Ashley Marston is a Vancouver BC based lifestyle birth and family photographer who has been doing a 365 project for the last 6 years. Her work has been recognized by National Geographic and she has recently released an online course on how to capture creative photos every day.

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In This Episode You'll Learn:

• When Ashley knew photography would play an important roll in her life

• Why she thinks so many struggle with creativity

• What Ashley does every year with her 365 images

• How Ashley is documenting her life with a family during the Corona Virus Pandemic

• How Ashley stays creative with Creativity Boosters

• Why she stopped photographing families to focus on birth photography

• Why you should not start a 365 in January

• The power of self-portraits and the 3 step process to shoot them well

• How Ashley puts a creative spin on her images

• The creative roll that editing has on Ashleys photos

• Who and what inspires Ashley creativly

Resources:

• Ashley Marston on Instagram

• Ashley Marton’s website

• Ashley’s Online Course “A Daily Occurrence: Creative Everyday”

Did you enjoy this episode? Check out more recent interviews with other great guests!

Full Episode Transcription:

Disclaimer: The transcript was transcribed electronically by Temi.com and may contain errors that do not reflect accurately what the speaker said. Because of this, please do not quote this automated transcript.

Raymond: 00:00:00 When did you know that photography was going to be an important part of your life?

Ashley Marston: 00:00:06 Oh that's a good question. I think that my, I think like a lot of photographers who are moms, the answer would be when our children were born. However, I think that it amped up a little bit for me. When our second son was born and I, my husband, it was, it was an, all of my bursts have been interesting. But the second birth I ended up being put under general anesthetic and when I had to go in for an emergency C section, so I wasn't able to see him being born and didn't meet him for three hours afterwards. And when I was rolled into the room and my husband was there standing with him, he placed him in my arms and I said, grab the camera and take a picture. And it's the most beautiful photo of me meeting my son for the first time, which, you know, my husband took, but it was that photo that does something to me that I can't quite explain that really nails in the importance of photography and the importance of what I do as a mother and as a photographer and a birth photographer as well.

Ashley Marston: 00:01:23 How important a photography is to people and how important that photo was to me. So I think it just, it just brought it up another level. The, the healing power of that photograph for the trauma that I felt during that birth was huge. Like it just brought me so much peace after all that sort of turmoil that I felt in the coming weeks after that birth. So,

Raymond: 00:01:47 So I know oftentimes as photographers, you know, we can be really critical of, of a photograph whether it be the technicals, whether it be the moment, whether it be the lighting and all these things. Would you say that that photo was technically a good photo or a bad photo? Like, if you had to guess, what was it about that photo that, that made you love it so much?

Ashley Marston: 00:02:11 Technically considering that my husband took it on just a, just a whim, like, you know, it is technically a, a perfect photo. And I think that of course I have a strong connection to it because it's a photo of, of me, but I think it really just speaks to the hero healing power of photographs really. And I don't think that I really understood what that meant until that photograph was taken and I, and I saw it. And before that moment I had been you know, shooting families very sort of cookie cutter images and it was after that that I completely changed the way that I ran my business. So how, so can you give me an example of how you were shooting before and after that moment? Well I think, you know, it was what was, it was 2011.

Ashley Marston: 00:03:10 And so you know, people were still wanting these perfect photographs of, you know, happy, smiling families all looking at the camera. Everybody perfectly dressed. There was a lot of jeans and white tee-shirts at that time still you know, and so that's what I was shooting because that's what everybody wanted. And after that moment, I started shooting more moments of my family rather than staged state. You know, like every Easter I'd plop them in front of a backdrop with, you know, tulips and Easter eggs around them. And then I kinda just stopped doing that. I started just shooting more of our, like more of a documentary style in home situation. And then I very quickly got pregnant with our second child. Our two youngest children are 11 months apart. And so it was after the birth of my third child that I started doing birth, started shooting bursts and then stopped doing any kind of posed posed client work at all.

Ashley Marston: 00:04:15 You know, I did newborn shoots where I would drag a suitcase to their door full of props and, you know, a newborn bag and I'd sweat it out in a hot room with a newborn for four or five hours trying to get the baby to sleep. You know? Yeah. Sounds really nice. And I, I just stopped doing that and I remember like putting that out into the world and being like, I'm not going to do these newborn sessions anymore. I'm going to focus. And I had like, I had examples of like, in between moments that I was capturing and I said like, this is what I want to shoot. And so if you want these kinds of photographs, then I'm your girl, I'm your photographer. And I actually thought that nobody would book me. I was like, everybody's going to be like, I want an Getty's.

Ashley Marston: 00:05:02 I want my newborn with a flower on her head and dress like a elephant. And you know, and I thought nobody's going to go for this. And luckily that wasn't really the case. So I think that it was that photograph that really kind of turned things for me. And then launching into birth photography and just realizing that I wanted to extend, you know, the moments out into every little aspect. So I started shooting my family sessions that way in lifestyle newborn sessions and then eventually moved into day in the life sessions. And then in that time, I started my first year of a three 65 project with my own family, which has now been going on for six years. So, you know, it just kind of, that's a milestone right there. That's incredible. You know, at this point in time it's, I don't know if I could live without it. Like it's become such an integrated part of our life that it's like breathing. Like I, I, I don't know how I would exist without it, which seems weird cause you think, Oh my God, but when you do something every day for that long, it becomes habitual, you know? So that's where I'm at at this point.

