Photographing an Artist in Her Studio

A couple years ago, I got a message on Instagram that went something like this:

“Hey Ashley! This might sound weird, but I’ve followed your work for a while and last night I had a dream we were friends.  I was thinking we could be friends in real life!  I’m having some friends over for Bunko tonight if you want to join. -Jaci”

Naturally, I went….and we’ve been friends ever since.

Jaci and I are polar opposites on a lot of fronts. We like different foods, vote differently, listen to different music, live differently, find inspiration in different places, and see the world through different colored lenses.  She’s an abstract painter whereas I try to create photos that tell a concrete story.  She’s a vegetarian meanwhile I’m snacking on a pepperoni as I write this.  I could go on, but I’m sure you get the point.  At the end of the day, our friendship works, and I’m happy to have gotten that creepy message years ago.

These days, photographing anything but my personal life is a rarity so I was super excited to be invited into her art studio to document her in her artistic element AND actually, have a little bit of time to make it happen.  Her studio is a dream, filled with natural light, exposed original wood, and all kinds of character.  When you walk through the doors into her studio, you are embraced with a hug of creative vibes that make you want to…well, create.

The moral of the story? Not all creepy people on the internet are creepy…some of them are darling gems that belong perfectly in your life.

Info for Photographers:

These images were all shot with a mirrorless Fuji x-T2 and Fujinon 23 mm f/1.4 lens.  There was amazing natural light but she also had some overhead lights that were left on, which added some work to the white balance.  I shot with auto WB (because I’m lazy like that!)  and adjusted post.  Images were all edited with two presets from the Bohemian Film collection: Henna for the color (with hand edits of exposure, white balance and shadow adjustments; added grain) Silver lace for black and white (with hand edits of exposure, added contrast, added clarity, decreased matte on tone curve, increased grain)