Happy New Year, friends!!  I wanted my first blog of 2016 to be one of reflection… a look at how far I have come and a prayer for the additional growth for this new year.

I started 2015 with one newborn session scheduled and two weddings.  I was a banker.  Thats what I did and thats what I was good at.  I loved taking pictures but I wasn’t the type of person that could “make a career out of it”.  “People like me aren’t photographers.”  I thought that I should be grateful for the job that I had and not waste time with silly daydreams.

Well friends, I could cry…. Tears of joy.  Tears of amazement.  Tears of gratefulness.  Tears of realizing just how beautifully blessed I am.

I may have started the 2015 year with only three things booked, but I completed the year with more bookings than I ever could have imagined.  In one year, this happened…

• I upgraded my camera.
• I created a website.
• I created a business.
• I rebranded that business to better reflect my personality and client experience.
• I launched Abby Hudson Photography.
• I started blogging 2 times a week.
• I started Tuesdays Together for the Northern Neck.
• I had professional headshot taken by Hope Taylor Photography.
• I attended the “Come Together Event” with Katelyn James and Amy + Jordan Demos.
• I connected with so many new photographers that I now cal friends and met so many beautiful souls in the creative industry.
• I began to feel a sense of belonging in this industry.
• I bought my first prime lens.
• I started blogging 3 times a week.
• I realized that not everything in life is meant to be and chose to step down from leading Tuesdays Together.
• I stepped down from my full time day job to accept a part time day job position.
• I attended The Waugh Point Workshop.
• I realized that people like me can in fact reach for the stars, chase their dreams, and become the person that they want to be in life.
• I became comfortable with calling myself a photographer when people ask what I do.
• I shot a total of 8 weddings
• I shot 4 engagement sessions
• I shot 5 couple’s sessions
• I shot 7 senior sessions
• I shot 3 sibling sessions
• I shot 3 newborn sessions
• I shot 1 baby announcement session
• I shot 3 headshot sessions
• I shot 12 family sessions.

All of this was done in my first year of business, friends.. I never in a million years would have guessed that 2015 would have been so good to me.  I am so thankful for all of you that supported me along the way.  I am so proud of myself for pushing through even when things felt difficult.   I can’t wait to see what 2016 has in store for AHP.  I just know that there is so much amazingness to come and I am excited to see where time takes me!!  

Below, I have included one or two images from a every booking I had in 2015 in the order that they were shot.  I thought about breaking up these images into different “2015 Best Of” categories, but my blog calendar is so full already that I wouldn’t be able to fit in so many different posts!! To be honest, this isn’t only a “Best of 2015” post, this is a “Proof That Going After My Dream Was Worth It” post, so it seems fitting to post a shot from every session the year!  Thank you to everyone that has been so supportive of my business, y’all are the best!!