Raymond: 00:06:19 So, yeah, it's, it's interesting because I'm really excited to talk about, you know, your course, which is called the daily occurrence creative every day. And I was looking in, in, in getting ready for this interview, I was looking at some of the reviews of your course and they all talk about how everybody's so excited to do a three 65. Everybody's so excited to start capturing their families and doing these projects, you know, and in part because of you, in part because of Jenny Stein, we all started in the beginning of photography podcast doing a, a photo, a day project and we started in January. So we're now, well, by the time this interview comes out almost six months.

Ashley Marston: 00:07:00 Yeah,

Raymond: 00:07:01 It's quite a ways. But I know that pretty early on, you know, everybody was good for about a month, maybe a month and a half. Things started to slow down. Life gets in the way. Are you telling me that at some point, even though it gets hard, it gets tough at some point you get that second wind and you just break through it and it becomes easier.

Ashley Marston: 00:07:22 Yeah. Well, and the hard part about three 65 projects is that everybody starts in January. January is a tough month. January, February they drag out like, Oh my God, like is it over yet? And so you're trying to stay creative, you know, in this time where you know a lot of you live in places where it's still, so you've got still got two feet of snow, you're inside, you can't get outside with your kids. And so I promise everybody, we just got through our hundreds day and I was like, Hey, where's everybody at? Like a hundred days is a big deal, right? And you do kind of break through. His spring is starting, the days have gotten longer. You know, you get a bit more color out there in the world. The grass is getting green again. There's trees are blooming again. You do definitely get a second wind.

Ashley Marston: 00:08:10 Absolutely. And it does, it ebbs and flows. Even in my own work, I mean I've been doing this for how long? There are weeks where I'm like, I am just shooting nothing but garbage. Like, you know, like, you know, and then I have to go back in my mind to my, you know, my, my beliefs and my, my goals and who I'm doing this project for. And I'm like, you know, so what if all the photos from last week are getting 50 likes? The basis and the heart of this project is that, you know, this is a love letter for my children. This is like, this is a time capsule of their life. And so I have to kind of bring it, I have to bring it back and be like, this is who this is for. And then just concentrate on, on shooting and being, so

Raymond: 00:08:56 Yeah, last time, last time we spoke, I think that was probably my biggest takeaway, you know, is that sometimes you're going to have duds, you're going to have photos that don't resonate with a lot of people. Maybe they don't even resonate with you so much. And that's what you had said. You said, you know, this isn't necessarily for me, but this is, this is for my children, is they will see these photos as winners when they get older. So on top of taking photos for your family and documenting that are you doing anything to ensure, like, I guess, let me rephrase that. What are you doing to ensure that these photos make it into the future? What do you do with them after they get edited?

Ashley Marston: 00:09:36 So I, I mean I post every day on social media, which is not something that my children, my, my 14 year old is now on Instagram, which is scary, but yeah. But I print a book at the end of every year. And so that gets looked through constantly. And it is a thick book because I do one picture per page, so it's 365 pages. And, and with that picture, I always, when I post them for anybody that follows me on social media, you'll notice that I post a picture, I post what day it is, and then I usually write a little something and sometimes it can be something quite simple, but often it's a bit of a reflection on the day or something that I want my children to see or read. Because I feel like when you're, when you're in it as a parent, you at the end of the day, you kind of lay there and you go, Oh crap, I should have said this to them.

Ashley Marston: 00:10:37 I could've handled this differently. I could have. And so it's my hope that they see this and read these things and they can see how I loved them and how I saw them as people, as, as people who were emerging in this world and in our home and as a family. And so I'll also include whatever I've, whatever thought I've written for the day in that book as well. So it really becomes a visual diary for them. And then the other thing that I do is I do a slide show. And so, you know, we'll be laying in bed in the morning and our, our bed, my husband's and my bedroom, or we share a wall with the living room and then all of a sudden I'll hear the music come on and they're watching the slide show, you know, and they're either sort of reliving all these moments from the year and it's really quite cute to see because they're not on social media.

Ashley Marston: 00:11:27 And unless I print them, which I do every season, I switch out some of the pictures in the house. They don't really see them. So it's nice for them to be like, Oh yeah, I remember that day and that day. And, and it also, I think that it's important, especially in, I do talk about this in the course to where your kids, a lot of people, one of the biggest things that people say to me is like, my kids hate the camera. You know, like my, every time I pull it out, they grown, they roll their, they don't want it. Some kids run from it, like, you know, but I'm like, they start crying and I'm like, well, okay kid. Yeah. But I think that when they see the importance of the photographs, and this is something like, cause my kids, you know, like it has been six years, so we kind of go take in turns where one child is a little less you know, willing than the others.

Ashley Marston: 00:12:17 And so I just, you know, I never bribe, never bribed a day in my life. I just say to them, you know, those books we have, you know, you know, you know the slide show that we watch. You know how much you enjoy those. This is part of that. These are our memories. You're never going to be seven again. We're never going to have this moment again. So I'm going to take five minutes, we're going to take the photograph. And then you carry on and do whatever you're doing. And it's just a simple conversation like that. And that's why I feel that it is so important to print your photographs, to have the visual so that the kids can see them and enjoy them because that makes sense to them. Right? Yeah, of course. Of course.

Raymond: 00:12:57 Seeing themselves, remembering what was going on and seeing it from that different perspective. For sure. Yeah. every year I do a a little yearbook. Now this isn't much traditionally up until this year, it's just been like cell phone photos that I took as I would, again, I think we talked about this last time. I would see my camera's here behind me as like a, as like a professional tool. And whenever I picked one up, I would get into like this professional mode and I really wasn't taking a lot of personal photographs, but I would just use my phone to capture these things more snapshots, nothing with intention, and I would build a yearbook out of these. And even just those, just those, I mean, it's incredible to see Charlie now that he's seven, he's become, you know, much more self aware than our three year old. There's a moment where last, no, just I guess, I guess it was about six months or so ago, he had this idea, he got $20. He's like, if I buy $20 worth of candy bars, I'm going to take them to school and I'm going to turn it into like Ashley Marston: 00:14:00 Entrepreneur. That's amazing. Okay.

