ashleighdeesphotography.com

Amanda & Skyler

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:22:49 +0000

I had the honor or photographing Amanda and Skylar’s wedding yesterday on the campus of Georgia Southern University at Sweetheart Circle. It is a sacred and special place for all of the students there. It is said if you walk around the circle three times with your sweetheart, you will get married and live happily ever after. Skyler and Amanda met at GSU, he proposed at Sweetheart Circle, and yesterday, they started their life together at this special spot. It was a beautiful, emotional, and touching ceremony of two people deeply in love pledging their life to each other, and I so thankful to be able to witness and capture this sweet time for the two of them.

It was a Georgia Southern wedding for sure. The colors matched perfectly and were in every detail.

Skyler works for Georgia Southern as a strength coach, so it is only fitting they had a “flex” picture.

As I mentioned earlier, this ceremony was super sweet. It was filled with emotion, love, and true sincerity as these two amazing people promised to spend forever together.

The reception was a few minutes away at The Bell House. It was a gorgeous location and perfect for their fun reception.

I hope the two of you are enjoying your time relaxing on a beautiful beach; you deserve it! Thanks for choosing ADP to capture your big day!

Summer Mini Sessions

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Fri, 11 May 2012 01:22:16 +0000

Lightning bugs, sleeping late, lots of swimming, picnics, flip flops, sundresses, overalls; kids count down the days until summer and cry to see it leave, so capture the moments while they are here. We are excited to announce our first ever summer mini-sessions.

Summer sessions will be in Covington the morning of June 2nd. Sessions will last 20 minutes.

This is a great time to get updated head shots of your kids, a new family photo, and of course, LOTS of fun summertime pics.

The session fee is $30. This covers your session, the enhancements on your images, and posting of the online gallery. Print packages start at $45. Digital images are available for purchase after the session. Spots are very limited, so email me at ashleighdeesphotography@hotmail.com or message me on fb to secure your session.
See you soon!

Goals, Growing, and Being Blessed…

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:03:31 +0000

So, I had listened to and read several books and over and over I heard different people say, “You must have goals…without goals you have no direction…without goals, you are wandering aimlessly” and on and on. So, at the end of 2011, I sat down and wrote some goals. They were lofty goals, big dreams, and I was so unsure of my ability to reach them, I hesitated to share them with anyone so I didn’t have to face disappointment when I failed at them. I poured my heart’s desire for my business, family, and personal life on to a sheet of paper, and tucked it away hidden.
I look back now, and it’s only May, 5 months into 2012, and I want to post the paper everywhere. I’m so proud of what I’ve already achieved and thankful for all that I’ve already been blessed with.
I had a goal to book 26 weddings for 2012. This seemed crazy to me- it was like every other weekend, but I knew weddings were where my heart is and I wanted to make big growth there. I booked my 28th wedding for 2012 today, and I’m thankful for each and every bride that has trusted, and is trusting me with their big day. I can honestly tell you, I look forward to each and every wedding I book. My heart overflows as I watch two people pledge their love to each other and promise to spend the rest of their lives together. If I don’t cry during the wedding, I fight tears during the big entrance or the first dance. Thank you, thank you, thank you to every bride who chooses me and trusts me with such an amazing opportunity to tell the story of your wedding day.
Now, on to the 2nd big goal. After going to WPPI in Vegas, I had a HUUUGE desire to attend a small, hands on, workshop to take my skills up a notch. I was thrilled when I found out Zach & Jody Gray, a husband/wife team, would be conducting a small workshop in Atlanta. It was an investment, for sure, but totallllly worth every. single. penny. The hands on training, immediate feed back, and amazing tricks I learned for perfect exposure and lighting are priceless, and I can’t WAIT to put all of my new knowledge into action for my ah-mazing clients who have trusted me with their memories, believed in my talent, and become my friends along the way. I’ll never stop dreaming and pushing myself to become a better photographer. Y’all deserve the best!
Now, here are some of the fun pics from the workshop.
Here are a few behind the scenes shots:

And a few of my favorites from day 1-

Day 2 was allll about light. I can’t even begin to tell you all that I learned. Instead, I’ll just show you. I think you MAY see a LITTLE difference in my work!

On another note, I can’t begin to tell you how amazing Zach & Jody Gray are. They have a wealth of knowledge and are so incredibly generous with it. They were an open book and were amazing mentors, teachers, and more importantly great people. If you have the chance, and the means, I would 100% recommend going to one of their workshops in the future. I reallllly hope our paths cross again in the future!
Until next time, I just want to thank you all again- everyone who has believed in me, invested in me, taught me, and supported me along this crazy journey. I’m a blessed girl and SO thankful!

