute pleasure to photograph..

girls of summer.

2011-08-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

kristie & darren are getting married

2011-08-10T04:52:00.000-07:00

kristie & darren are the quintessential new york city couple, with chanel bags & tiny dogs to boot. but more than that, they are lighthearted, generous and totally in love. take that plus a couple giant balloons and you've got a seriously fun engagement shoot...

jaycee

2011-07-27T03:34:00.000-07:00

our friends ross & liz are quite the pair: both professors, both generous & unique, and both abnormally smart. spending a weekend with them is like taking a class, in the best way - we talk about EVERYTHING. however, lately I've noticed our visits revolve less around political discussions and more around jaycee, who is now 15 months old and has us all wrapped around her finger. I could easily have spent another week following her around, reading to her, and taking about 1000 pictures of her big blue eyes (despite the fact that she had a 103 degree fever that turned out to be a stomach virus, and therefore had no patience for my giant camera). looking forward to the next round in their new hometown of pittsburgh!

and a bit o film for fun...

shane & jeremy

2011-07-22T03:16:00.001-07:00

jer & I have been friends since we were 16, and have gotten closer than ever this past year, despite the distance (she's in baltimore, I'm here in nyc). I smile every time I spend time with her and shane, because they so clearly make each other insanely happy. it's been a trying year in both their lives, and I'm so glad to see them still laughing & having fun together. they came to visit during the sweatiest part of the summer, and we had a great time taking ridiculous pictures in the west village and meatpacking. let's call this a pre-engagement shoot...

just visiting.

2011-07-19T06:07:00.000-07:00

I was so excited when the murray family contacted me during their trip to nyc from florida to take some family photos. taking pictures of people enjoying my favorite city is...awesome. the girls had so much energy (SO much) and were such fun, and I had a blast watching them play with bubbles. I mean, who doesn't love bubbles?

rosewood ghosts.

2011-05-04T03:14:00.000-07:00

I did a photo shoot in the west village early sunday morning. of course, since the shoot was with 5 members of a rock band, we got off to a bit of a late start. luckily we still had incredibly beautiful morning light, and the guys were a total blast to work with. in fact, we had so much fun that we got shushed by a local who was, understandably, trying to sleep.

mothers.

2011-04-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

it is a surreal moment when your friends & peers stop being just people, daughters, wives and become parents. I think I always expected I would feel a division or distance as they joined this club. yet I was surprised to find that my friend beth is still the beth I've known. mother is just another of the roles that she plays. but I will say, the role of mother to jonathan seems to come very naturally to her :)

chubby.

2011-04-10T18:45:00.000-07:00

anna is almost 6 months old, and is the chubbiest, happiest baby I've ever met. she's also a lucky baby, because jon & beth are awesome parents, lawyers & people. we had a great shoot in gramercy today, followed by a delish brunch at l'express where jon helped me out with a bit of legal advice. double awesome :)

husband.

2011-04-10T18:27:00.000-07:00

downtown girl.

2011-04-10T18:25:00.000-07:00

took my fabulously tall & leggy friend, dev, down to the meatpacking district for some lovely early morning shots. she's a good sport at 8am!

nephew.

2011-04-10T18:19:00.000-07:00

I fell a bit in love with my nephew when I met him at the hospital. it was quite unexpected just how much I adored him as soon as I held him. plus, he just photographs so well...

she.

2011-04-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

kate & ted

2011-04-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

we headed to madison square park with abu (the photogenic pug) for a really fun shoot, ending with shake shack burgers. yum!

jess & dan

2011-04-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

a fun (albeit windy & cold) shoot at the south street seaport with their dachshund, lillie!

jeremy & shane

2011-04-10T18:01:00.000-07:00

these are our good friends, visiting from baltimore. fyi, jeremy is the girl :) I'm hoping to be shooting their engagement shoot in the near future!