November 18, 2025 • 45 mins
In this episode of Boulevard Beat, Meghan and Krissa sit down with acclaimed interior and architectural photographer Kerry Kirk, whose thoughtful eye and signature lighting style have made her a favorite among top designers and national publications. Kerry shares the story of the street where she grew up, the path that led her into the creative world, and what it truly takes to build a photography business from the ground up.
Together, the three dive into the artistry behind photographing interiors — from the preparation required before a shoot begins to keeping a fresh perspective when homes often share similar layouts. Kerry opens up about navigating client expectations, how her travels have expanded her creativity, and the destinations still sitting on her photography wish list.
The conversation also explores social media’s impact on creative careers, the importance of high-quality imagery, and which current photography trends might be ready to retire. Kerry also shares how her passion for vintage and antique wares blossomed into a meaningful creative outlet through her work at Round Top.
Street Style Takeaways:
Save 15% site wide at www.houseofblum.com with promo code beat15!
Or you can use this link- https://houseofblum.com/discount/beat15!
Connect with the Hosts https://www.instagram.com/boulevardbeatpodcast/
Connect with Meghan Blum Interiors https://www.instagram.com/meghanbluminteriors/
Connect with House of Blum https://www.instagram.com/shophouseofblum/
Connect with Krissa Rossbund. https://www.instagram.com/krissa_rossbund/
Connect with Liz Lidgett https://www.instagram.com/lizlidgett/
Episode Website https://www.blvdbeat.com/about
Together, the three dive into the artistry behind photographing interiors — from the preparation required before a shoot begins to keeping a fresh perspective when homes often share similar layouts. Kerry opens up about navigating client expectations, how her travels have expanded her creativity, and the destinations still sitting on her photography wish list.
The conversation also explores social media’s impact on creative careers, the importance of high-quality imagery, and which current photography trends might be ready to retire. Kerry also shares how her passion for vintage and antique wares blossomed into a meaningful creative outlet through her work at Round Top.
Street Style Takeaways:
- Building a creative career takes courage and connection. Kerry’s early client growth came from showing up, staying persistent, and embracing opportunities before perfection set in.
- Great photography begins long before the camera. Preparation, communication, and visual planning are essential for capturing interiors that feel intentional and alive.
- A fresh eye is a practiced skill. Even familiar layouts become unique when approached with curiosity and storytelling in mind.
- Travel expands your creative vocabulary. Kerry’s experiences around the world influence her perspective, shaping her sense of color, light, and composition.
- Social media is a visual calling card. Thoughtful, well-lit imagery — even on an iPhone — builds trust and elevates a creative brand.
- Trends fade, but authenticity remains. Kerry shares which trends feel overplayed and why staying true to your own aesthetic matters most.
- Creativity thrives in multiple outlets. Her passion for vintage and antiques through Round Top brings dimension and inspiration back into her photography
Save 15% site wide at www.houseofblum.com with promo code beat15!
Or you can use this link- https://houseofblum.com/discount/beat15!
Connect with the Hosts https://www.instagram.com/boulevardbeatpodcast/
Connect with Meghan Blum Interiors https://www.instagram.com/meghanbluminteriors/
Connect with House of Blum https://www.instagram.com/shophouseofblum/
Connect with Krissa Rossbund. https://www.instagram.com/krissa_rossbund/
Connect with Liz Lidgett https://www.instagram.com/lizlidgett/
Episode Website https://www.blvdbeat.com/about
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to boulevard Beat, a podcast where life and style intersect.
I'm designer Megan Bloom along with my co hosts, editor CHRISA.
Rossbund and gallery owner Liz Legit. This podcast focuses on
the daily highlights instead of the hustle, interviews with taste makers,
and personal conversations on how to highlight achievable style. You
constrol one street at a time, boulevard Beat proves the
(00:30):
one you should take. Welcome back to another episode of
boulevard Beat Today. Our guest is Houston based interior and
architectural photographer Carrie Kirk, a woman gifted with an eye
for light, detail and the quiet personality of a space.
Her work has appeared in top design publications. She collaborates
(00:50):
with leading designers across the country, and she has a
remarkable way of capturing the emotion of a room without
ever altering its authenticity.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Well, welcome, Carrie. We're excited to have you on the
podcast today.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Thank you, I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Well, Carrie, we always like to start each episode with
the same question, tell us a little bit about the
street that you grew up on.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, this is going to be a slightly funny answer.
My father was transferred in nineteen eighty from one small
town really to another small town, and I guess they
took the opportunity to go house hunting in during Thanksgiving
break and ended up moving during Christmas break, and we
didn't know it, but we moved in. And then college
(01:30):
came back from break and we lived down the street
from a fraternity house, and we had not noticed the
letters on the home. Oh my god, the things that
we had happened at our house by virtue of being
close to that were very funny. Snowed once and we
built a snowman, and someone ran over our snowman. We
had fights in our front yards, some makeups from fights
(01:54):
in our front yard. There were a whole more. Morning
I went outside and there were people with what is
a metal detector in the yard, and I guess there
had been a fight and either the girl took off
the necklace and through it or the boyfriend said I
don't want you to have the necklace and he took
it off and through it. Well, they had made up,
and now they wanted to find the necklace in the yard.
