Just three years ago, Kalli Hernandez got interested in photography.

Now, the Jonesburg resident has her own photography studio.

The Studio on Sturgeon by K. Lynn Photography was open for business on March 25. It held a five-hour open house, where Montgomery County area residents got a chance to check out the new business at 108 North Sturgeon Street in Montgomery City. After the first half hour, Hernandez had two couples approach her on taking wedding pictures.

“I want to be able to give back to the community,” Hernandez said. “I do a little bit of every kind of photography, mostly portrait photography. I do family, seniors, weddings. I kind of do a little bit of everything. This will be a good spot here in Montgomery to be able to portray that. I grew up here. I want to see businesses thrive here and I hope this could be one of those that does.”

The open house also included a musical performance from Hernandez’s sister, El Reagan, who is a junior at Montgomery County High School. Hernandez said her family members put in a lot of time and effort in helping her open the business.

“They help me with pretty much everything that I do,” Hernandez said. “My husband, my mom and my sister will help me if I need to with weddings and things. I taught them how to use the camera.”

Hernandez said local insurance agent Jackie Brower helped her find a location for her business.

“We thought about opening up a studio and we thought about opening it more in Jonesburg because I have clients from Columbia and the St. Louis area,” Hernandez said. “That would be kind of middle ground. I couldn’t find what I wanted. Jackie Brower actually had this spot open. It was a hair salon before and it was closed down. It worked out great because I want to find something with all of the brick and historic buildings and right in the middle of Montgomery. I grew up here, so it was really cool to be able to set up here.”

The studio includes a bed, two couches and a bathtub that will be used for portraits. Hernandez said she started fixing up the building in January.

“It was just me rearranging things to figure out where I wanted everything up until this week,” Hernandez said. “With every shoot I’ve done here so far, I’ve moved things around. For the most part, it took about a month to get everything together. We had to do a lot of cleaning.”

A 2014 Montgomery County High graduate, Hernandez was a hair stylist for seven years before she got interested in taking pictures.

“I bought my camera at the beginning of COVID, right before I had my son in May 2020,” Hernandez said. “It kind of took off from there. I did hair before, so that’s a very hands-on thing. Becoming a mom, I didn’t want to work full time anymore, so we were trying to figure out something different. So I brought my passion and creativity into doing this full time. It took off a lot faster than what we thought it would. I love my job now.”

The Studio on Sturgeon operates by appointments only. Call Hernandez at 636-359-6773 or email her at k.lynntog@gmail.com for more information.