Rising Stars: Meet Kevin and Ashley Keith

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin and Ashley Keith.

Hi Kevin and Ashley, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started off wanting to be an architect and went to Kansas State University to study architecture. I switched to Graphic Design and took my first photography class. I loved developing my own film (yes, I said film!) and making photos in the darkroom. I could spend hours there trying to perfect my photos! After college, I worked as a Graphic Designer for a year then I went to Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA to further my photography education. I learned everything about the camera, film, lighting, and studio setup. A year later, I moved with a friend to LA where we had our own studio loft to work on building our photography portfolios. I assisted other photographers that had worked with celebrities such as Michael Jackson, Kathy Ireland and Kim Kardashian. It was a great experience but I got tired of LA and moved back to the Midwest. I started photographing weddings in Kansas City and then started to teach photography workshops. I met my wife Ashley and we got married in 2010 and changed the company name from Kevin Keith Photography to Kevin Ashley Photography. She will assist me on photo shoots and does all our office work. We started shooting more portrait sessions and headshots a few years ago and that is the majority of our photography business now. We operate out of our Overland Park home and have a studio setup in our basement where we shoot lots of headshots and portraits. We still go on location and do several outside family sessions and high school senior photo shoots every year. We have three beautiful daughters that keep us busy when we are not working on making other people look beautiful!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not always been a smooth road! Photography is very competitive and with digital photography, it brought about a lot more photographers to our industry. It has always been tough to get customers to pay your prices when there is another photographer that will do it for less even though they are less qualified. We have found that focusing on business headshots and commercial photography has taken away a lot of that competition because you really have to know more about lighting and setting up a studio for headshots than you do outside portraits and weddings.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have been a photographer for over 15 years now. I have always enjoyed being creative with my work and that led me to photography. The camera is my paintbrush and I use it to bring out the best in people. I photograph mostly people in the form of portraits, headshots, and families. I have developed a style over the years that I find to be very consistent and beautiful… I enjoy photographing people and I always try to make my shoots fun and relaxed by finding creative ways to bring out everyone’s personality.

Who else deserves credit in your story?
My wife has always been by my side and she deserves a lot of credit. She is my biggest fan! As an artist, you can easily get down on yourself and feel like you don’t have the talent to do what you do anymore and you need someone there to lift you up. Ashley has always been there to encourage me and tell me that I am doing a great job!

I have had many photographers in the past that I have looked up to. I went to WPPI (Wedding Portrait Photography convention) in Las Vegas and look up to a bunch of those photographers: Jerry Ghionis, Yervant, Mike Colon and others. The photography industry is so great in how supportive they are of each other and love sharing with other photographers!

Contact Info:

• Email: info@kevinashleyphotography.com
• Website: www.kevinashleyphotography.com
• Instagram: kevinashleyphotography
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/kevinashleyphotography
• Twitter: @kevinkeithphoto