We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kaycee Joubert a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kaycee, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the decision of whether to donate a percentage of sales to an organization or cause – we’d love to hear the backstory of how you thought through this.

I’ve been donating my time and services to my local humane society since 2008. As it’s an organization near and dear to my heart. It started with going into the shelter every week to photograph the adoptable pets, as professional portraits of these pets would help them get adopted. This concept spoke to my heart. My art was making. difference in the world. Showing the connection of the animal to another person, usually I would use a shelter worker. Then I learned that they started having an annual gala event where they had a live and silent auction and I would donate to the silent auction. This would raise a couple hundred bucks per year just from me alone.. But the biggest shift in my business and for the charity is when I offered to do a calendar for them at the live auction.. The goal was to have 12 people in the audience bid for each calendar month. The bidding started at $150 and the first year it ended up selling for $325/month. $3900 donated to charity plus the sales from the calendar 100 ordered at $15. For a total of $5400 raised.
Fast forward to this past year for the 2023 calendar. Each month sold for $450 (total $5400) and we ordered 200 calendars and sold them for $25/calendar . I raised $10, 400 for the humane society this year.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I have been a portrait photographer since 2006 and I think our industry has change so much over the years with the introduction of digital. I started on film. I use to sell artwork but then with the digital craze people wanted to have the digital files. So I started selling the digital files. But what I learned was that people didn’t really do anything with the digital files. They would sit in a drawer or in the cloud, never to really be enjoyed. Or if they did print them themselves they wouldn’t last. They would fade from the sun or look green! Having photographs printed professionally and preserved displayed around your home, brings family members joy. It boosts a child’s self esteem seeing themselves on the wall. It makes them feel loved. So I provide this service. I want to create artwork that gives you goosebumps every time you look at it because I captured them and their personality.
I always ask my clients to close their eyes, visualize their family or loved ones and I ask, “if you could have one photograph that you would hang in your home, that you would see everyday and this image would bring you happiness and joy. What would you be doing in the photograph together with your loved ones? An example would be: We are all walking together in a field at sunset, the mountains are in the background and we are all having a great time, the moment is candid.
Once they give their answer, I ask them, “where in your home would you want to see this image?” Usually they will say above their bed or in their entry way etc.. And based on their response, I would design a portrait experience for them that’s personalized to them.

The next step would be to go to their home and see the space that they’re talking about or have a zoom consultation if they’re out of state. See how their home is decorated. Come up with clothing options that would look good with the decor in their home and that would be appropriate for the portrait experience. I would photograph the wall and space that they’re talking about. I ask them about their kids and what they’re interested in, their personalities. Would they be interested in having individuals of each kid and them together? Based on their response, I’m building their experience in my mind.
I ask them when was the last time they had a photograph with their significant other or just them with their kids or each kid. I truly want to get to know them and their needs. I’m building a friendship out of this relationship because trust is so important. If your clients trust you, they will feel more comfortable being in front of your camera. And as a busy mom and dad, they are doing all the things for their kids and their family. They don’t have the time to this, let alone plan it. I want to take the responsibility of the table for my clients.
See for me, as a child, I was the baby out of 4 kids. I wasn’t a planned kid (more of a love child) so my siblings are so much older than me. So by the time I came around my mom and dad were busy dealing with my siblings so there aren’t too many photographs of me. None of me with my parents and only 2 of me with my siblings, and they’re snapshots. So It’s my mission to make sure every kid is photographed with their parents and that children have images of themselves that they love. Today with social media, it is the most photographed generation but it’s going to be the lost generation because nobody prints anymore. Computers crash, hard drives fail, phones fall in toilets, FB gets hacked and honestly who looks at their photos in the cloud?
oooooh, I guess I’m just passionate about it!

So once we have our session, I meet back up with them to show them their images via slideshow set to music. Allowing my clients to be together, snuggled up on the couch with snacks and beverages. Seeing their vision come to life on the big screen. Showing them what their images would like on their own wall in the slideshow.
I’m story teller at heart so not only am I photographing the whole family but I use our portrait experience together to photograph what their needs were from our design consultation. So often times that looks like each kid individually, the siblings together, each kid with mom and then with dad. I take a beautiful portrait of mom and dad, plus all the yummy moments that happen in between the ones I’m set out to capture. Leaving my clients with a fun and amazing experience.
Often times this leads to artwork for each kid that they hang in their room. I ask mom and dad to write them a letter and we attach it on the back of the artwork, so when they go off to college or get married not only do they have this beautiful portrait but they have the gift of those special words that their parents wrote about them.
It’a about holding my clients hand from beginning to end, finding out what they want and need, providing an amazing experience and then delivering their curated artwork to them and knowing exactly what size is perfect for the space because we’ve done all the planning!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I would say about the digital files…Now with people ordering artwork, I don’t really put a value on the digitals. My clients receive a digital file of anything they order. My custom albums and walll art are my biggest sellers because of the style that I photograph. I’m a story teller at heart. But people do want their digitals for their phones and for posting on social media. I get that so now it’s a win win. I have the honor of creating artwork for my clients and they still get their digitals.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Giving back. Working within your community puts your business on the map. I use to think that just because I’m a photographer people know what I do. But the truth is, they don’t. By working in the community it gives people an opportunity to learn about what you do and the bonus is, is that you get to give back at the same time! You get to learn about other businesses and how you can help them with your craft. It sets you apart from others in your industry.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.reallifephotographs.com
• Instagram: @real_life_photographs_co
• Facebook: Real Life Photographs

Image Credits
real life photographs