Austin & Bryce

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Wed, 02 May 2012 02:08:08 +0000

I swear, I’m the luckiest wedding photographer on the planet. I continually get blessed with the most gorgeous, happy couples, and I love it! Austin & Bryce have known each other since high school. I thought they were so cute tonight at their session. Bryce told me that he had asked Austin out in high school, but she didn’t take him seriously. He even said when he popped the big question, she had her doubts about if he was being serious. Luckily, she didn’t have any doubts about him or the fact that she wanted to be his wife. These two will tie the knot this fall, and after this session, I’m even more excited about photographing their big day. They are seriously perfect for each other, and the love they have oozes out and makes magic for my camera. Thanks y’all for braving the heat (already) with me and being willing to do anything-including risking our lives- for some great shots!

work it, girl-

I have so many favorites of these two.

And, as if I didn’t love these two enough, as I snapped this last shot, fell in love with it in the camera and turned it around to show them, Bryce said, (partly being honest, and partly making fun of me, I’m sure) “That is Gorge.” (short for gorgeous!) At that point, I KNEW we were a perfect client/photographer fit!

Until next time~
Ok, here’s a new thing. Show these 2 some love and help them earn free prints. If they get 15 unique comments below, they get a free mounted 8X10. 25 comments gets them an 11X14.

Jennifer & Matt

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 01:23:29 +0000

I FINALLLLY got to get together with these two this afternoon and get their engagement pictures taken care of. This was our 3rd date, but it was totally worth the wait. I had such a great time hanging out with Jennifer and Matt this afternoon. They were awesome in front of the camera and really worked it the entire session. I can’t wait to work with the two of them again as they get ready for their big day in November.

Isn’t Jennifer beautiful? I told you she could work it in front of the camera, but my favorite part about her was her contagious laugh, and we did a lot of it throughout the session. These two are so happy and in love, I couldn’t help but laugh and smile along with them.

Thanks again for choosing me as your wedding photographer. I’m super excited to be a part of your big day.

Augusta Bridal Shows

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:54:08 +0000

As ADP continues to grow, we get the opportunity to do things we have never done before, and the past 2 weekends, we were exhibitors at the bridal shows here in Augusta. The first one was the CSRA Bridal & Formal Expo put on by Sho Anne’s. It was the smaller of the two, but it was definitely a lot of fun and I met some beautiful future brides. Here are a few pictures of our very first booth. I’m pretty proud of our display!

Here we are, working our booth. Valerie is my assistant, babysitter, 2nd photographer, and I would be lost without her these days. I’m so, so grateful for all she does for us personally and for my growing business.

Then, yesterday we had our big show- The Georgia Bridal Show- at the Bell Auditorium. This was a special show for me. I remember going as an engaged girl, and I was super excited to meet so many fabulous brides. I’ll be totally honest. Even with Valerie there, it was easy to become overwhelmed by the number of brides that came by to visit. There were a few times, we were both chatting with potential clients and had others patiently waiting. I had people come visit just to say hi and say sweet things about my work, which was so humbling. Overall, it was such an incredible day. I was so proud of our growth as a business and my growth as a photographer; I was grateful to all my past brides who trusted me as their photographer so I had beautiful work to display; and I honestly felt like we took a big leap and it paid off. So, here are a few shots of the booth. It was EXTREMELY dark, and I didn’t bring my external, so it isn’t the best quality, but you will get the idea.

And at the end of such a big day, my sweet babies showed up and my heart was just full.

Cameron was busy running around, but Macey was more than happy to be in our pic if it meant I was holding her. I can’t help but wonder if she will have the same love for photography that I do. I would love to teach her all I know one day…

Anyway! This is what we have been up to the past few weekends. I get to go with my friend Amy of Amy E Photography and shoot my first wedding of 2012 next weekend, and when March hits us, we will be in full wedding mode for a while.
To all the bridal show participants: As our thank you for coming to support us and the shows, I would LOVE to offer you a gift of $100 off any wedding coverage. Just mention it when you contact me about booking. Also, we met a TON of fall brides (and even some spring 2013 brides), so if you are even a little bit interested in booking your wedding with ADP, I would suggest you contact us soon for a consult. I’m hoping that we will be closing out the calendar for 2012 soon.
And one final shout out for this post: to my hubby, I can’t thank you enough for all the help you were for these shows, from the preparation, the building, the setting up, the taking down, and the million tasks in between, I love you for supporting me and my dreams. I would never, ever be able to do what I love without you, and I’m so thankful for you.

Have a great week, everybody.

Babies, babies….

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:21:38 +0000

Well, I’m attempting to play catch up…AGAIN, but once I get these up, I’ll be caught up and ready to tell you alllll about the bridal shows we’ve been preparing for.