(02:15):
I think it sort of freaked my parents out, and
we ended up moving before I was in high school.
I think my dad didn't want us to be anywhere
near a fraternity house when we were arry.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
This must be a little bit of a theme in
your life, because you had a cover for us recently
from a wonderful place in Galveston, and I believe that
through its long history it was once a fraternity house
as well, So maybe you're drawn to frat houses.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Unbeknownst to me, all right Land there it was. I
had a great childhood, though, and I liked living in
a small town and kind of having a fair amount
of freedom.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Well, you're obviously in the creative world now, and i'd
love to hear a little bit about what led you
to your career choice, how you got there, and just.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Kind of the lens you see everything.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
I graduated from University of Texas and moved to Houston
with everyone else, I guess, looking for work, and I
started an oil and gas which was very odd pivot,
but it was great. I really did get I had
great female mentors at that company, and I would say
I really grew up there. They were an international company,
(03:21):
so I got to travel a lot, and through travel
I began to connect with photography. And then dare I say,
became obsessed with it. At one point I did quit
my job and I had an around the world ticket
and I camped across Africa for three months and drove
a campra van down the coast of Australia and been
to Asia and it was a great stop. I had
(03:44):
spent the better part of a year doing that, and
it was a Swiss company, so we had so much vacation.
They gave us the same vacation time that they gave
the Europeans, so even year one I had six weeks
and it was almost hard to use. But I was
unmarried for most of my time there and well compensated,
and so I used all of it. And that's really
(04:04):
where I developed. I guess I call it maybe seeing
in pictures, and so every thing that I would see,
I'd be like, oh, that could be a picture. And
so traveled a lot and then had children. I had
my first and then eighteen months later I had twins
who were well. There were premies. One was one pound.
I did not work at all. My job was to
(04:26):
keep him alive, really through some difficult circumstances. And I
would say in some of that time it was just
very hard and a little isolating having a medically fragile child,
and we weren't that drop everything and do things people
like we had been previously. And then but once they
(04:46):
got in school, my brother is a builder, and he
built this house and said, it's really beautiful. You take
good pictures. Would you photograph this house? Which is really
funny because I've always been the person to say, don't
ask someone you know to photograph your wedding. Let's they
have a portfolio of wedding photography that you love, because
there's so many different styles of it. Of course, I'm
glad he did ask me to do that. Because I
(05:08):
didn't know anything about interiors and photographing them. I read
what I could online. It was often without accompanying images.
In terms of trying to achieve a look. It would
just it would be more maybe about equipment, but there
would be some advice that would say lights on, and
other advice that would say lights off, and so I
think it was kind of partially real estate photography advice,
(05:31):
and then you'd get some marriage with some editorial advice.
So I would just say I mucked around and didn't
know what I was doing, but I practiced all the
time in my house. I had a great shoot though
with a lot of natural light, and then I went
to another one and I thought it was the worst
shoot I've ever done. It was very dark and I
didn't know how to supplementally light and I did not
(05:51):
have the skill set at that time. It was for
my brother, so he was pretty forgiving. But with time,
I just practiced in my home a lot to kind
of better understand different lighting situations, shooting into windows, compositions
and what worked, and tried to develop and home my
skills on obviously on my own time and not on
(06:13):
anyone's paid time. But I have always liked design and
interior design and architecture, so I was interested enough to
continue to pursue it on my own and work. But
of course, you know, you say, oh, I'm doing this
as a business, but it doesn't mean your phone's ringing.
So until you kind of have a few clients. The
jobs were space such that you could almost get rusty
(06:35):
between the jobs, so it did it. Practicing at home
was pretty instrumental for me to maintain and grow the skill.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Set well and carry That brings me to a good question,
because I know in the business. It's hard sometimes to
land those first clients, like you said, obviously your brother,
but then just in between to take to grow and
to do now editorial like you do so much of
in different things, and as you've honed those skills even
as you practice at home. What advice would you give
for emerging photographers or others in the creative field to
(07:05):
start getting those clients.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Finding those clients.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I'm guessing maybe this was prior Instagram, so you kind
of had to do it in a different way than
you could today.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Even I would say I was very fortunate because I
was kind of on this Instagram bubble like it certainly exists,
you know, Studie McGhee was already out there successfully doing
it and in big accounts in various parts of the
country were but I wouldn't say that there was Maybe
Marie flanagain had probably started to kind of lead the
(07:34):
design world down that path in Houston, but most people
were still not photographing their work professionally. But I was
so naive to the world. Literally, I was going on
I don't know if houses still around, but I might
go on house and say, here your designers in Houston,
and I would get a list, and then I would
go to Instagram and see if those people had an account,
and then you could see if they had worked with
(07:54):
someone professionally, because their pictures would obviously indicate that, or
if you could tell that clearly if they were sell
phone pictures. So I would follow those people. I would
like in comment on their stuff. And one of the
main things that I would do is I would drive
around town at beautiful times to day, so sunrise and sunset,
and I would take pictures of homes. And I might
(08:16):
have been perceived as the crazy person taking a picture
of a house that you know, I didn't have permission
necessarily to take, but I did it anyway, and I
could go home. I could practice editing, I could practice
blending different light situations, cleaning up, you know, debris in
the yard and all the things. And then I had
content to post. And the general public didn't know that
(08:36):
that was not a paid job. But I would hustle
and do that. I would say pretty frequently even And
another thing that we did, and this could apply to
other creatives too. We had a friend who had a
lighting store. I had a friend who had a party
planning business. Someone who did calligraphy, someone who had a
(08:57):
new floral business, and so we would have these, you know,
like style shoots. So we would kind of come together
and build content for ourselves because you know, the cliger,
for she makes money, but she can't pay for a
photo shoot, right, her margins are such that she can't
do that. So we would all kind of bring something
to the table and then all get the content and
share it. And then each of us had our kind
(09:19):
of friend groups, and so it kind of grew our
Instagram following and just general awareness about each of our businesses.
