About
Epic Scotland Ltd is the company name for Commercial Portrait Photographer Ashley Coombes.
Ashley has been working professionally since 1992. He has built on his early career in National Newspapers and Magazines to create a wealth of Corporate and Commercial clients who entrust their brand consistency and visual narrative to his creative eye and broad experience.
My first job was an assistant to a well known theatrical and classical music photographer in London before heading to Sheffield for the NCTJ diploma in Photojournalism – a brilliant course which has laid down the path for so many successful photographers in the UK.
From there I was employed as a ‘sink or swim’ trainee at the fast paced News Team International in Birmingham working for a diverse range of clients such as The Sun, The Mirror, The Times and the Independent to name just a few. A very steep learning curve but unique opportunity, we also did plenty of jobs for PR clients. This helped me start to understand the commercial side of being a photographer, there was more to photography than just finding the story.
After Birmingham I moved back to London for my dream job on The Times. I had an incredible few years there before moving up to Scotland to help The Times beef up their Scottish offering with the opening of the Holyrood Parliament.
10 years later I quit press work to concentrate on commercial photography and a decade after that, here I am today, loving the range of clients, diversity of work and always learning. No two days are ever the same.
I now live in the Trossachs National Park with wife and kids, working predominantly in Glasgow and Edinburgh but regularly traveling further afield in Scotland, UK and internationally.
“After working closely with Ashley over many years, I can safely say that his reputaion for high quality pictures, combined with efficiency and reliability is second to none. I would not hesitate to use him for any job – however challenging!”
Magnus Linklater, Scotland Editor, The Times