Meet Ashley Jock | Portrait Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ashley Jock and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ashley, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
My photography business is built around personal relationships, customer service, and an experience. My goal in every photo shoot isn’t just to take pretty pictures, but for my clients to have the time of their lives! I want them to leave their photo session feeling confident. No matter what the photos end up looking like, if their experience on the day of the shoot is not good, then they won’t like to the end result as much. When they look at their photos, I want them remember how much fun they had that day. 90% of my business comes from referrals, and many of my clients become close friends. I have several families that I have the privilege of photographing every year because they love the time that we spend together. The best thing that you can do to make your business successful is have amazing customer service!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Hi! I am Ashley! I am the one behind the lens. I have been married to my wonderful husband for 13 years, and we have a beautiful 4 year old son, Lincoln. I started my business in 2010. I have a passion for capturing beauty. I photograph families, newborns, and kids, but my love is photographing high school seniors. This is such a transforming and important time in life, and I love capturing this special time.

As a teenager I struggled with my appearance. I ended up dealing with an eating disorder, so I know all too well how
damaging negative thoughts and opinions can be. One of the most rewarding parts of photographing high school seniors is being able to highlight their best features and show them how beautiful they truly are. With that said, I want to share my philosophy behind my senior sessions. My goal is to capture your personality and your natural beauty. I know some senior photographers focus on hair, makeup, and model poses, but I prefer to keep things more natural. I love candid shots! I want to be able to look at a photo and see you and your personality, not an outfit and a pose. If you normally wear makeup, wear makeup, if you don’t, then you don’t have to! I don’t mind the professional hair and makeup, but I just want
you to look like YOU!

I would say that my biggest challenge so far in my business was deciding to change my name. I started out as Ashley Nicole Photography, but over the years more people started using that same name. This was causing some confusion with my clients and referrals. I discovered that there were 3 in my area with that same name. As of June 11th, I have been officially rebranded my business to Lavish Grace Photography. Rebranding is a very difficult process. It is not something that I ever thought that I would do, but it was the best decision for future of my photography business. I am so excited to see where this next chapter takes me!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If I had a friend visiting for a week, I would definitely take them to the Bite Beauty Lip Lab at the Northpark Mall. Another place that we would probably go (with our kids) is to the Dallas Zoo or the Grapevine Mills aquarium. I am not very adventurous with trying new restaurants because of all of my food allergies, so we probably stick to places like Chick-Fil-A. My favorite thing to do with my friends though, is to go find some cool spots and take pictures together. Some of my favorites spots in Dallas to take pics are Highland Park Village, Prather Park (gorgeous), and the Dallas Arboretum.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to give a shoutout to Katelyn James Photography. In my first couple years in business, I did a one on one mentor-ship with her. She gave my the confidence I needed to succeed! She continues to educate and inspire so many photographers today!

Website: www.lavishgracephotography.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lavishgracephotography/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lavishgracephotography

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LavishGracePhotography

Image Credits
Lavish Grace Photography