When did you start scrapbooking, art journaling, blogging, and taking pictures etc...?
I started scrapbooking around age 11 or 12. I would take photos, ugly cutsey scrapbooking supplies, and glue them to the insides of a scrapbook I bought at Wal-Mart. Around age 12-13, I was reading baby naming forums(I was a WEIRD kid okay?) and saw a link to Twopeasinabucket. I lurked there for a year or so while still occasionally scrapbooking. In May of 2007, I bought a DSLR and began to participate in the forums and challenges at TwoPeas
I was 15 when I created Old Lady In A Teenager, my first blog. But it wasn't until the beginning of 2008 when I started to blog more than three times a month. In March of 2008, I created The Art is Found, an arty-challenge site. It had a brilliant run and I still have close ties with the original "TAIF girls". As time went on, I had the pleasure of working with a few scrapbooking companies and kit clubs. You can see most of my layouts here. I moved to this url in October of 2009. And with the support of my friends, blogging community, and my readers I've been able to create an Etsy shop, Old Lady classes, pursue an education at art school, and grow this little blog.
What camera do you use and how do you get your photos to look the way they do?
I currently shoot with a Canon 50d, the 50mm f 1.4 lens, and Tiffen UV filter. Photos taken prior to July 2010 were taken with a Nikon d40 and it's kit lens. My film camera is a Canon 10S. I bought all my equipment from B&H Photo Video and I highly recommend them.
I shoot in Manual settings 99% of the time. Pick up Understanding Exposure from your public library and inhale it. It wasn't until I read that book, that I realized I could look at my in-camera light meter to expose my photographs. Yeah, I was a bright one...
I edit all of my photos with Adobe Photoshop CS4 on a Macbook Pro. For day-to-day shots, I almost always shoot in JPEG format for these reasons, but I use Camera Raw to do basic color and exposure corrections. Here are two videos by Adobe that explain Camera Raw well:
Developing Raw Photographs and Making Local Adjustments in Camera Raw.
Almost every one of my photos are edited with Totally Rad Actions. I play around with opacities until I get a look I want. They're a great investment.
Also, don't feel like you need to have a bunch of fancy equipment to be a good photographer. I used a six year old, slow as hell Dell computer, my crappy d40, and Picnik.com and I created two successful online classes. Though I'd never trade my 50d, precious Photoshop, and Macbook baby for anything(unless we're talking a Canon Mark body, freaking content aware fill, and a 27inch iMac, of course), I used what I had at the time and worked hard past my crappy equipment. Use what you have and use it well.
How did you get your blog to look like that?
I have the 'Unlimited' account with Typepad and have used CSS(somewhat) to alter the pre-set Typepad stuff. I used this tutorial for the column widths and this tutorial for for the navigation bar. (I know nothing about CSS, because it makes me want to rip my hair out. I'm not really the person to ask if you have any questions.)
I host most of my photos through Flickr. To upload more than 200 photos, you will need a pro account. I just copy the 640x426px HTML code from Flickr and paste in within my posts. I don't know what Typepad does to uploaded images, but it always makes mine look ugly. I like the crisp look that hosted Flickr photos get.
Most of the elements/graphics used in my blog design are from Kitschy Digitals. Please read this post so you know which license to buy. You can purchase them at Jessica Sprague or Twopeasinabucket.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
I'm currently studying Photography at the Pratt Institute. I'm not sure on the specifics yet, but I want to be a photographer, artist, and mama someday. In the meantime, I'm just a woman who tries to love like Jesus and make pretty things.
What inspires you?
Emotional breakdowns. Weird movies. People who tell me I'm not able to do something because I'm not talented enough, too naive, or a girl. Coffee at three o'clock in the morning. Long emails. Jesus Christ. Books that leave you with more questions than answers. This. Emo song lyrics, failure, and Sonic happy hour.
Can we be friends on Facebook?
For safety and privacy reasons, I try to keep my Facebook friends to people I know in "real life" or to others I have known online for years. Please don't take it personally if I don't accept your request, it's just I'm 18 and my ninja skills aren't there quite yet to combat any crazies who could stalk me. But, please feel free to keep up with me on Twitter, comment here, on drop me an email. I love you!
If you have more questions, they may already be answered on Formspring or this post. If not, feel free to drop me an email at karahaupt(@)gmail.com or ask them in the comments.
