Behind the lens: Kayla Haupfear takes a leap of faith in Clinton
September 7, 2026
After 16 years in dentistry, a Clinton mom bets on the camera she’s been holding since childhood
Kayla Haupfear’s first experience with a camera wasn’t behind one. It was in front of one.
“My mom has had a camera in my face ever since I was born,” she said. “She would dress me up in these outfits. It was like our own JCPenney studio at home.”
Her mother had a camera. Her brother had a camera. Eventually Kayla got one too, and the habit never went away. Today it’s Haupfear Photography, and as of this summer, it’s her full-time work.
Coming home to Clinton
Kayla’s parents divorced when she was young, so she grew up in Greer and spent every other weekend in Clinton. What brought her back for good, about nine years ago, was losing her father. The family wanted to keep the house.
“I am the fourth generation,” she said, “and my kids will be the fifth to live in the house here.”
Those kids are two daughters, Audrey (17) and Laura (10). Audrey is a senior at Clinton High School this year; “a very emotional, very busy year,” Kayla said.
The leap of faith
For 16 years she worked in dentistry, first as an orthodontic assistant and then as a dental assistant, with photography on the side. There’s a thread between the two that’s easy to miss — she spent years developing X-rays before she ever made a living from images. Her own path to photography ran through Kodak disposables mailed off at CVS and a digital camera she got for her 21st birthday, one she still has.
She’d been booking paid sessions since 2020, her first was a fall setup in her own yard with hay bales and pumpkins, one small family.
“I started during COVID,” she said, which is not the timing anyone would choose.
At the end of May, she left dentistry behind. “I just took the leap of faith. I’m going to do this full time.”
Asked why she went out on her own, her answer was quick. “I’ve been part of someone’s business my entire life. I just like being my own boss.”
She keeps up with Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, but the thing that has actually helped to fill her calendar is older than all of it.
“Word of mouth is honestly the best advertising,” she said. “I hope my clients will share their experience with extended family and friends so I can help them capture special moments as well.”
That’s how it works in a county this size. One family shares their photos, a neighbor asks who took them, and the bookings come a session at a time, every one of them built on somebody willing to put their own name behind the recommendation. It’s also why Kayla talks about supporting local the way she does. She’s on the receiving end of that choice every time a family picks a Clinton photographer over an out-of-town one.
How she sees people
Senior sessions are a favorite. So are families with little ones, and the ones that show up with fur babies. “I don’t think I have a niche yet,” she said.
Her true passion is landscape work, and it shows up anyway. Her favorite photograph she’s ever taken is an old beat-up truck at a mill in Mountville, under a sky full of clouds.
“I love clouds,” she said. “If you pick a day that has clouds, that’s going to be my favorite session.”
Her style, in her own words, is about showing people themselves rather than an altered version. Nerves she plans for — with kids she gets silly, plays music, makes noises until they forget the camera is there. With adults she uses experience.
“I am the world’s worst in front of a camera, so I know how it is,” she said. She’ll show clients the shot and invite them to pick it apart. “If you don’t like it, critique it. What do you want to change?
Keeping it affordable
Pricing is where Kayla gets fired up. She’s watched families get charged hundreds of dollars for small school photo packages from out-of-town photographers; one example she cited ran $400 for seven photos.
“Parents should be able to afford at least one photo of their child, especially a senior year photo,” she said. “It just breaks my heart.”
Her own approach runs the other way: a fraction of that for a handful of images with full rights. She has a school photo package running now so parents should check it out.
“I’d like to help out as much as possible.”
A closet full of dresses
That instinct to help runs past photography. Three years ago, her daughter had friends struggling to find prom dresses they could afford, and Kayla knew how fast those price tags add up. So, she did what she does, she asked on Facebook if anybody had a dress to spare.
The response was more than she expected. Dresses came in by the armful, a small shop in Laurens donated a batch of her own, and then people started sending shoes.
The first year, girls came to Kayla’s house to pick something out. The second year she borrowed space at the Makery. This year she’ll host it in her own studio, free to any student from a Clinton or Laurens school.
Looking ahead
Once the studio is fully open, she’ll offer headshots, family sessions, and formal portraits indoors while still shooting on location for the natural light she prefers.
Five years out, she has a hope for the business. “I hope that I am so busy and so packed that I have to hire an assistant,” she said. “I hope I succeed in every way possible.”
But a full calendar isn’t really how she measures it.
“I don’t just love photography, I feel moments more than most and want to share with everyone what I see,” said Haupfear.
Consider Haupfear Photography for your next special moment
Local supports local. When you hire a Laurens County photographer, your money stays in Laurens County and you get somebody who knows the local settings and can help you pick the one that fits what you’re after, who’ll still be here when your youngest is the one heading to prom, and who genuinely wants your family to have those photos on the wall.
Haupfear Photography is located in Clinton (105 W. Pitts Street). To book a session or learn more, email to [email protected] or follow on Facebook and Instagram.