And we came together and supported each other in those
ways and kind of worked out, you know, different challenges
with being business owners. And with the exception of one,
we were all moms to you know, elementary age kids,
(09:41):
and so it was a nice community. As someone who
would generally work totally alone, then we had a network.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
It's always fun hearing about communities and how you can
utilize each other's resources and helpfully help grow each other's
businesses as well too.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
So yes, those were really really some of the most
fun times.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Well, we really The interiors vary from house to house.
In general, the layouts are very similar. Often you know,
you always have that kitchen in your great room and
the certain staple rooms that you're always photographing. How do
you use your eye to make each home look different
and have a unique look through the lens that you
do while still maintaining that fresh outlook.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I'm seeing some differences in architecture now where the kitchen
isn't as maybe formulaic as it has been for a
few years, where it's you know, two pennants over the
island and the barstools and everything being you know, you've
seen it a lot, so I am kind of interested
in when someone is doing a kitchen that's very different
and getting the opportunity to photograph something that I've never
(10:42):
seen before versus something that I've seen frequently. But when
you get the opportunity to work with a team that's
had an architect that's done something that is it's very
special and unique. Those are those aren't the magic moments?
And incorporating views of like a room into a room
to where you feel like you're just kind of the
picture just leads you through and the ultimate goal oftentimes
(11:05):
isn't to take any kind of informative picture so much
as an emotional one and I want someone to feel
something when they see the picture. So if I were
to liken it to say real estate, where they just
want you to show every appliance in the kitchen so
you can see the work triangle or whatever, how that
layout would be. I don't care about showing all the appliances.
(11:25):
I want someone to feel like they would be cooking
in that kitchen. And so coming from it from the
perspective of, you know, wanting to entice people with the image,
but wanting the viewer to feel like they wanted to
be in the image is ultimately the goal. Whether that's
always successful, but that's the goal.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, I think it is always interesting when you want
to be part of that space or to lead you
into that next room and be a part of that too.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Styling helps a lot with that so that people it
does give that lifestyle feel versus just a picture of
a room. You know.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Yeah, we don't want to look to look too perfect,
do we know?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
You want to say this is where people do life,
and hopefully they do life really well there.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Now as a designer, and obviously I work with photographers
as well, you know, there's sometimes there's that shot that
I want as a designer, how do you handle it?
Sometimes when your client wants particular things and you're just like,
this isn't the right shot. I can't get this for you.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I would endeavor to set up with the composition that
they generally asked for and say, okay, I think this
is I get what you're going for, but I think
this is problematic for these two or three reasons. So
what if we did X, Y, and Z and this
eliminates this problem and it captures this and incorporates this
(12:39):
as well. So I try to be a partner. I mean,
they're the paying client, and I want to give them
what they want. But if there's a reason for optics.
I had a situation where there was a pitched ceiling
in a living room, but then it continued into a
kitchen that was then a flat ceiling, and they were
asking me to stand in the corner and get this wide,
(12:59):
wide shot. I already knew without setting up how terrible
it was going to look. But I was like, here,
look at this. See how wonky that we And it
was for the architect too, and I was like, so
you don't, let's find a composition that tells the story
that you want to tell that captures the important elements
in this space, but let's do it in a more
flattering way, and most people just say, yeah, you're right.
(13:20):
It's just a difference between someone who literally sees in
pictures and someone who doesn't. And some people get better
at it over time, having done a lot of photoshoots,
even though clearly you know they're not the photographer and
that's not their responsibility. But hopefully through some education, then
the request for you know, impossible shots or ones that
(13:42):
would just look wonky with the optics of the lens
and what they're asking for, hopefully that comes to a minimum.
But explaining it and showing what I'm trying to say
instead of tell someone just flat out no, I wouldn't
do that.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Well, Photoshoots are definitely an exercise in collaboration, and so
it takes all of the players to bring expertise and
sometimes stay in your own lane and then sometimes bring
that those those wishes to piece everything together to create
beautiful photography. So, Carrie, I want to go back to
something you said a moment ago when you were talking
(14:14):
about taking photographs that were informative versus emotional, and I
think that's so important for our listeners to understand, and
we do have several a lot of designers who are
listening only because not every image is for the same purpose.
