This featured article is special to me, because today we have Jeff Ascough from the UK. When I started in wedding photography, roughly twenty years ago, there wasn’t such a thing as documentary wedding photography, at least not here in The Netherlands. I knew how I wanted to capture a wedding, but there wasn’t a name for it really.
Browsing around the internet, I stumbled on the website of Jeff and his wedding work really amazed me. I studied his pictures, checked out his gear and even used his Lightroom presets for a while.
Long story short, you can easily say that for me as a wedding photographer, Jeff was my biggest inspiration.
Check out Jeffs other work here.
1) Can you tell a bit about your background (as a photographer)
My dad was a keen amateur photographer. In the late 1980s, when he reached 50 years old, he wanted to retire from his job (he lectured in mechanical engineering at university) and become a professional photographer. Prior to his retirement, he built a small business but the university couldn’t afford to let him retire. So he asked me if I would be interested in becoming a photographer and running the business for him.
I didn’t have any interest in photography prior to that point. I was 21 years old. I was more interested in music. I decided to give photography a shot, and 32 years later I’m still doing it.
I didn’t have any interest in photography prior to that point. I was 21 years old. I was more interested in music. I decided to give photography a shot, and 32 years later I’m still doing it.
I started my career as a studio portrait photographer. I shot the odd wedding for my portrait clients, but when I set up my own business in the early 90s, I started to concentrate on weddings as they were the easiest genre to get into. I introduced a black-and-white documentary style to he UK marketplace in the mid 90s, and I still shoot in that style today but only for a handful of clients each year.
For the past ten years, I’ve been concentrating on shooting landscape, street and portrait photography.
![](http://joerivanderkloet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jeff-ascough-leica-001-1024x682.jpg)
2) How did you get into the Leica system?
In the late 90s, I was shooting a lot of events with film in very low light. I needed something which would cope with the light conditions, so I bought a Leica M6TTL and a 50 f1 Noctilux-M as this was the fastest lens I could get my hands on at the time, and with a mirrorless body I could hand hold it down to 1/15th sec. It revolutionised my shooting. I added three more bodies and six more lenses over the next year.
I still shoot film with those Leicas to this day. I added an M8 around 2007 and an M9 a few years later. The early digital Ms weren’t ideal for my work at the time, so I used Canon for a lot of it. This led me to became an Ambassador for Canon in 2008, and even though I was still using Leica, I couldn’t mention it due to my contractual obligations with them. When I resigned from the Ambassador program in 2017, I gradually moved away from Canon altogether and now I shoot Leica for all of my work.
I still shoot film with those Leicas to this day. I added an M8 around 2007 and an M9 a few years later. The early digital Ms weren’t ideal for my work at the time, so I used Canon for a lot of it. This led me to became an Ambassador for Canon in 2008, and even though I was still using Leica, I couldn’t mention it due to my contractual obligations with them. When I resigned from the Ambassador program in 2017, I gradually moved away from Canon altogether and now I shoot Leica for all of my work.
![](http://joerivanderkloet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jeff-ascough-leica-005-1024x682.jpg)
3) Which camera and lenses do you have?
I have four M6TTL bodies with different viewfinder magnifications. An M9-P which is my main digital camera, and an M8 which I use now and again. Lenswise, I have a 21 Elmarit-M ASPH, 35 Summilux-M ASPH, 50 Noctilux-M, 75 Summilux-M, and 90 Summicron-M.
These days, I shoot most of my work with the 21 & 35 lenses.
![](http://joerivanderkloet.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/jeff-ascough-leica-002-1024x682.jpg)
4) What kind of pictures do you take and why?
Most of my work involves street and landscape photography. It’s what I was drawn to as a young photographer and today I’m fortunate to be able to shoot it for a living. I prefer to work in England and you will often find me working in coastal areas. I live 100m from the sea, so a lot of my work reflects that experience. I also like to shoot portraits and nudes, but the pandemic has put that side of things on hold for the past year. The majority of my work is still black-and-white but in over the past year or so, I’ve been experimenting more with colour.
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