Raymond: 00:14:07 I do it. So I let him do it. Well he went to school and he got like pre-orders, right? He asked people like, how many candy bars do you want to buy so that he could buy the right amount of candy bars. So we had to buy 45 candy bars and then the next day he went back to school and only one person brought a dollar. And I remember driving him home from school. I have the picture and it's the cover of our yearbook this year, but he's looking at that dollar like not defeated, not defeated that he just spent $45 on candy bars to only get $1 back. But just looking at it like, wow, like this can happen. Like, like you could see that the wheels were turning. And again, that wasn't a photo that was taken with any sort of intention. It was just simply a snapshot.

Ashley Marston: 00:14:47 Yeah.

Raymond: 00:14:48 This year that I've been participating in this daily photo challenge, I can already tell I am so excited for this year's yearbook because not only are we still taking photos of these moments, but now the production quality is a little bit higher. And now I've realized that I'm getting a lot more creative with my photos as well. But one of the things that a lot of people are talking about in the in the beginning of photography podcast, Facebook group is that it almost feels like they're being pushed to take photos. And sometimes that doesn't make them feel creative. It doesn't release that creative energy, I suppose. So let's talk about that a little bit. You know, obviously your course creative every day tackles just that creatively or creativity. So why do you think if you had to guess that people struggle so much with creativity?

Ashley Marston: 00:15:48 You know, I, I definitely do talk about that in that. And I think that it's, I think that it's a little less about their own creativity and more about comparing themselves to other people is what I really find. I think that all of a sudden you get bogged down and think that your creativity isn't matched to somebody else's. And so, and I do it even I do it, you know, we look at some of the, you know, the amazing photographers on Instagram or even within your own group that are putting out like this amazing work, and you start to feel a little bit inferior. Like you're not doing, you're not doing enough. You're not doing as well. You're not, you're not progressing as an artist as fast as that person is. And I think that's kinda what it boils down to. And I, whenever I get in that frame of mind was myself.

Ashley Marston: 00:16:46 I mean, if you look at like Meg Luke's, do you know who made Luke's is not personally know? Do you know her work? I don't know. Yeah, you got to look her up. So she's amazing. She's this amazing woman but her work is outstanding. But, and I always look at it and I go, Oh God, look, I wish that, I wish that some of my photographs looked like that, but that's not who I am. And that's not who I am as an artist. That's who she is as an artist. And I need to be able to take a step back from that and recognize that within myself and then focus on my own art. And I always in my head just say, put your head down and do what you do. That's it. Just every time you get going like that and it, you know, you start spinning a little bit and doubting that self doubt is so bad, you just gotta be like, I just put your head down and do what you do.

Ashley Marston: 00:17:41 And if, you know, and it's, sometimes it helps for people to take a break from the groups and Instagram and whatever, but it takes a while to get to that, to get it. It's good practice, good self-aware practice to just go, this is what that is. It's not that your creativity is stifled or that you don't want to do this, it's more that you just need to just focus on, on yourself and just all you have to do is just pick your camera up every day. That's it. You know, and it, it'll come. And you know, and I do, I do talk about when you get into those ruts, how to, how to break out of them and you know,

Raymond: 00:18:23 People struggle with that though. Like, why do you think like we have these cameras, they're expensive. We want to take great photos. We know that they take great photos. Yeah. Why would you say that it's an animosity towards the camera? That it's not getting what it is that you want that makes you put it down. Do you have any insight on that?

Ashley Marston: 00:18:43 Yeah, I think that it might just be disappointment or, you know, because this is like, even for me as an artist who's been doing this for so many years, I mean, every time that I take a photo, it's building on me as an artist. It's continuing to let me progress. And so sometimes you don't see that progression when you're in it, not very day, but at the end of the year you're going to look back on that time where you maybe were starting to feel a bit resentful of the project or resentful of the camera or tired or if you're doing lots of client work, like I have a full client load, you know, and still am eat. Like there are days where I don't want to pick up my camera, you know, like I am, I'm tired of it. I've been shot, you know, if I've shot a 12 hour day in the life, do you think I want to go home and take a picture of my kids?

Ashley Marston: 00:19:34 Not really. You know? And so that's the other thing that I chat about is giving yourself some grace. If you don't want to pick the camera up that day, don't, it's okay. You know? There's some sort of, some tricks and things that I do that allow me to complete this project and give myself some grace, you know? So I think that's really important. Although I do definitely advocate that you need to pick your camera up every day. There's some days when like it's okay. It's okay to just give it the finger and you pick it up the next day, get some fresh eyes on it, you know? So I think that that's too, where people get caught up on the rigid rigidity is that's even a word of a three 65 project. I am a fan of cheating. I have done this for six years.

Ashley Marston: 00:20:22 I have cheated many times. I keep a folder in my Lightroom of extras. So if I take three photos in one day that are of good three 65 quality, I'm going to talk to those photos in my extra folder and post one photo. So on those days where I'm like, I'm tired or I've been at a birth all day or I've been sick or something, I have, I have a little collection of pictures that I can pull out and posted. It just, it just gives people, it just relieves that pressure and that frustration and that sort of animosity towards it, I think, and just allows it a little bit of a little bit of grace that some people just need, you know, because you don't, you don't want to get to that point where you're not enjoying your art anymore because of this project. I would never want somebody to feel that way about themselves as an artist. So,

Raymond: 00:21:17 Oh yeah, that's a, that's a, that's a rough thing. That's a rough thing. I know that because we've been asked to self quarantine and be home right now during this time I asked like how many people are still shooting, how many people are still using their canvas? I think traditionally people want to go out, they want to capture a fun and interesting and new things rather than just shooting the things that are at home. That's not where their head goes immediately when they think of photography. So right now when we're forced to be home or asked to be home, yes. You know, this is a very interesting time. What are you doing to document this crazy time in your life?