First meet sweet Blaise…

This cute guy was so happy for most of our session.

And I’m telling you. He was already scooting and kicking and moving. He is going to be all over the place soon, so hold on Mama!

and one more…it may be my favorite.

Then this past Saturday I had twin babies in the house. Now, for clarification sake, I am still not doing newborn sessions at this point, BUT I donated a session to a raffle for a local school, and the winner reallllly wanted to try to get some pictures of these precious twins, so I told her I would try my best. At this point, they were 7 weeks old, so I wasn’t very optimistic about our chances of getting sleepy baby pictures of one baby, much less 2, but these sweet girls had a surprise for me.

At this point, I was pretty happy with the shots we had. Even though they were awake, they were happy, but then the “miracle” as Christina called it, happened…

A HUUUUGE “thank you” to my friend Christina of Christina Anderson Photography for helping me out with this shoot. She was amazing, and to my friend Jessica of Jessica V Photography for letting me borrow some fun twin props. Both of you girls are super sweet, and I’m thankful to have you as friends!

Coming up next on the blog- Miss Kinley and our bridal show review/preview!

Our big project…

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 01:29:29 +0000

So the next 2 Sundays, you will find me at my booth at local bridal shows, and while I’m SUPER excited about the potential of meeting hundreds of brides, I’m a LITTTTLE nervous about it. I’ve never done one before, and I kinda feel like this is a big step for us. The first one is the CSRA Bridal & Formal Expo. It is a smaller event and almost like the warm up game for the big one the following weekend which is The Georgia Bridal Show at the Bell Auditorium.
So as I’ve been thinking about it, I wanted to find a way to stand out from the crowd, something to offer the brides that was a little different than flier or a postcard, and so I started dreaming of this amazing slideshow/commercial. I knew what I wanted to say, and I knew how I wanted it to look, but my hubby reallllly outdid himself when he brought this vision to life.
Anyway, check it out. We will be playing this at the shows as well as giving copies to any interested brides. Wish us luck, and if you are headed to either show, PLEASE come by and say hi!

Ashleigh Dees Photography Commercial from Ashleigh Dees on Vimeo.

And the winner is….

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 03:10:15 +0000

Well, first of all let me tell all of you what an amazing contest this was. It blew my mind how many votes all these lucky couples brought in. Each and everyone of the couples in our contest is VERY loved and supported, and that makes me very happy for all of you. There were a total of 5685 votes in all! Considering that you couldn’t vote from a computer or any other device more than once, that is INSANE. Anyway, enough of how happy I am with the participation, and on to the results. Here they are:

With a total of 2,078 votes which was 36.55% of the overall votes, the winners are Misty & Alan. They will receive a free engagement session complete with hair and make up, dinner for 2 and 25% off their wedding day coverage. Congrats you two!

In a close 2nd place, this couple reallllly gave Misty & Alan a run for their money all day is Leanne and Ty. They had a total of 1,992 votes which was 35.04% . It was SOOOO close.

In 3rd place, Brittney and Josh brought in 853 votes for a total of 15% of the overall votes. They should definitely be feeling the love right now.

A HUGE thank you to alllll of our amazing couples that participated. I’m so honored that you competed in our contest. Check your emails tomorrow, I will be emailing each and every couple with a special offer for their participation, and I wish all of you a lifetime of happiness and love.

Check the blog tomorrow…spring mini-session dates and details will be released!

Battle of the Brides 2012

Ashleigh Dees Photography — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:33:25 +0000

I’m SO excited about this contest. We have a total of 17 happy, beautiful, engaged couples competing this year, and one LUCKY couple is going to win a free engagement session complete with hair and make up for the lady, and dinner for 2 after the session. They are also eligible for HUGE discounts on wedding photography (25% off) and videography (50% off). So, look through these couples, choose your favorite, and then click the link at the bottom which will take you to the official survey. Remember you can only vote once, so make it count! Good luck to all these couples!

Couple 1- Amanda and Jeff

Couple 2-Ashlei and Blake

Couple 3- Brittney and Josh

Couple 4- Christina and David

Couple 5- Claire and Taylor

Couple 6- Heather and Travis

Couple 7- Karissa and JJ

Couple 8- Leanne and Ty

Couple 9- Lindsey and Matt

Couple 10- Mariah and Christian

Couple 11- Mary Elizabeth and Keith

Couple 12- Misty and Alan

Couple 13- Paula and Fred

Couple 14- Renee and Scott

15- Sara and Jake

16- Taffy and Andrew

17- Tiffany and McKenneth

Ok you have seen them all. The link below will take you to the official survey. Thanks so much!
Click here to take the survey now. Create your own online surveys using ZapSurvey