Meet Kelley Hoagland | Chattanooga Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kelley Hoagland and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kelley, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
I find the inspiration for my work in family, and more specifically motherhood during this season of my life. As a teenager, I experienced the loss of several family members within a couple of years of each other. That really impressed on me the fragility of life and the importance of family. As I became a mother of three, I quickly felt a different grief with the speed at which life moves. My children grew and changed so quickly and I wanted a way to hold onto and remember all their beautiful little moments of personality and development.

Ironically, my photography journey started when I completely failed to schedule a newborn photo session for my first born daughter. I was working in healthcare at the time and was so focused on a safe delivery that the thought of newborn photos really didn’t even cross my mind until she was almost 2 weeks old. She was born in the fall, which I now know is the busy season for family photographers. I reached out to a few local photographers, but many were booked several months out, so I decided to take the photos myself. I owned a decent camera, but had zero idea what I was doing. The images turned out “fine enough” and I enjoyed the process. My husband pointed out that I was going to want more portraits of our child and encouraged me to enroll in a photography class at a local community college (Chattanooga State), and I jumped at the opportunity for an artistic outlet during my maternity leave.

With the birth of our second child, I started a self-driven project where I set a goal of taking at least one photo everyday for a year. During this time I mainly captured little moments with my daughters around our house and community. With this project, my photography skills progressed and friends started asking me to take their portraits. My business was born!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
The primary focuses of my photography business are maternity/newborn photography, family photography, and heirloom children’s portraits. I also currently offer an online educational class for photographers on the topic of using flash photography during in-home sessions.

I believe 2 things set my business apart:

1) My ability to work with children. Before transitioning to photography full time, I practiced as a pediatric occupational therapist for 10 years. This gave me very valuable experiences in learning how to connect and play with children. I walk into every session with large repertoire of little “games” we can play to get kids relaxed and smiling genuine smiles.

Putting a pause on my career as an pediatric occupational therapist was a difficult choice (and I think plenty of people thought I was crazy for giving up a stable career). Yet I love that I still get to connect with children and families and serve them in a way that is still very valuable. The images I take will become part of their family’s history and legacy. These children will look back on these images and see how they were loved and valued by their family.

2) My emphasis on printed artwork: I strongly believe that the photography process should not just end with digital files. Family portraits need to be printed and enjoyed. After having several families come back to me months and even years after sessions, hoping for a replacement copy of computer files they had lost or misplaced, I started including a professional print with every purchased photo along with the digital file. This transition has at times been challenging because many people are still only interested in hiring a photographer who sells only digital files and aren’t interested in the higher investment and longer process involved with printed art. The families I now serve have fallen in love with the archival wall art and albums I offer. Again, on the theme of family legacy, I think it’s so important how these archival print products become tangible artifacts in a family’s story.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Rock City is a must see, especially during Christmas time when they host the Enchanted Garden of Lights. I am located very close to Chattanooga, TN, so crossing over the Tennessee border is a must to visit attractions like the Tennessee Aquarium, Creative Discovery Museum, and Coolidge Park. Il Primo and Blue Grass Grille are my favorite restaurants and Clumpies is a must for dessert.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout goes to my husband Ben Hoagland. He was the person who first encouraged me to pursue photography. He has supported me and encouraged me every step of the way; from letting me bounce ideas off of him, helping critique my work, to watching our children when I’m gone in the evenings for photoshoots.

Website: https://kelleyhoaglandphotography.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kelleyhoaglandphotography

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kelleyhoaglandphotography/

Image Credits
Kelley Hoagland Photography