And even even for us novice photographers. If you look
(14:35):
on my iPhone, sometimes it's a beautiful sunset and sometimes
it's a label from something at the market because I
need to expand to see how many carbs is in it.
All of the above, so I think it's important. Could
you could you maybe just elaborate on that a little
bit to share what the difference is. You did reference
(14:57):
styling a little bit. I'm sure that lighting is such
an integral part of that, but what are some of
the tricks that.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
You use to capture that. Any season photographer who's going
to listen to this is going to laugh at it.
But if it's a new photographer, maybe they know. Maybe
they don't know, because everyone says if you're going to
do photograph in tears, you have to have a wide
angle lens. Yes, you do have to have a white
angle lens, and you hope that you're lucky enough to
leave it in your bag and you want to use
(15:24):
a different lens and be far away from your subject
and zoom in because the compression of the elements creates
and this is a word that makes no sense, but
I call it butter. And it just is so lovely
how everything comes together in a tight and intimate way
versus if you were closer to the subject and shot
(15:45):
it with a wide angle lens, the elements separate and
it's just a trick of the optics of a camera.
And so sometimes I just said that, they're like, if
this wall wasn't here, I could take the most beautiful
picture of this thing, but it and it's not that
we don't. We'll just you know, work and find it,
try to find a different angle, because the optics really
(16:05):
do matter. And I'm not saying that I don't love
a wide shot of something, but usually my favorite shot
of the room isn't the wide shot of the room.
I'm always going to take that because you know, there's
also website pictures, and there's social media pictures, and you know,
maybe depending on the design and style of your website,
you can present all of that. But the ones that
(16:26):
I really often linger on as a viewer myself of
other people's work is one that's just a little more
intimate and it feels just a little more special, and
it allows me to appreciate certain elements in the room
that when you just see the room as a whole,
you might you might miss, especially on a screen. Maybe
(16:46):
not on your desktop because then you have a big image,
but for social media, I might miss the certain beautiful
hand painted element of a tile. If the kitchen's big
and I'm, you know, way in the living room taking
a picture of it, But if I've got to zoom
right in on it, then it becomes just I think,
more special and delicious like Butter.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Oh I love it delicious like Butter. Well, we're in Iowa,
so we know.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
All about Butter.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
I think that advice is so good, especially for designers
who are either young and just starting their business or
maybe they pivoted from a different career, only because if
you don't have a lot of content, you can do
a lot just by creating vignettes. You don't necessarily have
to have higher space for social media purposes to show
(17:36):
what you can do.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I one hundred percent believe and support that. And those
are actually fairly quick pictures to take, too, so you
can create more content without taking a lot more time.
It's just in terms of taking the picture but I
just always say prepare, prepare, prepare. The photoshoot's going to
cost the same whether you prepared for it or you
didn't prepare for it. But if you don't have all
(17:58):
the things, then you can't get many shots. If you're
able to hire a stylist, I would recommend doing that,
And if you can't, it's okay, but go find examples
that inspire you, and then you're not going to copy it,
but you can recreate. You're going to go clip your
own version of branches. You're going to go find your
own produce at the market that's fresh at that season,
(18:18):
but don't bring apples and grapes and orange juice and
have a color assortment, you know, just find what works
in that space and just recreate that. Soon enough, you'll
realize that a lot of the key is repeating color
and the tones, and so if there was an eggplant
(18:39):
color used in the room, well, how great would it
be to have figs and or have other elements, the
styling elements that just subtly reference that, because how it
draws the eye through the image with some repeating color
is just it works so well. It's brilliant, and most
people don't know why they love the picture, but they
(19:00):
love the picture. Now, a designer might know, but ultimately
they're creating those images to put out into the world
so that other viewers see them and love their work.
The casual person isn't going to know the trick that
made them save that image, but the design the designer
in collaboration with a photographer and the stylist should know
that and be working towards that end.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
So, Carrie, you've sort of perfectly segued into my next questions,
and I love that you said prepared or not. The
photoshoot does cost the same simple for people to understand
that price tag does not does not vary.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
But photoshoots do.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
For interiors do require so much upfront preparation that requires time, energy,
some money sometimes, So tell us what you do. We
know what the designer prepares for, getting the props, making
sure there's enough flowers, that sort of thing, But is
there anything that you do to prepare for a photo shoot.
And once you walk through those doors for the first time,
(20:00):
what is your first things?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I love it if I have the opportunity to do
a walk through with the stylist in advance of the shoot.
And that sometimes that works. But sometimes I have a
shoot on the day the stylist is working on that,
and if I do have the ability to do that,
I get to see the house. Usually, you know, we
might not have the walk through at the same time
(20:23):
of day that the photo shoot would start. So maybe
I get to see the first time the house in
the afternoon and I think, oh, the afternoon light is
here and it's good, and I'll take pictures of rooms.
