Women Who Create Beautiful Things

Inspired by the wonderful interviews I've been reading of my fellow bloggers, I would like to feature a special Sunday interview series called,  "Woman Who Make Beautiful Things".   To kick off the series, I  interviewed my daughter, budding photographer, Kristen Mulder.

When was the first time you realized that you enjoyed taking photos and were good at it.

I really took an interest in photography when I picked up the camera in eighth grade and used it for more purposes other than myspace. I played around with different angles and types of shots, mostly photographing the daisies in our backyard or small insects. I felt joy in capturing the beauty of nature and the feeling that you get when you're surrounded by it. I didn't know if I had any special talent for it, but I knew that I wanted to know more than the common sense of "snapping a shot."  I decided to take a photography class in high school, and I absolutely fell into the trance that it now brings me.

What is your favorite photo and why?

Photos are hard to pinpoint as your favorite, because each photograph gives the viewer a different feeling. To be able to choose the favorite, is only choosing the feeling that you're currently in. If I was picking my favorite photo that I have done, I would probably choose the one of my friend. I worked on this particular photo for days and days. It was a layering project of three different photographs. One shot is of the clouds, one shot of her portrait, and one shot of her silhouette in an elegant red dress. The image looks like something from a dark dream, so maybe I am feeling deep tonight, a thinker.  The phrase that comes to mind is a peaceful intensity of the inner mind.

Peppers by Edward Weston

One photographer that I like is Edward Weston.  He searches for mutilated peppers and plays with the lighting to make the peppers look like humans hugging or strange faces. It's really interesting. His shooting is very raw, he photographs a lot of naked woman, but he loves to express the geometric shapes that we create with our bodies. I attempted a photoshoot like his before, I took my two friends, Alyssa and Paige, and I pretzeled them together in various ways and dropped a brown sheet behind them. The shoot was so much fun, and the girls were laughing all the way through. It was a really neat experience.

What do you want to be and will photography be a part of your life?

Although I have a great love for photography, there is nothing that compares to the love and feeling that I get with kids. I would love nothing more than to work with kids. At the moment, I am on my way to becoming a teacher. 

jaron

 I really hope that I can incorporate photography in my life, especially with the time that I would get off during the summers!

Can you give someone starting out advice?

Award-winning Winter photo, Shot after the So.Cal. Fires

Before you get technical with your camera, Photoshop, and rules; explore! Explore everything, get to know your camera's abilities as well as your own. Get a shot that takes physical strength or take a million shots of something completely ugly until you turn it into something magnificent. When you surround yourself with everything technical about the camera, you fail to realize the passion and the energy, that comes from the photograph.

Don't ever forget that it's the one behind the lens who makes the photograph, not the lens itself.

 

Three words to describe me.
motherly
outgoing
generous
(My friend, Nicole, gave them to me.)

Kristen is presently enrolled as a first year college student at UC Santa Barbara.  Although she does not have a blog or website, Kristen is sought after especially during the holiday season for friend's portraits and family photos.  

Please feel free to contact me to be my  next Sunday interview.  If an 18 yr. college student can do this, so can you!  I would love to here from one of you talented women out there!