ashley kelemen photography

out of office.

ashley — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:44:35 +0000

I apologize for not leaving you with a beautiful photo upon my departure – getting ready for this trip has consumed every corner of my brain. someone please tell me an easy way to narrow down which cameras I will need for three months of adventures in southeast asia, and I will send you a huge fluffy present. at this point, I’ve got it down to five:

iPod touch for Instagram, etc.

canon dslr & a zoom lens (plus five memory cards)

canon slr & a 50mm f/1.4 lens (plus about 60 rolls of film)

a small canon point & shoot for smaller moments

our GoPro hero for underwater photos & videos

we leave in 24 hours (omgomgomg) and I will not be back to this space until may or june, at which point I’m sure I will flood the blog with photos of our adventures. until then, brian and I are keeping a small, quiet travel blog at longlivewanderlust.tumblr.com – it will consist mostly of iPhone photos and notes along the way. keep up with us there if you like! until then, you stay classy, San Diego…

JAYCEE.

ashley — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:24:17 +0000

while we were in pittsburgh, I spent a large chunk of the trip following jaycee around with my camera. by the end of the trip, she was showing me the back of her pigtails a lot…

beard season.

ashley — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:06:00 +0000

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.

ashley — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:46:00 +0000

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.

ashley — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 18:48:00 +0000

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…

katie.

ashley — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 13:56:00 +0000

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.

ashley — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:06:00 +0000

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.

ashley — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:36:00 +0000

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.

ashley — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:23:00 +0000

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.

ashley — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 01:43:00 +0000

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!