New Name Announcement!

Hello friends!

As always, life has been a whirlwind. I'm sure you can relate! The school year starts back up, there's always something to do around the house, and you're trying to take care of yourself a little bit while serving the ones you love with all you've got.

My revamping & revisioning & working-out-of-logisics for this photography adventure has gone slower than I'd like, and things still aren't perfect and all put together yet. However, I'm choosing to say, "Yep, that's life!" and move right along anyway! If I wait until everything is really ALL put together and ready before I start making announcements, I feel like we'll never get there.

SO.... NEW NAME!

Kelly Hudgins Photography, LLC is now Light Creative, LLC!

Major props to Jordie over at Anthem Craft & Designs for my branding!!

"Light" - represents how I want to serve my clients. I want to be light-hearted, I want to keep things simple (traveling "lightly"), I want to create light, bright, & beautiful photographs that capture memories well, and I want to help reflect God's light into any darkness people are experiencing.

"Creative" - I feel called to creativity. Photography is my main creative outlet and professional skill, but I would love to combine other art forms with my photography as well. This may look like hand-lettering things for photo cards, watercolor painting or crocheting things for...something...? That's one of those things I'll figure out later on, but "Creative" feels more authentic for me right now than "Photography" - even though photography is what we'll still primarily be doing around here - and I'm pumped about the possibilities that lie ahead.

Things for you to know - 

I've decided that a new Instagram is in store, so follow along at @lightcreativeart!

My Facebook page is processing the name change (but does now end in /lightcreativeart), and Twitter will be getting some Light Creative action at @lightcreativenc. 

My website is also under construction, and this blog will shimmy over there when it's done. That will be at www.lightcreativeart.com & already has a pretty landing page if you want to check it out now.

Some other exciting things happening - 

Baby Olivia is now 7 months old and I'm loving photographing her family as she grows!

I got to be the second photographer at Brittany & John's wedding with E.L. Photography over the weekend, and a rainbow decided to show up :) 

Kellay & Reese are expecting their first baby any day now!!

I'm so excited to launch deeper into this new & improved photography venture, serving families throughout life's everyday & milestone moments. Thank you for journeying with me and supporting me in this dream! Let me know when you'd like some photos!

Talk to you soon!

Kelly

Things are Happening!

Hello, friends!

Let me start off by saying that I am so looking forward to having a new website, which is in the works! You've been good to me, Blogger, but it's time for a facelift. ;)

Wow, I miss you all. It's definitely time for an update.

Things are happening! I'm in the midst of getting things checked off my list (it's a mega checklist) to be in a place where I can say, "Alright, let's get some bookings!"

• For starters, I've re-formed the business as an LLC in NC and gotten other tax licenses that I need. The business will have a new name (!!!) so stay tuned for that announcement soon! 
• I estimated overhead business costs - felt really good about it - then did more research and got overwhelmed because I didn't consider a good number of costs I'll have. As they say, it takes money to make money! (I don't like that, but it's a fact.) I've done a lot more work on the overhead amount & it's shaping up to be something much more sustainable. 
• I've done lots of work on pricing, and that will be tweaked based on the new overhead amount. As I crank the numbers on pricing, I'm figuring in the opportunity to offer pay-what-you can sessions & weddings. It's really important to me that my photography is accessible to a diverse range of people, and offering lower-cost sessions & weddings will help me provide the same wonderful experience & quality professional photography to beautiful people who typically cannot afford it. For every (x number) of full-price sessions or weddings, I'll be able to offer a pay-what-you-can session/wedding. 
• I've started brainstorming what photo products I want to offer for each type of session & for weddings, since I'm seeing the value of printed photos around one's home more and more. Y'all, my own wedding photos still live on a flash drive aside from 2 printed photos in my house. They deserve to be in an album, at least! Let those photos live their lives! 

I won't go into more detail about what else I've done up to this point... basically, I've started everything but still have a little bit to go on almost everything. And to be honest - I'm claiming the truth that that's okay. A lot of really good things have happened since we moved to Raleigh, and I'm so thankful for that.

