Meet Ash Highberger: Portrait & Film Photographer

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

Hi Ash, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I have always had the itch to make things and have dabbled in different mediums trying to find what I liked and nothing truly filled that need for me until I started doing photography. It’s the only medium that I can fully envision in my head what I want to create and translate it into real life. I love how you can take tangible, ordinary things and make it feel like magic. My goal is to make images that feel immersive and give the viewer a feeling of childlike wonder and curiosity. It also works out perfectly since I am such an extrovert. My job allows me to encapsulate intimate moments, milestones and the sweet gentleness of everyday life. My gift to my clients and loved ones is to stop time for them in little keepsakes that can last a lifetime and beyond. That in itself feels like it’s own special kind of collaborative art. 

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.
I work in a very saturated market, it’s easy to do the comparison game with so much talent out there. I don’t focus on how my work makes me unique from others, but on what I want to create for myself, what would be fun and challenging. It took a while to get to that place of genuinely doing it for myself and I’m am most proud of that. Professionally I got to where I am mostly by word of mouth, I still feel that I have a long way to go but you never stop growing and evolving as a creative and business owner. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to just keep going, to keep brainstorming and following through with ideas to move forward. I started photography because of my Grandma documented a large portion of her life through 35mm film. I didn’t know my grandfather too well but I felt like I got to know him through the photos of their dating life, marriage, parenthood, vacations, ect. He loved Polaroid’s and 8mm video so the different film types in the collection feel to tell the story of their lives from both prospectives. I grew sentimental about making sure to document my life seeing how lovely it was for my Grandma to share her’s in this way. When I started photography in 2010 she gifted me her equipment, some of it I use to this day. If there’s anything I want people to know about my brand and my story, it’s that I have seen the power of taking a photo and the impact it makes later in life.

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?
Denton Texas is such a cute town filled with small businesses! The town square is the place to take someone, you can spend the whole day there. Recycled books is a giant bookstore in an old theater, Beth Maries sells homemade ice cream, Gnome Cones is a gnome themed natural snow cone spot that’s ADORABLE. There are antiques, a record store, candy spot, a 50’s inspired vegan diner – Spiral, the most amazing pizza at J&J’s, coffee shops, all within walking distance. You can bring a blanket and hang out on the lawn of the court house and people watch. My absolute favorite place in Denton though is a speakeasy called Paschall Bar. You go through a unmarked door, up some stairs into the coziest little cocktail lounge with windows overlooking the square. They make the best Hemingway I’ve ever had!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My great friend, collaborator, and fellow creative Carlos Kelvin Reyes (IG: @renacio.designs). He is an insanely talented fashion designer with published works in Vogue and TIME Magazine. He is one of my favorite people to bounce ideas off of and has always been supportive of my work, even going as far as creating some garments for shoots.

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