Ashley Marston: 00:22:02 Well, I've made sure that I've been true to what's going on. I've, I've taken I've taken a lot of photos that are a bit more documentary style to just really, I think that as documentarians and artists, we have a greater purpose in this time to really be intentional in our shooting to document this and for ourselves and for our children. It's an incredible moment in history and I think that that gets lost a little bit in the frustration of what's happening. And so, and I don't want the kids to look back and there not be any evidence of it, you know, like this is what we're living. And so, although the other part of it is that we don't know how this is going to affect everybody, including our children when it's all done. If you talk about in, in, you know, in a mental illness, sort of a capacity when you're in it, you have a tendency to not be feeling that way.

Ashley Marston: 00:23:14 But once the dust settles, a lot of people might struggle. And so in my mind, I was thinking this is going to be there. They're obviously going to have their own memories of it, but this is gonna be their visual diary of it. And so I want to make sure that although I am documenting our time and being truthful, I'm also showing them the beauty of these moments of the slow moments of us at home and not a lot of photos of us out and about. I mean, we live in a beautiful of Canada that there we have a lot of wide open spaces and not a lot of people. So we can get out a little bit, but you know, there's that, there's an underlying, like there's beauty in everything, right? So there is beauty in this even though it's frustrating. So I have taken a number of photos that have been quite powerful.

Ashley Marston: 00:24:07 I took a photo of my son when I took my oldest son to Costco with me as a teenager cooped up in home for weeks at a time. I thought, okay, I haven't been taking the kids out anywhere that's public, the little ones. But I thought you can come out with me. And we had our masks on and, and he was shocked cause he hadn't, I mean the last time he was out with school, right. And so he was like, Oh my God, this is so strange. It sort of apocalyptic like, and so I took a photo of him in Costco with his mask on and our Costco cart, obviously we're a family of five, so even on a good day, our Costco card as well. But you know and it is, it's sort of, it's sad and it's, but it's powerful and you know, so I'm, I'm trying my best to document but also find the beauty, the beauty in it. And I've been filming, I've been I do a lot of family films for other people and I always film our vacations, but I don't often do a lot of films of our daily life at home. And so I've been, I've been filming our daily life as well. So I'm hoping after all this is done, I'll have a little, a little quarantine family film to, to look back on that, you know, should also provide some, some happy, happy memories from this strange strange time. So that's what I'm doing.

Raymond: 00:25:30 It's going to be, that's going to be very cool. That's going to be, that's going to be something, you know, looking back as a kid or looking back, I guess as an adult at your childhood, that's going to be something that's, that's going to be really powerful. I love that. I love that on top of the book and the films, you're just, you're just nonstop. You're like, let's go, let's go.

Ashley Marston: 00:25:50 Well, yeah. Like, you know, if I'm not, you know, that on top, like does not shooting any clients in this time. I mean, I have that extra time to be able to, you know, to, to document a bit more than usual really.

Raymond: 00:26:03 Yeah. Yeah. Right. It's interesting. I kind of want to talk a little bit more about that because like this, oftentimes when I am, I hate to say when I'm forced to work, but when I'm at a wedding, I find myself to be the most creative because I'm there. I have, you know, no other outside influences. I'm there for one purpose and I'm trying to do the best that I can for them. And having just a little bit of pressure behind me pushes me to do something different, a little bit unique. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But oftentimes when I'm just home, very rarely do I, Hey, let's try this shot. Hey, let's do this thing. Hey, let's do that thing. But I have found personally that over these past few weeks I have been going bananas on different types of shots and, and, and getting things done.

Raymond: 00:26:56 But when it comes to actually coming up with these creative ideas I had to go out and find inspiration, right? Like, like, Oh, well, what are other people doing? These ideas don't come natural to me. These photos that I'm taking I'm essentially emulating somebody else to figure out how I can make it work and then make it my own. When it comes to creativity, is that cause that cheating, is that against the rules? Should creativity becoming purely out of your brain and just spill onto whatever medium you're using? Or is this, is this okay? Do I have, do I have a free pass from you?

Ashley Marston: 00:27:33 You have a free pass and I, we all do the same thing. I mean, and, and I chat about that because like, you know, double exposures and like, you know what I mean? Like there's, everything goes through waves. There was a time when we were all putting plastic bags over our lenses and freelancing and all these things. And so I, I give a list of creative boosters that I use whenever I'm feeling the need to be creative. And you know, people can add onto that with their own creative boosters, but they can, they can build off of that. And that's, you know, I, and this is all just, these are all these creative boosters are things that I've picked up from other people. I was not the first person to, you know, put fairy lights in front of my lens or use a prism or this was all coming from, you know, from, from other people.

Ashley Marston: 00:28:28 And you can kind of trace back, you know, to kind of who started the trend of, you know, who the, you know, the double exposure masters were in the prison masters and you know, they kind of all start from somewhere. But that whole list that I give is all, none of it came, well maybe, maybe a couple, but most of it, 99% of it did not come from my own brain. It's all just evolved from, from other people and things that I've seen. And thankfully, you know, the photography industry has changed so much in even just 10 years where people are happy to give their information, they're happy. There's not like, Oh no, I did this and I'm going to hang on to it and you can't have it. You know, if anybody was to go on my Instagram and type, Hey, how did you do that?

