Hi, I'm Kelly
I have learned everything I know about photography from my mother, Winnie, who started the family photography business in the early 80s. I was her wedding assistant over the summers in high school, carrying her flash and learning how to load medium format film at her first studio in eastern Kentucky. We opened a second location in central Kentucky, originally called The Gallery, just after I graduated from Centre College with a degree in Economics. We looked all over the area for the perfect location, finally settling in the quaint area of Chevy Chase in Lexington, Kentucky. Little did I know that this decision would be the beginning of the rest of my life story.
We rented a small space in a newly built shopping plaza and needed a contractor to help us transform it into our boutique photography studio. The property manager recommended Cobalt Construction Services, as they had just finished the Mail Boxes, Etc. next door. I insisted that we hire Cobalt after we met the owner, Kevin Culp. Yes, we hired my future husband as our general contractor! Come to find out, our new studio was located just down the street from where Kevin grew up and where his parents live to this day.
I truly believe everything happens for a reason.
Kevin and I started dating the day after the project finished and married 10 months later. How time flies; that was 20 years ago! After 7 years in Lexington, and numerous SCUBA diving vacations to St. Croix, we decided to begin a new chapter and relocate to warmer weather. We bought property in the historic Salt River estate, just above Christopher Columbus’ 1493 landing site - the only place he actually set foot in the Americas. We photographed our first wedding on St. Croix in April 2006 and broke ground on our Caribbean home in February 2009. We moved in to our forever home in August 2015, with the loving and careful hands of my husband designing, building and overseeing the entire project. We are excited to see what the future holds ... plans of a custom boutique studio on St. Croix are being discussed. We've come full circle in 20 short years!
We are so lucky to have the life we share together, photographing weddings and families in the most picturesque locations of the Virgin Islands, and building our home in our small corner of the world. We travel back to Kentucky throughout the year to work with my sister and mother at their newest Lexington studio, Greer Portrait Studio. Our story is far from finished; it is only the beginning!
Cheers!
:) Kelly