We were lucky to catch up with Karla Kieffer recently and have shared our conversation below.

Karla, appreciate you joining us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

I always loved photography; visuals of past lives and familiarizing myself through a limited amount of photos of family members I never got to meet because of illnesses and living in a different country. I remember spending a lot of time looking at photo albums treasuring different memories, reliving a life that felt so long ago ( it feels longer now!)I’m really going to show my age here, but I always loved using disposable cameras, capturing different moments, dropping it off at my local store and eagerly waiting the final results, which usually meant throwing a good amount away. My Junior year of high school, I was given the opportunity to join the photography class and at that moment I knew this was what i wanted to pursue. I never felt passionate about something like I did that very moment, developing my own film, working in dark rooms, and easels while waiting for the final shot to reveal itself in black and white. I spent as much time as possible in the dark room my junior and senior year. It was such a great time.

After high school, reality set in and my choice school was only a dream so I “settled” for community college. I unfortunately did not finish my certification; I was naive and short sighted. I was only interested in being in the dark room and didn’t take my general education seriously, and dropped out. A huge mistake on my part obviously, but years went by, I got married and had four children with this amazing man who encouraged me to once again, pick up a camera and it was a new medium: a digital dslr. I hated it because it felt so foreign to me, until I remembered my basics of the film world, and just had to translate what I learned from film to digital ; controlling the ISO was new to me! It was a rough few years, and then I just shot everything and anything I could : candids, macro, still life, but what always called to me, was landscape photography. I love looking at the sky and land because it is always changing. I honed in on that and few more years go by, and was encouraged heavily by my husband to sell my work. Here I am now, doing local art events, sharing my work in local museums and fairs, set up a website, posting on instagram, sharing my work, and selling prints. I recently won a call 4 artist at a welcome center in Yucca Valley. My work is on display and one of my pieces sold within two days to a couple visiting from Australia. It feels like such an honor when someone can appreciate my photography and see the beauty that I worked so hard to capture.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I started my photography as a hobby. I worked with my husband in the film industry as a playback graphics coordinator but with photography always on my mind, I first wanted to pursue behind the scenes photography for films. I love movies but I really love the work that goes in preproduction and production. There’s a lot that happens before filming and during the film process that I can appreciate. In my downtime, I shot different things, and there has been a few times my shots have made it to tv and movies. I even shot some things specifically for a movie or show. But I had a change of heart and left that to pursue photography full time.

I didn’t know what that would look like since I wasn’t interested in shooting weddings, family portraits, or what is more common for a source of income. I knew that this would take a long time since I didn’t have a clientele in mind. I knew that landscape, astrophotography, macro, and nature shots are what I’m passionate about. This is what I wanted to sell. I knew Instagram was a tool I needed to utilize in order to be seen. It’s hard to market yourself on a social platform that chooses the algorithm and selects what is shown to your followers, especially since I didn’t want to pay for it. And as an introvert, I struggled with the idea of putting myself out there and talking to new people. But I knew I had to do it, otherwise it would never work. I started with local pop up events that were housed on private properties and holiday events on the boulevards. I met a local photographer who is now a dear friend to me , David Emmenheiser, who was kind to me and encouraged me to enter my work in the fairs and museums. I then began looking for people who I thought might be interested in the work I was doing and tagging them: that is how I met George Serrano. He told me about the local artist events that take place in our town, meeting new people and gaining exposure, which I am grateful for.

I also wanted a unique way to showcase my work. I first had acrylic prints, metal prints, and paper prints for these events. The acrylic and metal prints were well received , but I wanted my work to have a personal touch, I wanted to be more hands on with my prints. So after many YouTube videos, I found what I was looking for: resin. I played around with making coasters, keychains, and trays but always involving my shots. I then found a way to take my prints, mount to wood frames, pour resin over it, and attach to a floating frame. I also add 3d printed pieces of my logo to each finished framed print I have made, and if needed, I also add the location of the shot in the back of the piece. I’m now able to have complete control of how I want my work displayed and the finished product is something I can be proud of.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

If you really love the work an artist does, share it. Whether on facebook, TikTok, whatever you see it fit. You are giving them exposure that helps more than you think.

If you meet an artist, ask them about their process; it may surprise you. It can also help you appreciate the effort they put into their work.

Never walk to an artists area and say “ I can do that, and for cheaper too!” I have heard this said about my work and I always respond with “ you should!” I always have received mixed expressions when I do. Constructive criticism is one thing, belittling someone else’s work is another thing.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect is hearing younger people tell me they love what I do and that it inspires them. I try to be available for them if they ever have a question or are curious as to how I shot something. I never want them to think that they can’t ask me anything. I want to see them grow and become successful always.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.karlakieffer.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/k_j_kieffer_photography/profilecard/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kjkiefferphotography?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Image Credits

Self Portrait by Karla Kieffer
All Landscape images shot by Karla Kieffer