This month I got the opportunity to interview Karla Dudley.

I'd never met or spoken with Karla before this interview, but I had noticed her work on the web for a couple years. She has a great style of scrapbooking and a refreshing perspective on the photos she uses on her layouts.

Lisa: I absolutely LOVE the crops of your photos. You highlight specific images on your layouts so effectively and by doing so you tell a story just with the photos. Currently I'm looking at your KOTM album and on page four you have a series of shots of your kids with their hands raised. Love those crops. You really have a great style that way.

Karla: When it comes to things like crops of photos it really depends on my photograph. I look at it and let it tell me what to do. For example, in that KOTM album I had words repeating through the album. For that page in particular I used the word 'believe.' I looked through my photos and saw that I had shots of each of my kids with their hands up towards the sky. It hit me that those photos would be perfect to fit the word 'believe' so that is how they were chosen.

Now obviously I had to crop all three photos to fit in that little space. Body

parts had to be sacrificed...but that’s ok. I love the feel of it. One of the things I find that helps me in photography is that I try to be flexible. I may be missing a forehead or an arm when I crop but it’s alright. It makes it that much more interesting I say :) To be less literal helps with the feel of the project. I used to be stuck on photographing holidays. Holidays are a good thing but to feel that I had to get these fantastic pictures was not. Scrapping the little things that go on gets to the heart of my family.

Lisa: OMG... totally! I totally know what you're talking about regarding holidays and such. Sometimes I find myself not enjoying the situation Im in or getting frustrated by it because Im trying to get a great picture. Im trying to get "that perfect shot." Thats crazy! I need to enjoy the moment. Take the shot and move on. Excellent point about being flexible.

I notice that you also take a lot of pictures of inanimate objects - items that support the story of your pages. How did you come up with this process? Do you do it consciously? Like when you're taking photos are you're thinking "I have this page in mind... I want to get some pictures of the kids doing X and Y and I want to have some shots of the 'props' that support this event."

Karla: As far as shooting inanimate things, I usually shoot the situation as a whole or from afar. Once I do that, I move in to take close up shots. So for example, if Chloe is reading a book I will stand in the doorway and take a shot of the scene. Once that is achieved, I will move in and take one of just her hands and the book.

Lisa: You also use movement in your photos quite well. It brings such 'life' to your photos. I think most scrappers shy away from blurry shots. You embrace them. Do you have any comments on that?

Karla: Exactly what you said... embrace them! I went to a movie premiere and got to take photos of Johnny Depp. Needless to say, they came out very blurry. I was shakin’ in my boots!:) But hey...they’ll be proudly stuck to a layout and I will love it!!! That’s the whole thing about blurry shots. YOU know the context of why the picture is being taken and you take it anyway. So what if it’s blurry. They can be the most awesome photos you've ever taken. Sometimes the blurry shots look cool on their own; others come to life with stories attached. Blurry photos are your friends! It’s all about the story.

Lisa:You seem to have a great mix on your layouts of both posed and candid photos. Which do you prefer. How do you achieve taking both? Is it a conscious choice to take both? Do you favor one over the other?

Karla: I have a huge love for candid shots. To me they represent life and the way my family lives 'in the moment'. With candid shot you can capture joys, emotions and behaviors that aren’t there in posed shots. Both are important though. I like to get the family all together for posed shots as well because those are like little place holders. You can look back at those and really see how everyone was at that time.

Lisa: Your kids appear relatively young. How do you get your kids to cooperate with your photo taking? Do you have any tricks to share? The Garden Girls specifically asked me to ask this question. We're always looking for good ideas on getting multiple kids to cooperate with our picture taking.

Karla: Yes, with younger children it can be a real challenge to get cooperation if that’s what you need for the shot. I by no means am a professional photographer so I don’t have 'cooperation' as a main concern. If I do want a posed shot it comes out candid anyway :) That’s just the nature of my experience in photographing my family. I never try to make them cooperate; I just sneak in and try not to break the mood. Click, click, click!

