Ashley Madsen Photography

When I was 12 years old I started babysitting for a family down the street.  The oldest was 4 and the baby was 4 months old.  I loved it and I babysat a lot!  I have so many memories after babysitting them for about 7 years before they moved away (is that right?).  Swimming lessons, gas station runs to get slurpees before I could drive, Disneyland, a mouse in the house, softball lessons, dancing in the car after I could drive, park visits, lots of curls, lots of braids, and LOTS of photoshoots!  I never realized how often I took their pictures until their mom started sending me just some of them.  We would pick out an outfit, do their hair, and have a photo session.  This was long before I took a photo class and I used my mom’s little regular point and shoot film camera.

(Riley, sorry, but I had to post them.  Your mom sent them to me and I LOVE them.  There are some serious memories with these.)

Then I started photo classes at high school.  These poor kids couldn’t escape.  I had an assignment they got to be subjects.  I remember a Halloween scavenger hunt extra credit project where you had to take a picture of everything on a list and you’d get extra credit.  Well we all jumped in the car and were off to mark things off the list.  I needed a mummy, so we wrapped the youngest up in toilet paper and we had a mummy.  I practiced on these kids, developed my film at school, and gave the parents copies.

This was all still before I took more photo classes in college, went a different route and graduated in something else before realizing photography was what I really wanted to do.  I’m not very old, but when the girl you started babysitting when you were 12 and she was 4 is graduating high school… that’s weird.  When her mom asked me if I would take her senior pictures since she was my very first model in all of my “photo shoots” I was so excited!  We had so much fun talking and hanging out.  I’m just super bummed we didn’t take a picture of us together.  Riley, when you come visit at Christmas, we have to get a picture together!!!
I can’t believe you are graduating soon!  You are seriously gorgeous and are so fun to talk and hang out with.  Thanks for the fun time and  all the laughs.  Can’t wait until you’re down here again!

Email me for 2011 senior collections!!!