Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley.
Hi Ashley, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
So this goes all the way back to fourth grade. My dad was a media director, and I used to sit behind him at his computer just mesmerized watching him build these digital projects. I remember thinking, “I want to do that.” So I grabbed our family’s little point and shoot and just started shooting. Honestly, at first it was mostly about getting my dad to say more than just “good job.” I wanted the real reaction.
And then I got it. I took this photo of my little sister, and everyone’s reaction, especially my dad’s, was like “wait, hold on.” That was the hook. From there I went full obsessive mode. No YouTube tutorials back then, so I was just buried in photography books, teaching myself on this Nikon DSLR of his.
People started noticing. “Wait, this girl’s actually good at this,” which in junior high is basically the highest compliment you can get. So I started doing my own little shoots, then tagging along with my dad as a second shooter at weddings. By high school the tables flipped completely. I was booking my own clients, leading weddings as the primary shooter, and he was assisting me.
Then, right after high school, I hit this stretch where I genuinely had no idea what was next for me. And that’s actually when everything changed, because my dad sent me this internship listing for Phoenix Rising. I had zero sports photography experience. None. But I figured, why not try it?
And it just clicked. Something about the pace of it, chasing the moment, not being able to pose anyone, having to earn the shot in real time, I got completely hooked. It became this fixation, honestly. I couldn’t stop chasing how to get better at it. And that’s really the moment sports photography stopped being a detour and became the whole path.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly? No, not smooth at all. There was a lot of struggling at the start of everything, and I mean a *lot*. Camera gear alone is stupidly expensive, so that was hurdle number one. Then I had to teach myself how to shoot properly, how to edit, all of it, no formal training, just trial and error and a ton of failed attempts nobody ever saw.
On top of that, there weren’t a lot of female photographers when I was starting out, which was its own unique challenge. There were real disadvantages that came with that. But it also taught me a lot, how to advocate for myself, how to hold my ground in spaces. And honestly, creating a path for other women coming up in this industry has become something that really matters to me.
Then there was figuring out how to market myself, which is its own whole skill set, while working a full time job just to pay for the gear and life bills. So it was constantly this juggling act. I was taking red eye flights just to get to games on time, running on basically no sleep, showing up and shooting anyway.
It was a lot. But looking back? Every bit of it was worth it. I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve built out of all that hard work, and even more proud of the doors it’s helped me open for others.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a sports photographer at my core, but I also shoot portraits. And honestly, everything I do kind of lives under this one idea, which is actually my slogan: “Life Captured.”
Because that’s really what it’s about for me. I love living life in the moment right alongside the people I’m photographing, watching what they love, what they care about, what actually lights them up. And what I’ve realized over and over is that the connection between people is what makes life beautiful. So my whole job, the way I see it, is just showing that beauty back to them.
As for what I’m most proud of, this one’s actually really fresh. I just got back from covering six matches at the World Cup. And I don’t think I’ve fully processed it yet, honestly. It was incredible. Surreal doesn’t even really cover it. Getting to be there, camera in hand, capturing that scale of moment, that’s the kind of thing you dream about and then suddenly you’re just… living it.
What were you like growing up?
Oh man, growing up I was fully the reserved, nerdy kid. Like, textbook. I was obsessed with Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, all of it. And movies in general were my favorite thing, honestly, because I just loved the art of cinematography. Watching how someone could take a story and actually *capture* it, frame by frame, visually, that fascinated me.
I was an observer. Like, deeply. And honestly, I still am to this day, that hasn’t really changed.
But more than anything, it was my camera. I was always taking pictures, even if I was just sitting around bored, just trying to figure out the mechanics of it. How light worked, how framing worked, all of it. I’d read books trying to get better because, I mean, we didn’t have TikTok or YouTube to just pull up a tutorial. You had to actually go dig for it.
Pricing:
- $250 family session
- $250 senior session
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ashleyorellana.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashley_orellana/