Ashley Marston: 00:29:18 I am more than happy to be like, well, you know, grabbed the fairy lights out a year thing and let you know this is what you want to do. And so everybody's more than happy to share their information. We're all supporting each other and lifting each other up. And so that's what I think is so important about like, you know, the beginner photography group and we have a daily occurrence group and everybody's like, you know, I'm going to try panning this week. You know, I've done that. Or I've been like, here's a panning shot I took of my son in the snow. This is how I took it. So like, you know, and then all of a sudden you see 20 panning shots. Everybody's trying panning that week, you know? So you kinda just, it's so great to just be able to, to kind of push each other on, to try new things. Right. And then you, then you do, you make it your own so you get a free pass. And so does everybody else.

Raymond: 00:30:05 Yeah. I gotta say if if photographers weren't as willing to share their their thoughts and their, I don't know, quote unquote trade secrets, I would not be here right now talking with you. I wouldn't be talking to, you know, anybody essentially just be keeping it. I can't imagine what this would be like, you know, years ago, which is you know, I'm, I'm really grateful for this opportunity to be able to talk to photographers like yourself and, and this is, this is fun for me. This is fun for me. But I just think something really interesting there, which was when you're feeling kind of in a creative wreck, you have this list of these creativity boosters, you know, do you find now that when you're at home kind of once again stuck at home, for lack of a better term, do you find that you're using those creativity boosters more or less than you were before?

Ashley Marston: 00:30:54 Probably a little bit more, especially in the seasons where like we have less snow here and more rain. You know, when we're indoors and it's raining for weeks on end, that's definitely when I, when I pull it out. And I talk about like, you know like going back to the details of your life. If you're like the kid, there's nothing to, there's nothing to shoot. You're in the house, you've been shoot, there's no light. You know, there's no beautiful sunlight streaming through the windows. Cause that's where a lot of our photographs are driven is by light, light moments. You know, when you have nothing like that happening. I am a big fan of, you know, a strong portrait. You know. When was the last time you took a portrait of your seven year old?

Ashley Marston: 00:31:42 I mean it was a long, yeah. Yeah. Like all of us, you'll go months and you'll realize like, Oh, you know, for me, Sophie is about to turn eight. And I don't remember the last time I just took a very simple black and white portrait of just her. Nothing. You know, like, so you gotta go back to the basics. You know, I've taken pictures of the little curl on the back of her hair and the way that it re goes down her neck and things like that, that you all of a sudden you have to train your mind to be like, okay, let's, let's simplify it. Let's, let's not think big and let's go, okay, what's, what's going on right now that that's not going to be happening in a couple months from now? How are things changing? How can I document that just very simply, right.

Ashley Marston: 00:32:24 So you know, though, that's definitely when I break out that kind of thought process is when I'm feeling like, you know, Oh, there's nothing, there's nothing exciting. There's nothing exciting happened here. And there's gorgeous light, you know, like what, what's happening? And just kind of think about, I mean, I've got three kids, so I've got a lot to, you know, some people only have, they have just the one child. And so that's been a common complaint is like, well, I've just got one kid, you know, that kind of limits the subject matter. And then that's when I say to start taking self portraits. So right. There's that as well too. Right. Whenever I'm feeling like I'm in a rut, the best thing that I could ever do for myself is to take a self portrait that brings me out of a rut every single time. And you're getting in the frame, which is huge.

Raymond: 00:33:17 Yeah. Not that which is it doesn't, doesn't happen very often as not as a photographer. Let me talk about these SELF portraits for a second or let's, let's talk about those. I'm not talking about them. You're talking about them when it comes to some portraits. This whole month I've been talking about like some simple challenges that we can do. Well if you're listening back in April, I was talking about challenges that we can do at home. And the first one that I did was a self portrait because lots of people have an aversion to taking a self portrait. And I figured if that's, if that's challenge number one, get it out of the way. It doesn't even have to, like, you don't even have to really try, just get in front of the camera, take a photo of yourself, get out of the way, and then you can grow from there. When you're taking self portraits or when you ask, when you suggest to others to take self portraits, are these is the, is is the goal of the self portrait to take a beautiful self portrait or is it to feel vulnerable? Does that question make sense?

Ashley Marston: 00:34:22 Yeah. so I take self portraits for a number of different reasons. One of them definitely is to, if I'm, if I'm working through something personally often I'll take a self portrait and that is you know, a, a form of sort of counseling if you will, therapy. And it helps me work through that. The other, the other reason I take them obviously is to get in the frame with my children. And then I, I hate folding laundry as does everybody, I'm sure. But one day I was feeling particularly ornery about the laundry because it just never ends. You know, you get the baskets, you get the baskets empty and you're like, the baskets are empty. And then it literally like, it seems within minutes they're full again. I mean, it's not minutes, but that's what it feels like anyways. And there's a certain time of year that the sun streams right through our right through our laundry room.

Ashley Marston: 00:35:35 And so I thought if I'm feeling ornery about this, maybe I should document it. And so I ended up using self portraits as a way to document motherhood. So that's sort of three ways that I go about it. And so for when, when I tell people to get in front of the frame that those are kind of the three guidelines that I give them, you know, what are you documenting? What is the feeling that you want to convey and what kind of moments do you want to have? What are, what are the moments that you have with your children that are important to you that you want to be in the frame with them? Right. So if you look through my self portraits, I've, I try and take one a week all year. So for the past three years I've done 52 portraits, self portraits a year.