And then when I start the day, then the light
is different on shoot day, and so I kind of
look at it from that standpoint and then I think, Okay, well,
I really loved I noticed at two twenty the light
(20:45):
is great. That's coming through the window and it's hitting
the plaster with all this stapple light on the staircase.
So we're shooting this at this time of day because
I already know that that's when it's going to be
the most beautiful. That's one thing that if I have
the oppertun to do, I really like to do. But
when I first arrive, we walk the project and I
(21:07):
get a sense of hopefully I've seen a shot list
in advance. That might not always happen, and so I'm
trying to gauge the space and the time because usually
they'll say we're going to photograph the living room. Well,
I might walk in and say, well, there's six pictures
in here because it's so incredible, Let's take some time
to do this, and you know, hopefully we have the
(21:30):
team there and we can move the furniture around. And
when I go to the prep walkthrough, though, is when
it's the opportunity to say, it'd be great to have
a piece of art right there. It wouldn't it be
great if we could do this, or if you know,
we could go get a plant and put it in here.
And whether there's a stylist or isn't, sometimes the photographer
(21:50):
can help advise the client if there isn't a stylist involved,
and then they can kind of source those things and
it helps them prepare for a shoot. I know there
are places in the country where there aren't stylists, you know,
and there isn't the market for that, or there isn't
the budget for it, because it's also a huge expense
to the shoot, additional expense. So a good photographer should
(22:14):
be able to make some great recommendations, you know, in
the absence of a stylist and how to improve the shots.
And in that case, if you don't have a stylist,
I would definitely encourage people to ask for the photographer
to do a walkthrough.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
You've already talked a little bit about light. You referenced
it a moment ago, and while it can certainly vary
at the same location throughout the day, it also varies
all around the world. And I know that you've had
the great pleasure of traveling the world that you alluded
to earlier. So how do you think that that has
shaped your photography and create a vision.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Well, as I said earlier, I just became someone who
kind of would see in pictures and so it's kind
of ironic or cool. I guess that looking at pictures
makes you a better photographer. There's so much that goes
into it. But I ultimately I think being you know,
if you love newborns, then that would be great to
(23:10):
be a newborn photographer, if you love interiors being I mean,
I love the subject matter so much that for a client, well,
you know, they've spent what a year two years in
the home working on it and preparing everything, So I
always expect them to have some have been in the
house at some point and turned around and said, oh,
that's a shot that they didn't ever think of. But ultimately,
(23:33):
my job is to go into a house and find
something that no one's seen before. And oftentimes I like
the client to maybe I don't know if they've stepped
out for a call or they've gone to the restroom
that I can sneak a photo in and it's like
their magic surprise on when I deliver the images that
there's something that I saw that was beautiful that they
(23:53):
didn't ask for or that they didn't know was even happening.
And then it's like a little Christmas gift in the
middle of the week.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
It's a wonderful medium in the fact that you can
make something so special out of nothing.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Sometimes it's like jaw dropping how the simplest pictures can
sometimes say the most.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
And I love your advice to take pictures. I mean,
maybe this is a great tip for those people out
there who are listening who want to become a better
photographer because social media and we're going to get to that.
We're going to get to social media in a moment.
But it sort of demands all of this photography. That's
what the platform is all about. And I think there
(24:32):
are a lot of people out there who are so
curious about taking better photographs or starting at all. And
so you know what you said to maybe pick a
subject that you're really interested in and that will help
you see it differently.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Absolutely. I mean I've seen pictures of cars that take
my breath away and I don't care anything about cars,
but clearly the person who took the picture loves them,
and so that really comes through in the image.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Yes, you can certainly tell the past. It goes beyond
the subject. So, okay, let's talk about it. Social media,
like everything in life, it has pros and cons. What
role does social media playing your business and exposure? Do
you love it personally? Do you not? Are you worried
about people stealing your images? Just give it all to us?
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Oh well, I would say I only have a career
because of social media. You know, if Instagram hadn't come
on in the scene at that time, there would not
have been really the need for the images. I mean
before people just shot them, you know. Occasionally for me,
might have a couple of projects on your website or
in a print magazine. As you know, but people never
photographed all of their projects, so it really created all
(25:44):
this demand. And I kind of again was there sort
of at the right time. I loved social media. It's
it's your business card if you're a photographer, right, I mean,
why do you need a card that doesn't have if
you could have a walking portfolio, you know that everyone
has on you have my portfolio in your in your pocket,
(26:05):
you know, So being a photographer, I mean it really
lends itself to that world. And there's just there's so
many ways it can be leveraged. And you know, if
you are starting out, it doesn't Again I kind of
referenced this before I went and just hustled. You can
you're a photographer. You can create content in any way,
shape or form that you want and go out and
(26:26):
do it. Don't just at home waiting for the phone
to ring. Yes, social media presents some challenges with image theft,
and I think that's the way of the world. I
think ultimately the pros outweigh the cons because again, you
wouldn't have all this work if people didn't feel the
need to post and share and stay relevant, and you know,
(26:48):
they don't want to fall out of the algorithm by
having nothing to post or you know, whatever it is
people say these days. Yeah, I mean there's there's things
that become difficult to manage well.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
And I think the good news is the education for
about the whole image theft and usage. That's people are
starting to listen to that. I think in this business
generally speaking, that designers or stylists or other people in
the business don't intend to do anything wrong. I think
the information has never been clear, and so now there's
(27:18):
far more clarity as everybody in the industry understands what
their rights are to photography and why you can't just
use somebody else's work.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Yes, I would say initially it was definitely the wild West,
but there are some actual more education and more understanding,
and hopefully people haven't had to learn the hard way.
