We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kailey Kercher. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kailey below.

Kailey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made (either in terms of time or money)? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned is that investing time into relationships is always worth while. My approach to wedding photography is telling an honest story about who the people are in the photos. To do that well I invest time to get to know my clients.
I always tell my clients, if you’re trying to tell a story about someone, how do you expect to tell it without knowing the story.
When it comes to documentary wedding photography and wedding days in general there are a million little stories balled up into less than 24 hours. In photography, my job is to document. I learn all I can about those stories that make my clients who they are, seeing how they love, how they interact, what mountains and valleys they’ve crossed together. I look at where they come from, their family, friends, and all the little moments in between.
As I’ve grown and failed in this business of mine, the one thing I go back to is how grateful I am for the relationships I’ve built. I will never regret investing in someone’s life.
I have had the honor to step into some of the most beautiful days of people’s lives, and some of the hardest. Whether it’s wishing your loved one could walk you down the aisle or knowing that some friends were only for a season. Wedding days are allowed to be more than just happy. What I’ve realized about life is that it is messy, it’s hard, and that’s exactly why we have to have people to share it with.
When two people decide to make a choice and spend the rest of their lives together they’ve made up their mind that this beautiful messy life will be much better spent together.
As I continue to fine tune my skills or learn what ways I can improve my business, the foundation will always be investing in getting to know the stories that have molded my clients. That principle will never be something that I graduate from.

Kailey, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am Kailey Kercher, a current resident in Atlanta, Georgia with my husband Graham. I thrive off of throwing themed parties and I’m usually craving sour candy. I have over 5 years of experience with wedding photography, but my love for photography didn’t start that way. To be honest after my first wedding, I wasn’t sure wedding photography was where I wanted to land in my career. After realizing that wedding photography didn’t have to be stuffy or made up, I fell in love. Being influenced by studying journalism in college, my photos aim to be a true documentation of what I see. With the use of film and digital photography, my goal is for you to enjoy your moments without interruption, creating a safe place to feel all of the emotions that wedding days hold.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A huge thing you think you have to learn to begin taking photos is having that perfect setup, to therefore create a perfect picture. I’ve learned and had to unlearn that perfection within anything is unattainable and should apply then that concept to my craft. I’ve had to disassemble this worldly view of having it altogether, for having the most unique photos and being perfect, at all. Instead I’ve learned to embrace the imperfections that life holds. In the wedding world everyone wants to put their best foot forward and while there’s nothing wrong about that, many things can be created wrongly from it. If instead we rewrote the narrative of putting the best put forward meaning to being perfect or having it altogether, we flipped it to be something thats honest and true and meaningful. I remember my first wedding being stressful and awkward and stiff. I remember thinking that I didn’t see any longevity in my career if it meant shooting weddings.
As I began to shoot more and evaluate what made me excited to shoot, I always came back to the moments that weren’t posed or forced or even made up for that matter. I fell in love with weddings being something that documented sacred moments of time. Photos that could be remembered as when the whole family got together and stories would be told from that day for years to come. It really isn’t about the photos or your technique or how much you know about your gear or having a perfect shot. It’s about connection and wanting to do it because you too have photos of loved ones that can’t be replaced.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Not many people are able to make a living off of things they are truly passionate about or that they even like. It has been the greatest surprise and biggest blessing that I have found something that I am equally challenged by, supported by and passionate about. Photography has given me some of my best friends, sent me on trips and given me a new perspective on how life works. Any artist could agree that balancing the concept of making art and also living off of it can be quite tricky. But that’s also the reward; getting to create art as a living.

Contact Info:

• Website: bykaileykercher.com
• Instagram: bykaileykercher

Image Credits
Kailey Kercher