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Hi! My friends call me Care.

I'm a photographer turned realtor, which was a natural collision of two of my favorite things! I got my start in photography as the high school newspaper editor. I fell in love with the smell of developer in the darkroom and the art of taking a perfectly exposed photo. Six years later in 2009 I got laid off from my commercial real estate job, so I decided to dust off my camera and found a renewed love for my old hobby. That was 13 years ago (the journey wasn't without struggle, sacrifice, or exhaustion, but that makes for a less succinct story.). In that time I've shot over 500 photo sessions, more than 60 births and roughly 80 weddings. I've been at surprise engagements, military homecomings, witnessed surrogacies and adoptions (including my own). In 2020 when the pandemic put a halt to weddings and events I decided to start documenting the historic "Ole Hanson Homes" in San Clemente (I live in one of them!). This led to writing a book, a job offer with a local realtor, and the rest is history. Now I'm fully entrenched in real estate and would love to help you find the home you're looking for. I specialize in historic/quirky homes, but I also don't mind perusing a beautiful new modern house. My goal is to find something that's perfect for YOU. Coffee's on me, let's meet up and get started! 

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I'm an enneagram 7 who has more hobbies than I know what to do with and is always planning the next adventure. 

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We've lived in 3 historic houses. They have all been in rough shape! We are currently renovating our 1929 Spanish Colonial home.  

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After secondary infertility, 2 rounds of IVF, 3 failed PGS transfers and a miscarriage, we adopted our son Indy in 2019. He's our 4th child!

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I've moved 15 times, lived in 5 states and 5 countries, but my favorite place in the whole world is San Clemente, CA.

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Some fun facts about Carolyn

JUDY & AARON / REPEAT CLIENTS

"My husband and I are absolutely obsessed with Carolyn. She is an absolute genius. I mean her work speaks for itself! The quality of her photos are seriously magazine-worthy and she has this super artistic eye that can find beauty in any moment. It's the most impressive thing ever. We have also received a tremendous amount of compliments from our many sessions with Carolyn. (My phone gets flooded with texts after she posts our photos!) More importantly, she was a dream to work with. Carolyn has this genuine down-to-earth presence that made us feel so at ease. During our sessions, we could tell her passion for photography and life in general is very real and energetic. She listens to your wants/taste and uses her fantastic talent to create the most amazing photos. We wouldn't think of hiring anyone else. PS: when we hired Carolyn to shoot our elopement in Paris, she actually took the time to plan our wedding day for us. How incredible is that!?"

RACHEL & CLARK / REPEAT clientS

"Carolyn is amazing! We hired Carolyn to do our engagement photos and wedding photos after a referral from a good friend of ours. We wanted to make sure that we booked not only a talented photographer, but one who would be just as excited as we were on our wedding day to capture the moments and tell our love story. What we got with Carolyn was so much more!

She is so wonderful to work with! Carolyn is not dominant or bossy but instead patient, genuine, and fun to be around. She automatically made everyone feel like we are all best friends. Carolyn has a special skill to pose her clients without making us look like we are posing. She made us goofballs look like we actually know how to take a photo. All of our pictures look very natural and capture our personalities perfectly! 
On the wedding day, Carolyn was early and never stopped shooting. I never saw her set down her camera all day and I felt like every special moment was documented beautifully. Even the spontaneous moments that weren't planned! She also worked in some unplanned creative posed photos at the end of the evening that ended up being some of our favorite photos of the day. Carolyn really has a special talent to catch the most creative and artistic shots. It never felt like she was bugging us and she made sure to let my husband and I enjoy every moment of our wedding day. She never added to the stress of the day... in fact she has such a happy and laid-back attitude that she helped calm our nerves! 
The wedding price that is advertised is for the full day with no time limits. I found her to be very reasonably priced for such a talented photographer! She brought a 2nd photographer with her that was just as enjoyable and professional to work with. She ended up including way more photos than promised that were hand edited perfectly. You couldn't find a flaw if you tried! And she got them back to us in a very reasonable amount of time. Carolyn really went above and beyond to make our day perfect! She comes highly recommended by us! THANK YOU!"