But maybe some of them have. I don't you know.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I think I think I know some of them have.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
But some of it is just education and people make mistakes,
and of course, you know, you want to be you
want to represent yourself and not be kind of trampled
over by when it feels like big companies are taking
the image of a you know, a sole proprietor and
profiting off of them in a way that feels kind
of icky or hurts your feelings or whatever, But ultimately
it's business and it's just you have a civil conversation
(28:06):
about it and explain it. And I really haven't had
many situations where anyone was like, oh, I'm sorry and
they'll just pay for the image, and I am fine.
I don't need any punitive I don't take it that way.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
You have the benefit of having these beautifully lit images
because you are a photographer. Now, of course a designer
has those if they're paying for those images, but all
of us out there may just have the random shots
that we take. How important is it to you? I mean,
I know it depends a little bit on what the
business is, but when you are strolling through other accounts,
(28:42):
how important is it for you for the quality of
the image to be fabulous?
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Look, I think everyone should turn the lights off and
take pictures, and sometimes people outside of the design world
don't know that at all, And I think that's helpful.
If you're even photographing food, get that yellow tin jatafit,
get natural light, get good side light, and that's helpful.
It's just I think you can create content with your
phone and have it look pretty. I think it helps
if it's straight up and down in lieu of maybe
(29:09):
having something photographed and maybe a project went off the
rails and you don't want to hire someone for the
full shoot, but there's some pretty moments. Turn the lights
off and take it with your phone and then do
a little editing. The phones are so good now, so
that doesn't bother me. And I think too that designers
could have a separate folder of things that they want
(29:31):
to communicate with their clients, some of which would be
represented in a beautiful photograph that they paid for, but
some that could be very well explained with an average
image from a cell phone, but that you could technically
improved if you took a little time and.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Tried well, Carrie, Trends is obviously a popular word in
the creative world, and there's always trends in every different
type of industry and business, and I'm sure that goes
for photography as well. What do you feel about photography trends?
Is there one at the moment that you feel like
it's run its course or when you're loving I don't
(30:08):
like trends.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
There was when I was first starting, you know, the
trend to kind of blow everything out, and the windows
weren't you know, crisp. It was you know, it could
be a style. But I felt like maybe that was
technically incorrect to not have managed to control the light
a little better. And maybe I almost thought that there
(30:30):
were so many people creating content and DIY and home
bloggers that they were taking their pictures themselves, and so
I think that was an overexposed picture that's not professionals
better than a dark picture from the cell phone. And
so I think there was just this let's light everything
(30:50):
up too much, and I didn't care for that. I'll
be the first to say I love Harris Kinjar's work
that he's producing with Sean Anderson. It's dark, it's moody,
it's fantastic. But it doesn't make sense for every designer
who doesn't design a moody room to go, oh, I
like that moody photography make my design moody, and you think, well,
you have all white walls. You want it to look
(31:12):
like smoke damage. Stop jumping on a trend. Hire someone
who has a portfolio that matches best with your design,
because there are other clients who are like, our brand
is airy, and bright, and you know it isn't moody
and deep, and so the trend doesn't matter. You have
(31:33):
a brand, marry the photography that best goes with the
design and the brand that you have, versus jumping on
some trend to go, oh, there was a moody thing.
Unless you start just designing moody, then yeah, go there.
But if it is incongruss with the design, I don't
think that you should be jumping on a trend. Plus,
that's his voice, it's not your voice. Quit trying to
(31:55):
be the copy of someone else and find your own,
because your own would be unique and it would be
good enough if you focused on what you're good at.
And so it's just like if a painter tried to
go paint like someone else. Just know, paint how you
would paint, and then it'll be good. But don't try
to be like other people.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Well, and I can speak to the moody photography thing.
I mean I'm receiving quite a bit of it through submissions,
and perhaps it's my non twenty five year old set
of eyes that I have, but I can't see what's
in it.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
It's I think it's very hard to see some of
the elements.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
I can't see, and it doesn't do if a designer
is trying to attract people to their work, it's like
you want to see those beautiful elements and the beautiful
patterns and the fabric details and that really dark, moody photography.