Since I have three children under that age of 5, I take the whole candid photography to heart. Lately the closest thing to posed is me having my camera at my eye and and then telling one of my children to look at me and smile real quick LOL!!! There’s your posed shot. :)Trying to get three, or even two, of my children together for a solid shot is just not happening. So yeah...my advice would be to get what you can get. They’re sure to be priceless no matter what.

Lisa: That is so true Karla. They are priceless no matter what. Do you have any photography training? Have you ever taken any classes?

Karla: No, I haven’t taken any classes on photography but I would LOVE to!!! I was hit by the photography bug just two years ago. Even then I just looked and stared at all the beautiful pictures that 'normal' people were taking. I always thought you needed to be in the industry or rich or something to have great photos, and I think many people feel that way not knowing that they can do it too! Of course there are so many different levels and styles in photography. Personally, I have no special equipment, just my camera and a lens. If ever by chance I get to take a class I will soak up the info like sponge. Photography is something I would love to learn more about.

Lisa: You say you were bitten by the photography bug 2 years ago. What happened that prompted it?

Karla: Well, I kept looking at the scrap magazines and wondered how in the world do they get their photos to look like like that? Once I started my blog in September of 2006, I started to explore many different online forums that were for scrapbookers. I found lots of talk about how to make your photography better, about cameras and software, etc. Then I got Photoshop, and I was determined to spruce up my photos. Once I found out how to do something, I found myself wanting to learn more. Now I have acquired a lot of knowledge on photography (as far as post-processing) and would rather leave all that behind. Crazy huh?

Lisa: Tell me more about this Karla. Are you saying that once you schooled up on all this post processing info that you found you didn't want it? Explain that a little for me.

Karla: I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to get perfect photos. I learned many things about post processing like correcting, color management, actions. I tried out different methods and combinations. Some things were great and others didn't work so well. What I learned from all of this is that now when I do a project or page that contains photos, I try only a few techniques to enhance my photos. Instead of trying out a dozen different methods Ive narrowed it down to only a couple of things I'll do to each photo. I found that trying to make my photos perfect with post processing, at least the way I was trying to do it, was making them less natural. I like to enhance my photos but keep their integrity at the same time. 

Lisa: Yes! You've hit on an important point: the elusiveness of taking that perfect shot. I think as scrappers we need to let that go a little bit. At least I need to. Post processing has made that strive for perfection even greater. Sometimes I'll spend HOURS on the computer proofing pictures instead of actually scrapping them. It's ridiculous! Im a scrapper for crying out loud, not a photographer. Sheesh! I love your perspective, Karla. Its very, very refreshing and something I think is super important to remind ourselves of from time to time.

Describe your post processing routine. What do you do with your photos if anything? What program do you use?

Karla:  I see so many styles and techniques people use to fix up their photos. There are so many options out there and it's all very cool. I load my photos into Photoshop CS2, change the contrast and sharpen them. That’s what I do on pretty much all of them. I don’t really use actions because I tend to like the originals better for some reason. But all-in-all, I always sharpen my photos at the end if even just a little.

Lisa: Something I really enjoy about your photos is the text and digital touches you include on your photos. How do you do it?

Karla: Adding digital elements really deepens the emotion of my chosen pictures and therefore impacts the emotion of my layouts. That’s something I really love doing. I add text and write on my photos directly in Photoshop. That way, when I print them out they’re all set to make a really special page :)

Lisa: How do you print your pictures? At home? Through a site? At a lab?

Karla: I always print my pictures at home. This is only because I haven’t got into the habit of printing them at the store. I want to print through a service because it’s really efficient, but I still like the option of tweaking photos a bit and then printing them out as I please. Printing at home is a gem for layouts. However if I need pictures for a complete album I would personally like them printed at a store. Saves ink and time.