Karla / WEDDING CLIENT

"Carolyn did an amazing job capturing with beauty and elegance the moments of my daughters wedding! She was very aware of what was important to us, so easy to work with and extremely professional. She seemingly appeared to be in all places at all times. Her ability to capture authentic moments is an art that can't be taught. Her work is a keepsake that we treasure and we are thankful that we had the privilege of working with her."

Krista / Family session

"We had such a great experience having our family photos done with Carolyn! She is so kind, easy to work with, laid back (in a good way... Especially with our 3 small kids!) and spent way more time than she needed to with us! We love our photos, thank you!!!!"

AUSTEN & KAITLIN / WEDDING CLIENTS

"My wife and I just received our wedding photos from Carolyn and all I can say is WOW! We could not be happier with Carolyn and the incredible job she did to make our big day so much more special. From the get-go, Carolyn was sweet and professional, and that never stopped throughout the whole process. Before we even agreed to hire her, she wanted to meet us personally over coffee and sweet treats so we could get to know each other and bounce some ideas around. After our meeting there was no questioning whether or not to hire her, the day of the wedding Carolyn arrived on time and was the perfect mix of fun and professional. She knows how to get the shot she wants without being intrusive or demanding (however she was able to direct my rowdy groomsmen through the photo shoot, which can be like herding cats). As we looked through the photos from the day, we were amazed at the attention to detail and the composition of each one. Carolyn finds the best way to showcase subject (s) in her shots and she makes it seem effortless. We were having so much fun reliving the emotion and energy of the wedding by just looking at the photos. That's something we can cherish forever. We just can't say enough about Carolyn and how great it is to work with her. We can't wait to work with her in the future. PS: Ladies, if you want to make your spouse happy - do a boudoir session with Carolyn. Trust me! "

Kristin & SEAN / REPEAT CLIENTS

"Carolyn recently photographed the birth of my daughter and then did a family shoot a few days after. I'm not sure this review will be able to fairly convey just how "satisfied" I was with the experience! On the day of the birth, Carolyn showed up at the hospital bright and early, ready to work. She even brought my husband coffee, knowing we hadn't slept much the night before. She spent several hours with us at the hospital, capturing every single beautiful moment of our daughter entering the world. Carolyn was so professional, never "in the way" of all the business going on in the room, personable, and tasteful in her work. That day is documented so beautifully. She captured so many emotions and I cry every time I look at the photographs. A few days later Carolyn took newborn and family pictures for us. I handed her the baby and Carolyn went to work, ever-so-gently positioning my little one into the sweetest positions and taking the shots. I felt completely comfortable through the entire shoot, relaxing in a chair with a cold beverage, just as Carolyn requested. Being a mother herself, Carolyn was warm, gentle and I trusted her completely. We now have beautiful photographs of our four day old baby girl. We love them and get compliments on them constantly. Carolyn Kipper is an artist, and more than a pleasure to work with. I would (and already have) recommend her to everyone for any, and every, occasion."

JESSICA & GREG / REPEAT CLIENTS

"Words cannot even express my thoughts about working with Carolyn and our priceless maternity, birth and family photos from her. I am so thankful I found Carolyn, she captured such a beautiful time in our lives. I have never looked at so many pictures of myself and loved every single one. She has an art of capturing people in their most natural beautiful state. Our maternity photos are classic and beautiful. It was casual and FUN, but she also gave us a little direction and it shows in the photos. She captured the birth of our son and I'm so thankful to have those photos, because I don't remember any of it. They tell the story of his birthday and we didn't have to stress about making sure we had the camera ready. She's AMAZING! Thank you so much Carolyn!! "

EMILY & MATT / REPEAT CLIENTS

"I'm so completely in love with our photos and with Carolyn!! From booking, to the shoot, to choosing proofs, Carolyn was an absolute joy and pleasure to work with! Can't wait to make family pictures a yearly tradition for our children with Carolyn!"

ASHLEY / REPEAT CLIENT

"We had the pleasure of being introduced to Carolyn through a mutual friend and I'm so glad we booked her!! Not only does Care have an amazing personality, but her work is exceptional! Her attention to detail, style and creativity is apparent in her work. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a professional photographer that delivers high quality work, with professionalism and her own unique flair."

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i'll be there every step of the way, never outsourced. never too busy. let's be neighbors! 

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© Carolyn Kipper 2022 // San Clemente Realtor // California DRE# 02160264