To your point, if you design that way, it is
one thing, but also it just may be a different,
(32:53):
more artful sort of style, like maybe not the best
for Instagram or for editorial purposes.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Can still be beautiful, but some of that might be
not the most widely appealing.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Well, Carrie, we know that we love to talk to
you about photography and all things photographs that I know
that photography is not your only creative Wane, So tell
us about your other business and that you have and
show it round top.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Well, I am importing frames from Europe and I pair
them either with vintage or contemporary art. And that was
kind of born out of truly going to some design
projects and being a little bit sad that there wasn't
more art on the walls, and I would bring my
own art, hold it on the wall, and then photoshop
my body out of it later. And then I just
(33:42):
thought this is kind of crazy, but I was moving
and in one closet I had a bunch of frames,
and then in another I guess I had an art
buying problem. I had art under lots of beds that
I had sort of bought and then hidden, and I
would take them to the frame store and then I
would leave with them all unframed because I was so
uninspired by just the commercially available frames. And then when
(34:02):
I was moving and I was kind of putting together
all my hoards, I was like, oh, look at this
frame on this art now that I because they'd never
I guess I'd never really stored them in the same place.
I don't know why, and so I started doing that.
And then I also felt like there was a hole
in the market for smalls. I think a lot of
people know what galleries to get to go get, you know,
(34:24):
fifty five by seventy something giant canvas. But in these
giant homes that are new, if you put all gallery
wrap or floater frames, and it just feels like all
the arts new. And I wanted to feel more collected,
and so I kind of started the shop element of
that business. And I have a booth ed Marburger and
(34:48):
round top in both the fall and the spring, and
then I'm in a local antique mall in Houston called MAI.
It's Memorial Antiques and Interiors. But then I kind of
expanded that to say, you know, I'm looking at two
thousand pieces of art a week, sometimes more. And I thought, well,
you know, this isn't something that I can afford to
buy to put in my little frame. Maybe it's not
(35:09):
the right size. I chase this down the rabbit hole,
only to find out that it's, you know, a five
thousand dollars piece, and that's not really my price point
for buying and sitting in inventory. But it's a beautiful piece,
and this would look so good and you know, any
of these houses and this is a Spanish artist and
no one in Houston knows who they are, And how
cool would that be to build the collection that looks
like maybe you still spent two to three months curating it,
(35:32):
but looks like you spent thirty years. And so that
was kind of the next step in that part of
the business that you know, goes along with photography. I
want with photography, look, the furniture's kind of low, and
the lighting's high, and the ceilings, you know, are high
in these homes, you know, eleven feet is high. Twelve
feet sometimes persents real challenges with photography and truth, because
(35:56):
if you don't have a lot of art, the middle
part of your picture is kind of the empty zone.
And so it was kind of the anti furniture. Don't
go buy art from the furniture store and don't not
have art. And sometimes the gallery experience to me is
just intimidating because there's no prices and you're like, what
(36:17):
does this cost? What does this cost? What does this cost?
People want to know am I swinging in the five
thousand dollars part of the pond or the five hundred
thousand dollars of the part of the pond? And I
might can afford to be in this gallery, but I
need to know where on the continuum these pieces are.
And so I want people to own something original that
is not out of their budget and that brings them
(36:40):
joy and is personal. And because the art is unique,
and then the frame is additionally unique, then together no
one for all the people are like I could paint that, well,
I'm like number one, you're never going to but it'll
never exist in this frame. And so it's just so
perfect and unique, and it gives me the opportunity to
(37:01):
be a little more creative. And the kind of the
colors of the frame and maybe the undertones and the
frame reference the color of in the art, or you know,
you can just do some pairing that's unexpected but looks
so good together. And because I am photographing someone else's
creative design, I am there in a way to document it.
(37:24):
And I'm not saying that what we do isn't creative,
but it isn't just like fine art photography. I am
hired to do a job, and so this thing is
like it's all my own.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
It's really wonderful. And I think the pairing with the
frames with the old pieces or vintage pieces, there's some
wonderful marriage there that feels so twenty twenty five. We're
almost at twenty twenty six. It feels modern. Even when
you take those vintage elements, I don't know, it gives
them new life. Yes, face a facelift.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Well one. I always love the reu and the repurposing
of I mean, they don't make frames like they used to,
just you know, they don't make a lot of things
like they used to. But just the attention to the detail.
It could make me cry. It's so beautiful, you know,
and so but you might hate the painting in there.
But what if we reimagine it all together and make
(38:19):
it something that is fresh and something that that younger
people would would enjoy, because they would never you know,
have a you know, a Victorian scene in their house.
But they love the frame and you put it with
something a little more modern. It's it's magic.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
It's pretty special. Well, and I love that you are
focusing on smalls because I think that sort of rips
that intimidation factor away for somebody who is just tapping
into the art world. Yes, early on or for the
first time, because artwork is intimidating, so can be intimidating.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Yes, and I don't want it to be. Look, you
should buy what you love. You shouldn't buy it in
my in my opinion. But I'm not here to tell
people how to invest their money. If you want to
curate art for part of your investment portfolio, there's a
million people and they're not me. I want people just
to buy what they love. And sometimes some of my
favorite pieces it's like I don't even know I can't
(39:13):
figure out who this artist was they didn't sign it,
and I have no I have no idea, but look
how great it looks in this frame and makes you
feel great when you look at it in your house
every day. So it's just kind of gives Sprinkle's joy
throughout people's homes and lives.