I am also excited to get more of a move on with photography, so here's to the next two weeks! These two weeks of summer represent the time that I'm not teaching, interviewing, vacationing with family (...except for a couple days in Atlanta!), hosting people at our house, or helping my Grandmommy go through things at her house. All of those things have happened or are happening at other times (again, really good things), but I'm dedicating the next two weeks to checking more things off that mega photo biz list. 

For the sake of accountability and putting it out into the universe that these things will happen, here are some vague to-dos that are to be done in the next couple weeks:

• Finish estimating overhead costs! Pricing!
• New name! Social media!
• Website work! - words, photos, layouts!
• Product offerings! Samples!

Doesn't it sound so easy when I put it like that? 

Will personal life things come up? Yep. But! I'm reminded of something our pastor Lisa said at church a few weeks ago:

"In order to do big things, you have to believe you can do big things."

I believe it right now, and when I stop believing it I'll remind myself again. It's tough getting things up & running sometimes, but I'm so confident that it will be worth it. God's going to do beautiful things.

Thank you for reading & keeping up with us! You're the best.


Love,

Kelly


PS - In the photo above, did anyone catch the little piece of dog you can see under the table?! Haha! Love this guy. (His name is Jack.)

New Location, Visioning, & Photos

My friends, my people!

Hello there! Thank you for checking in with me through the hiatus in my business. From last September through the end of this past July, my husband and I were living in Houston, TX, serving as team members with Mission Year. The experience was nothing short of life-changing, and we're really excited to move forward in our lives with renewed purpose and values to continuously strive after living out. I'd love for you to check out our personal blog to read about some more specific experiences we had and things we learned.

After a lot of consideration and prayer, we've landed in Raleigh, NC! The "City of Oaks" made a lot of sense to us for several reasons:

• We were wanting to settle down somewhere more long-term. We want to be committed to a community and really delve into relationships with its people. Houston was great, but it's a little far from our family in Virginia! Raleigh puts us 2-3 hours from each of our immediate families, and we both have extended family in/around Raleigh. 
• We wanted to be connected with some like-minded people. There are churches & organizations across the country connected with the CCDA (including Mission Year and our church in Houston), and Raleigh is home to several of those organizations we hope to get connected with.
• It's a big (-ish) city! We've grown a little tired of suburban life & are excited for the uniqueness, diversity, and excitement that continuing to live in a city will offer.

Okay, self-reminder that this is my photography blog... thanks for bearing with me. :) So what does this mean for Kelly Hudgins Photography?!

I did a lot of dreaming during my time in Houston about what I want my photography business to look like. I'm reimagining it, putting names to some values and trying to figure out what things may look like logistically. Here are some snapshots of my thoughts:

• Beautiful, quality photography for everyone - value in serving people who may not typically have the means to afford professional photography
• Emphasis on moving people to recognize and honor their inherent value & worth - you are beautiful and loved because you are beautiful and loved. Not because of what you own or what you wear or how you look or what you do, but because you are a BELOVED child of God. 
• (A sub-point because it's related...) Natural beauty & simplicity - there may be some hair & makeup prep, or there may not. Emphasis on being content and confident just as you are, a challenge to embrace imperfections as part of what makes you beautiful. We don't need a lot of bells & whistles to represent your wonderful self and create beautiful artwork together.
• Community - promoting community across dividing lines and using my services & products to foster communication and connections within families and existing communities. We're created to be interdependent.

What does all of that look like when it comes together? Great question... I'm working on it ;) 

My goal is to get things back into swing early spring 2017. Fall & winter 2016 will be used to continue dreaming, planning, and making all of this become a reality.

What can you do to help me? Thanks for asking! -- Keep in touch - I'd love to hear your feedback on my thoughts included in this post and in future posts. Check back here, on Facebook, & on Instagram to stay connected.

Here are some photos from my time here in Raleigh so far!

The Raleigh skyline <3 

Delicious gelato at Sugarland 

The African American Cultural Festival

Upper-right: My husband Andrew & our friend/roommate Maggie :)

The NC state capitol building

Deco Raleigh - super cute shop with lots of local goods

William B. Umstead State Park

THANK YOU for sticking with me & checking out the post! Let me know any feedback and/or advice you may have as I continue the visioning process for my business & work to make it all become reality. :)

Love to you all!
Kelly


SaveSave