Ashley Marston: 00:36:28 And so they are like a good mixture of all of those things. And so last year my daughter was face painting. She's an incredible, she was, she was six, she was six and she was, people would hire her to come and face paint at events. Wow. Yeah, she was, and the kids just loved her cause she was little and they were, you know, so they, they, she was so popular and cute and everybody would line up. It was just adorable. But I, but for about a month, she wanted to face paint us every day. Right. Like, okay mom, can I have face painting? And I'm like, well I got it. I gotta go to work like flower on my cheeks. So anyways, so I just was, and that was one of those instances where I was like, before this, cause she might not be face painting forever.

Ashley Marston: 00:37:14 Obviously before this finishes, I want to make sure that I get a shot of her face painting me. And so, you know, those are the kinds of things, and I suggested just keep a list on the notes in your phone. Like when something comes to you, write it down so that when you're having one of these sort of days where you're thinking of what you want to shoot, well now might be a time to get that shot. Reading a book with your son or you know, a bedtime story or playing monopoly with your old, you know, like they'll, they'll, all those sorts of things. And when you're going through something personally, the last thing I find for me, the last thing that I want to do is get in front of the frame, but I never regret it ever. And it is a bit tricky at first and it's uncomfortable. But you eventually gets easier every time you do it, it definitely gets easier. So,

Raymond: 00:38:06 And I would assume that you could take your own advice that you give to kids. Like, Hey, look, this five minutes you're going to document this. And we're going to get on with whatever we were doing. You love these photos? Yeah. Yeah, that's kind of that I had a question because as I was saying when I went through some of the reviews to hear what people were saying about your course, there was a review and I should have written down the name and of course I didn't because I'm a big dummy, but the review said talking about you specifically Ashley her creative spin on everyday moments is exactly what I've been wanting to achieve. And that got me thinking. What do you think that quote unquote creative spin is?

Ashley Marston: 00:38:55 I don't know. I guess it's just how I see things. I don't know.

Ashley Marston: 00:39:04 There actually is a chapter in the course that says this is how I see it. So I do articulate it there, but I am, I think that I've developed over the years a certain style and some would call it your artistic voice. And it takes time and it takes practice and it's, it's ever evolving and it's changing. And I, yeah, I just, I think that I, I have a way of, of it, of helping the mundane or the normal look a little bit magical, but I think that everybody has that capability. It's just how you see it and it does, it does help us appreciate those moments more for sure. So yeah, I don't know if that really answers that question, but,

Raymond: 00:40:09 No, it does. It does. I find, I find it always interesting to hear from other photographers because I think as new photographers, what you want to know is how to shoot like the photographers who you like, who are producing images that you like, but it's hard to articulate exactly what that is because although that's just all that, you know, you know, it's all you've ever seen. But early on I would guess you know, as, as a photographer, you, there were, you were probably taking photos that maybe you weren't happy with or that you didn't feel like was at your full potential. So if you could go back and tell that Ashley one thing about getting photos that she loved consistently later on, what do you think that would be?

Ashley Marston: 00:41:00 I think it would be to just keep trying to just keep at it, because I think that your first response is to put your camera down. You know, that's your first like you're frustrated, you don't want to pick it up. And that was definitely me, you know, and like we talked about before, people that are feeling the same way. And I think, I think you just have to just keep shooting. That's sort of been my, my blanket answer for a lot because it's so true. Keep shooting, keep working on your, your consistent editing. You know that takes time to like, and you don't need a lot, like you can do so much in Lightroom. Like, you know, you don't need to overdo it, you know? I think that if you sort of simplify it and and I encourage people to, I encourage people in the course to like write down their reasons for why they want to do this.

Ashley Marston: 00:42:04 And you need to keep going back to your reasons. And so I think that the couple times that, the multiple times that I was spinning out in my own thoughts of self doubt and, and frustration I should have gone back to my reasons a lot quicker than what I had. And so the purpose of a daily occurrence is for me to streamline that process for people so that it doesn't take them as long as what it took me to, to understand. And so, you know, write down the reasons, have them visible to you when you're by your computer on your fridge. So when you're feeling that you just go right by, it just grounds you, puts your feedback on the ground for a second. And so maybe that's what I wish that I would've learned a hell of a lot quicker cause it would have saved me a lot of anxiety and self doubt and frustration on my part as an artist. So.

Raymond: 00:43:06 Wow. Yeah. I know right now if I were to list my reasons why, I would probably put it on the fridge as I probably see it more than I look at my computer. These, these days being stuck at home. Yeah. Yeah.

Ashley Marston: 00:43:18 Or put it where you keep your camera too, right? Oh yeah. I said I suggest to have your camera out in a place where you can grab it easily all the time. And if you put it, put it there right beside it, then you have a chance to peek it up before you, before you shoot.

Raymond: 00:43:35 Would you be willing to share your, your reasons why?

Ashley Marston: 00:43:40 Yes, of course. I think that sometimes they're, they change, but my number one reason is obviously the children that this is for them. Although this, this project has created a lot of opportunity for me professionally. The bottom line of this, the very heart and soul of this is that it's, it's for them and it's for me. And that's the number one thing for me. And just to grow as an artist, you know, this is, this is an opportunity for growth. And so I think that's what you have to think of too once in awhile, is that this isn't the, this isn't the, the finality. This is, you're still growing. You're always growing and you're always evolving. And so when I started this project, the first year I worked on light, you know, and how I see light in the second year. You know, I worked on like emotion. And so every year I kind of would focus on one thing or another. And then I started really getting creative where I started doing underwater work and using a drone and, you know, so it was just ever, ever evolving and always learning. And I think that's another one of the reasons too, is that this doesn't end for me. This is not a, this is not an end point. This is an always a growing, a growing situation. So

