Meet Ashley Silva | Wedding Photographer & Creative

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

Hi Ashley, how does your business help the community?
That’s a great question. First and foremost I’m an inclusive photographer, meaning that I take on people, couples, and families of all shapes, sizes, colors, and beliefs. A big passion of mine is being an LGBTQ+ Ally. I often hear of people having a hard time finding photographers here who will photograph people from the LGBTQ+ community and that hurts my heart. Im here with open arms and happy to photograph your love story, whether that is with yourself, your partner, or your family. A big goal of mine has been to be able to give back to my community in way of donating. For the first time, my business is donating 10% of its June sales to The Atlanta Pride Committee and I’m hopeful to be able to continue this by donating to causes and programs throughout Georgia.

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 haven’t always pursued my dreams, I actually only dived head first into my passions and started building my business this year but I’ve been photographing since 2008. Out of high school I moved here from NH and was already sucked into the F&B industry at a young age. In 2019 I added real estate into my career path and continued working both up until the end of 2022. January of this year I started SB Collective LLC so that I would stop talking about professionally doing photography and start building it.

I’m a mom of 3 and a wife-to-be so building this business is a total balancing act but doesn’t mean I am any less driven or capable of creating magic. I continue to learn and cultivate skill. I feel most natural when I’m behind the camera. There’s nothing like meeting new people and being able to tell their story through photos. I LOVE making people feel good about themselves. The “WOW! That’s me?!” reaction gets sweeter each and every time.

A lot of photographers have a certain style. I don’t feel like I fit inside that box, I really don’t have a “style” per-say, I’m a little more versatile and like to work with my clients to help create their vision. I can edit photos light and airy with high exposure, dark and moody, or more natural looking… it all depends on the client and their vibe. I shoot all different types of sessions but my focus is weddings/couples & boudoir. Those really make my heart happy. I also love lifestyle sessions.

I also create artistically in ways other than photography. I artfully arrange flowers and design arrangements, I enjoy painting, & DIYing around the house and our yard. It fills my cup to create and gives me the ability to learn more and more about myself. If you follow my Instagram you’ll see a collection of that with lots of posts about healing because I believe we all should start doing so, so that we can live our fullest and happiest life.

Through building this business I’ve found it’s not always easy and that succeeding looks different to everyone. As long as you stay true to yourself, authentic in your work, and you keep moving towards your goals, doors will continuing opening for you. I wake up every day with a grateful heart for being able to live the life I do. I know my children will have a deep understanding of the hard work it takes to follow your dreams and for that I am deeply grateful.

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?
I’m originally from New England so whenever I get the opportunity to have visitors I take full advantage of it. I love how diverse and eclectic Atlanta is and everything it has to offer. Atlantic Station, Little Five Points, and Krog Market place would be top of the list for walking around and getting to enjoy all the different shops, view the artistic minds, and enjoy restaurants. Once we did that I’d make it a point to bring them to downtown Woodstock, Acworth, and Kennesaw – the local coffee shops, book stores, boutiques, and restaurants cannot be beat and they are all unique in what they offer. Weather permitting we’d head to lake Allatoona to float and enjoy the sunshine. Really it’s almost impossible to cram everything in to a week, but that’s the absolute beauty of living here.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My fiancé, Taylor, supports and encourages me to dive head first into my dreams and helps me to crush my goals. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have started my own business. He believes in me more than I believe in myself and that helped push me into building a business & pulling my dreams into reality. My success is in huge part to his love and support. I am able to fearlessly walk through life knowing I have the most solid foundation to grow and fail forward and he’ll be right here by my side. We have 3 beautiful children and he is the best dad in the whole world. He has shown me the most freeing love and that has been life changing for me. I am forever grateful that he’s mine. So… SHOUT OUT TO YOU, Boswell. You’re everything, thank you!

Website: Www.photosfloralsevents.com

Instagram: @s.bcollective

Facebook: SB Collective