Celebrating Women’s Day: Sisterhood Beyond Familial Ties by Ashtin Paige

  Bio: Ashtin Paige is a portrait photographer based in Nashville, Tennessee. Follow her online at www.ashtinpaige.com and on Instagram @ashtinpaige. She started in 2009 as a wedding photographer in San Antonio, Texas. Ashtin spent a week in Nashville in the summer of 2011 and six months later, she made the move. With this change of scenery, she was inspired to seize this opportunity to pursue more portraiture. Her husband Travis Yetton works in film production and they have two daughters: Gemma Rose & Milo James. Ashtin opened a studio in East Nashville called Nous Art House in April 2017 and has been working with musicians, brands, modeling agencies, small businesses and designers in Nashville. Ashtin is the co-founder of the online publication + supper series, At Her Table, as well as the creator of The Book of Mama, a coffee table book of portraits of working mothers which is scheduled to release in 2020. She owns a small photo studio in East Nashville called “Nous” – french for “we” or “us” in honor of the collaborative community that helped its establishment. What was the concept of the shoot? Women supporting women. There is something so powerful and captivating when women are photographed together. I wanted to depict a sisterhood beyond familial ties. For this shoot, I wanted to take a bit of an unexpected approach when photographing these women. The colors were vibrant and playful while the set was deconstructed and exposed. We brought in a few neutral tones in the styling to give a harmonious vibe so that each woman’s individuality was highlighted. What setup and lighting did you use to get the shot? I used an Einstein flash unit, placed camera right, that was modified with an 86” White PLM™ Umbrella slightly angled downward as my main source of light. I coupled that with an AlienBees flash unit, camera left, with a 64′ White PLM™ Umbrella and white front diffusion fabric as a fill light; then a reflector was placed in the center under my camera to help bounce light and soften shadows. How did shooting tethered help you achieve the shot you wanted? I love tethering during shoots because it simplifies the whole process. It keeps me and my team on the same page and helps us adjust and edit, saving so much time. Tethering while photographing such a large group was also extremely helpful and gave me more control in getting the image I was envisioning.  What was your biggest challenge? One of the bigger challenges during this shoot was to create this “perfectly imperfect” set. We wanted it to feel lived in and deconstructed but in an intentional way. Tethering was a big help in this area because I could see what it was looking like and if it was translating the way I wanted before placing our subjects in the frame. What type of post-processing was involved? I kept my edits pretty simple by lessening contrast a tad to soften shadows, pushed highlights up to show off the beautiful skin everyone had, and some small color correction. What a treat! What were the logistics and/or gear needed to achieve this shot?  For gear, I used my trusty Canon 5D Mark iii and 24-70mm lens. This lens was so helpful photographing such a large group. We also were able to shoot in my friend Eric Ryan Anderson’s beautiful studio!  Who was involved and how did they play a part in the shoot? To further embody the International Women’s Day theme, we had an all-female team that consisted of: Stylist – Elliott Taylor; Hair + Makeup Artist – Brittney Head; Art Director – Nicola Harger; Set Designer – Kat Wolle. The beautiful women photographed include: Amy Anderson, Kate Brown, Constance Farro, Andrea Lacey, Vanity Joines, Morgan Parker, Nina Thomas, Kirby Ingram.