Raymond: 00:45:14 I love that. That's such a great way to look at this time that we're in right now as, as continue, continue continue learning. Continue to grow. This isn't a time to take a break was the time to yeah,

Ashley Marston: 00:45:26 No. And you you want to like, and I was, you know, I was very honest with my, my little group, they're in a daily current, so I popped on and did a live about a week after this. It all started cause I did not want to pick up my camera. I think that I was just, I think like everybody, we were kind of in that like shock mode where we just didn't really know what to do with ourselves. There was so much information and so much going on. And I just, yeah, like I had to force myself to pick up my camera and I took multiple days off, which is very strange for me. It felt very foreign and so I just popped on and was super honest and as, as I am and I just said like, is anybody else feeling like this? You know, it's okay, we're in this together, you know? And then now it's like, okay, now as things start to, we kind of have a bit of a, not a wall, but like, you know, we're hitting a bit of a stride here. We're all sorting, starting to pick up our cameras and finding ways to be creative and document this time together. So,

Raymond: 00:46:31 Yeah. You know, one thing that I've been working on a lot during this time is the edits that I have just in my personal photos, you know, not so much my professional work. I feel like I have some sort of consistency in that, that I enjoy. I want to keep working on that. As far as my personal photos go. The editing has been really fun for me during this time. And we talked about your editing a little bit there. So oftentimes beginners think as the capture as the creative, but can you talk to me about the creative role that editing has in, in your work?

Ashley Marston: 00:47:04 I actually love editing. So I have a very clean edit. I like things to be sort of as true to,

Ashley Marston: 00:47:18 You know I don't use Photoshop at all. That's not to say that some of my photos are not photo-shopped because you know, I have, I have a Photoshop that if I need a head swap or something, he's, I basically just email it to him. So you know, once in a while it is useful, but I use Lightroom solely for all of my work and black and white is definitely one of my favorite things. And I have, I, it's taken me a few years, but I've really, I've really honed in my black and white work for sure. So I think that for me everything is vibrant and colorful. I know that like muted tones and, and gray grass is kind of in right now, but I like bring out the colors, like I was a big, I'm just a big fan of, you know, our life is colorful and, and I want to show that, you know, so I do in the course I do, there are editing videos and so I go through my editing process for both black and white and color.

Ashley Marston: 00:48:27 And and there are shooting videos as well. So you really get to see the whole streamlined process of how I work. Both, you know, inside the home, out in the wild underwater. And there's a little bit on drones as well. So you get to kind of see how, how the ideas evolve whether naturally with the kids or even with the drone work. Like we we did a shot where the kids, and we had thought about this for months where the kids did a chalk drawing on the ground. And my son Noah did a huge dragon and Tate did some dinosaurs and Sophie did a rainbow with a mushroom and so, and then we put them into the drawing. So she was sitting on the mushroom and Noah was protecting her from the dragon and we drew a big sword in his hand and then Tate was getting eaten by dinosaurs.

Ashley Marston: 00:49:27 And then, so we popped the drone up. And so, you know, this was an idea that we had thought of as a family for a while. And I've actually got, I want to do one for quarantine too, where I'm laying on the ground pretending to run and they're chasing after me and I want to do like a big help, you know, so you can see that from above. So like, you know, it's just how these ideas sort of take form and are shot and, and you know, and then edited later on. Like it's just, it's nice to kind of see the whole stream streamline process cause that's what people I feel are most curious about is like, okay, well we see it online, but like, how did you get to that point? Right. So and the editing is, is such a huge part of that. So, yeah.

Raymond: 00:50:14 I love that. That's, that's great. That's not I don't think a lot of people would have went there, but, but I like, I like that, that view of the edit. That's a very fun, that's very fun. I have two last questions for you. I know that we've gone well over our time.

Ashley Marston: 00:50:33 Good visit

Raymond: 00:50:37 Blast. But do you have time for these two last questions? Ashley Marston: 00:50:39 Of course. Yeah.

Raymond: 00:50:40 Okay. So within the group, Kimberly asked me a long time ago, as I was telling you when your episode is, is, is, is one that just continues to strike a chord with a lot of people. And one of these listeners was Kimberly. She listens. And she told me a long time ago, like right after listening, she's like, you got to have her back on like, great. So before our interview I asked her if you could ask Ashley a question, what would it be? And she's like, well, I have a million, but here's two. So she says, Ashley consistently presents images that capture a feeling of weightlessness, which makes every moment of the life she presents seem saturated and quite important. What is your secret to achieving this consistency?

Ashley Marston: 00:51:38 Wow, Kimberly. Quite the question.

Ashley Marston: 00:51:48 So I, I'm struggling with, cause it's kind of like a shooting and editing question because it's sort of, it's a mix. It's a, it's a combination of all these things that achieves this final image. I think that first and foremost a lot of the times, the moments, like I said I sort of shoot my images or are

Ashley Marston: 00:52:21 Achieved by a few different things, light being one of them and moments being the other and, and capturing a moment in time or emotion in the capturing a moment in time being the other thing. So first I would start out with how I'm going to accentuate a moment with the light that I'm given and then that then turned, once the moment is captured, then once it's put into light room, I try and not, I guess I try and IX accentuate that. So it's sort of like a, I feel like it's like a boost, like, and I do do on my Instagram some straight out of cameras and then the final edit so you can see that it's not manipulated but just leveled up, you know. So the weightless comment is that's a very, I liked that. I don't know if that, I, I'm, it's, that's a very tricky and wonderful question. Yeah, I, yeah,

Raymond: 00:53:35 I would think a lot of it. I would think that you probably answered a portion of this earlier when I asked you what you would tell a younger Ashley, you know, which is essentially like just kinda keep shooting and eventually you'll find your way. Because I would assume that your first year's worth of photos probably look nothing like your photos today. Is that, is that pretty safe to assume?