Lisa: I print at home too so I understand what you're saying as far as convenience and printing adjustments for layouts. What kind of printer do you have? I bought mine a long time ago and it was super expensive. I wonder if you can get an inexpensive printer these days that has excellent quality.

Karla: I use an HP Photosmart All-in-One printer. When my husband got it for me it was $200 but now it's just over $100. Not bad! It does the job well. The only thing is that I would like to have a 12 x12 scanner bed instead of the 8.5 x 11 that is comes with. Lately, I find myself taking pictures of my layouts for the web instead of scanning them in.

Lisa: Which do you prefer: color or black and white photos?

Karla: Both are fabulous! I love the timeless look of black & whites, however I rarely use them on my projects. I’m really wanting to add more black & whites to my art but for now I use them mainly to decorate my home. Color photos are so gorgeous ...color has a total different feel. I really couldn’t say which ones I like more. I think there’s a time and place for both depending on the mood I guess :)

Lisa: Do you have many photographs framed and viewed in your house?

Karla: I don't have many yet. I plan on getting un-lazy and filling my home up with many in the future. We've been here for just 5 months so it's taking a while to get things how I really want it, you know? But I did take the time to create my 'wall mural' (see figure 4 above). It's a mirror surrounded by black and whites in frames. I also added some scrapbook tidbits here and there. It looks pretty cool. I do want to gradually sprinkle some more photos about our home...eventually.

Lisa: How important is photography in your scrapping?

Karla: Very important. Not so much that they have to be perfect. I mean what is perfect anyway? I’m concerned with the story. I look through my photo galleries and look for ones that pop out at me, and I tend to scrap those. If there’s many photos for one story than I tend to pick the ones that are the coolest for one reason or another. It might be color, composition, emotion; they have that something that inspires me to create a page or project. My kids learn and relate scrapbooking with pictures right now. So for them, they never really comment on what I decorated the page with. That will come later. Right now they like to point and tell me what’s going on in the page just from looking at the photos! It’s just too neat for words.

Lisa: Now some quick, random questions.What camera do you own?

Karla: Canon Rebel XT

Lisa: What lens do you use the most?

Karla: I use a 17-40mm for everyday shots.

Lisa: Who is your favorite scrapbooker?

Karla: My favorite scrapbooker would have to be Loni Stevens.

Lisa: I love Loni Stevens! She is an amazing scrapbooker. Where were you introduced to her work? She's such a nice person too - really funny, professional, generous. I love when you admire a scrapbooker for their style and they turn out to be a really cool person too.

Karla: Ok...now I truly ADORE her art! She is more than amazing! I first saw her work in a Making Memories book. I think it was the one about cards. So yeah...I have been obsessed ever since. I've never met her or any scrap 'celebrity', but I am so fortunate to be meeting up with her at CHA Chicago! It will be my first time going and I'm thrilled. Are you going to be there?

Lisa: Nope, I won't be there... though I'd love to visit Chicago someday. I find those kinds of events very intimidating and awkward. I'm not very naturally social so I'm a total fish out of water at the shows. How about your favorite photographer?

Karla: Zemotion.

Lisa: Can you please share with us three favorite images of yours?

(((see photos)))

Lisa: Do you have any photograph wish list items you've got your eye on?

Karla: One day I would like to get a micro lens. I would love to take close ups of water droplets, flowers and the like. That would be neat. :)

Lisa: Lastly, where in San Diego are your from? I'm from Vista and have lived her my entire life. Why did you move away? Any plans to come back home?

Karla: Cool! I’m from Spring Valley. I moved to Louisville, KY to cheer at UofL. I always go home at least once a year but my family lives in another city now. I miss home daily! I miss the culture, the air, the beach...Highway 101.We need to hang sometime when I'm in town!!!

Lisa: Sounds like a plan. 

To see more of Karla's work, check out her gallery here at two peas or visit her blog at : karlastudio5.typepad.com/