Ashley Marston: 00:53:58 There are, there definitely are a handful of favorites that I still hold quite an eye and you'll be able to see, and I chat about this as well, were there, I call them game changers where you'll take a photo and you'll publish it or you know, like, you know, put it on your social media or put it in a book and you'll know, you'll see that that was that was that was a changing moment for you. You'll notice that your, your intentional shooting was different. The way that you saw the light was different, your, the way that you shot it was, you know, they're game changers. And so there are a few photos in that first year where I know that they're game changers and I can see very similar attributes and those photos to the photos that I have six years later. So yes, there are lots of learning moments of course, but there are those few were, those are, those are big growth photographs, right?

Raymond: 00:54:57 Yeah. Yeah. Ah, I love that. It's just that personal development I love so much that when you figure it out, like you said, that big, that moment you're like, Oh, Oh this is different, this is a little bit different. That's okay.

Ashley Marston: 00:55:07 Well, and that, that's why like, and this course is not just for three 60 fibers, like of course it will, if you want to complete it three 65, like this is definitely something for you. But even if you just want to be more intentional with your shooting, if you just want to be more creative, if you just want the push to pick up your camera every day or document your life at home, not in a, not in a three 65 project, but just in general. You know, this is why this is so incredibly beneficial for you and you know, it it's just helpful in, in all those and all those ways really. So you'll see at the end of your year, or even whether it's a full three 65 or just general shooting, you'll see a huge difference between your images at the beginning of this journey to the end. And you won't feel that when you're in the moment, but you'll definitely see it at the end. And it might be your push to the next year either to actually do a three 65 project or just to keep, just to keep going. So,

Raymond: 00:56:17 Yeah. All right. Thank you for sharing that. That's that's, that's some powerful, she had one last question for you, which was simply which artists in any genre, photography, music, painting, et cetera, influence your work currently the most?

Ashley Marston: 00:56:38 Mm. There's a few photographers that I love that definitely have pushed me to be a better photographer myself. I find that I have strong compositional skills, but there are some photographers out there like they are on a different level than me. Like it is fair. How do you spell his last name? Farewell. Stary. F. E. R. J. U. I R. Anyways, he's amazing. He does weddings and families down in Mexico and he just blows my mind. Some are Murdoch. She's a constant source of inspiration to me. Nikki boon, Nikki Boone is an Austria Australian photographer. She she has I think four kids and they literally live in the back country of Australia and most of her work is black and white. And she just does like mind blowing documentary and work with her kids for painters. And I mean I'm not inspired too much. I will constantly put on a nineties playlist while I work.

Ashley Marston: 00:58:05 Not all that inspiring. But my husband is an artist. He is a Carver. He's first nations. And so we, our household is definitely art filled. And I think that I have a deep appreciation for all the arts, but I definitely have a deep appreciation for him as an artist. And he inspires me. Daily. He's been doing he's been carving as an artist for, as a career for 20 years. And so, yeah. And he is world renowned and he is humble and amazing. And so we, we sort of build off of each other. And I think that that's been really important for our kids to see because there is this sort of a stigma for the poor, starving artist. And that is not how we've lived our life. And so we it's our, all of our kids are artistic and so we encourage them that they can do this. Photographers can make a living and artists can make a living and be happy and do what they love. And, and so it's just for our kids to see that, that anything, anything is possible really. So yeah, so he's probably my favorite artist.

Raymond: 00:59:36 Oh, man. I know, I feel, I feel oftentimes, you know, when I look at obviously as a photographer, having that technical ability to see how a photo is taken, I can look at other people's work and be inspired by it, but I still see it in my head. Like this is how the photo was taken. But when it comes to painting, when it comes to carving, when it comes to doing pretty much anything physical, I guess with your hands or creating anything tangible, I look at it with just complete awe because it doesn't make sense to my brain now. And it's just, it's fantastic stuff. And when somebody can do it, well it's, it's, it's a whole nother thing. It's a whole,

Ashley Marston: 01:00:13 You know, we've been together since I was 16 and it continues to blow my mind. Like we have literally like trees in our yard, like cut blogs and over time they become these incredible pieces, masks and boxes and, and total poles and house posts. And I'm like, you created that out of that tree in our front yard. You know that it's been seasoning and all these, I mean, that's what he's been doing for the past week is like cutting up, cutting up these, these gorgeous Cedar trees and they'll turn into these incredible works of art and B, we all over the world and it's still, it always and forever blows my mind. It never, it never seems to get old. Really.

Raymond: 01:00:58 Oh, that's perfect. Well, I don't know how we get in any better than that. You know, the, the, the figuring out, you know, where that source of creativity comes from. So I just have to say thank you for coming on and sharing everything that you did. I know that the listeners are gonna get a ton out of this episode. So before I let you go, can you let them know where they can follow you and keep up with everything that you're doing online?

Ashley Marston: 01:01:23 Well, I'm on Instagram and Facebook, Ashley Marston photography, and I post every day. I'm very active. I'm always open to questions. You can DM me any time. That's pretty much probably the best way to get ahold of me. So I'm, I'm always around. I'm always up, always up for a chat, so huh.

Raymond: 01:01:45 Perfect. Well, I will put links, of course, your Instagram as well as your website and your course within the show notes of this episode for people to find. But again, Ashley, I just have to say thank you for coming on and sharing everything that you did.

Ashley Marston: 01:01:57 Thank you. Raymond.