Speaker 4 (39:30):
So we are at the tail end of this episode,
and I have a couple of rapid fire questions for you, Carrie,
and then I not with fire over. They're a rapid
fire that we're on there, so so, and then I'm
going to turn it over to Megan because she has
a couple of as well. So what is one photo
that you wish you would have taken. Was there a
(39:50):
moment in your travels or a kid moment even with
your boys, that you're like, oh, I wish I would
have had this documented.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Probably yes, with kids, but sometimes they don't like when
I bring the camera out, so I try just to
be present with them. So I'll set aside the kid
thing because probably there's a lot of those, but I'm
trying to not be the person who annoys everyone with
my camera. I was driving to Round Top and there
(40:17):
was a storm rolling in and there's a pond and
a hill and a horse was running and I was like, ah,
should I crash the car, you know? And I just said, Okay,
there's no possible way I could take this picture because
there was traffic and I don't even think I have
my camera with me. But I was like, okay, just
freeze it in your mind, freeze it in your mind,
(40:37):
and it'll just be the picture that's only for me.
So yes, I still think about that.
Speaker 4 (40:42):
There's probably higher ones chasing a rainbow.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
Just yeah, everyone, yes, yes.
Speaker 4 (40:50):
And is there a dream brand or designer that you
would love to photograph for like you're such a fan
of their work or a product and it's like, oh,
I would love to imagine that through my lens and
bring it to fruition.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
So for me, I would think that it would be
like a version of you know, like a BlackBerry farms
but in all the settings, so kind of like a
boutique hotel but in nature, because I love design and
I love architecture, but I really still kind of was
born of a travel photographer, and so catching a place
(41:25):
that's in the situation and in nature and in its
natural setting is kind of to me my favorite and
I like, I love nature, but it's as lieu of
just taking a picture of a mountain. I'd rather have
a picture of an old bridge that gives the landscape scale,
or a lighthouse in something, or a fortress, an old
(41:48):
you know, some kind of human element in a landscape
is really stunning to me. But I do like the
boutique hotel element, you know, because then there's a lot
of content because you're really, here's the experience here. Yes,
there's the hotel, and here's your room. But I don't
want to go to here's the here's the queen room,
here's the king room, here's that. I don't want to
(42:09):
go take all those pictures of every of every booking option.
But oh, look at here's the food because I used
to do some food photography too. Or here's a hammock
that would be right by the ocean, and here's the
sunset and the breeze. So sometimes those assignments I think
could be fun there for my when my kids graduate,
so that I could if I traveled, I could be
(42:30):
gone a little bit longer. So that's still, you know,
a possibility, but not something I'm actively pursuing at this
at this juncture.
Speaker 2 (42:38):
Well, and Carrie, our last two questions. Tell us what
your perfect boulevard would look like.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
Well, it would probably be full of sand, and I
could be barefoot, and there would probably be some palm
trees and just a little imperfection, you know, and some
beautiful views.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
And music tells that story, like you were saying, definitely,
And finally, what's the beat that keeps you going?
Speaker 3 (43:02):
Okay, Well, so I will tell you Spotify. The Fleetwood
Mac channel on Spotify is really really good. They don't
play a bad song, so those are really great for
shoot days. The beat that keeps me moving, it's a
combination of I really enjoy people in the relationships that
I have built through this business and going and interacting
(43:23):
with most not all, of my clients are women. But
I do like that there's this I don't know, clients
who become friends and just we have such amazing dialogue
and everyone has such unique stories, and when you're with
someone all day long, you really get to know them
in a different way than if you just casually sell
them out. So that is always I'm always really surprised.
(43:47):
One of the things we didn't really talk too much
about the social media, but you know, you can hear
the news or see stuff on social media and you're like,
I hate this, and then I go out in the world,
I'm like, I love everyone, and so I think ultimately
getting out and just being with people we all I
don't know, it just improves humanity when we interact together
(44:08):
and create together and work together and support one another.
Speaker 5 (44:11):
So true and I love that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:13):
Well, Carrie, thank you so much for sharing your insights
and stories and your incredible eye for capturing spaces with
us today.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
No, it was wonderful. I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Boulevard Beat.
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow along and leave
a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen
so you never miss an episode, and of course, follow
your hosts on Instagram at Megan bloom Interiors, at CHRISA.
Speaker 5 (44:39):
Rossbund, and at Liz Legit.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
We'll be back next week as we take a stroll
down another boulevard
Speaker 5 (45:02):
To contin
Welcome to boulevard Beat, a podcast where life and style intersect.
I'm designer Megan Bloom along with my co hosts, editor CHRISA.
Rossbund and gallery owner Liz Legit. This podcast focuses on
the daily highlights instead of the hustle, interviews with taste makers,
and personal conversations on how to highlight achievable style. You
constrol one street at a time, boulevard Beat proves the
(00:30):
one you should take. Welcome back to another episode of
boulevard Beat Today. Our guest is Houston based interior and
architectural photographer Carrie Kirk, a woman gifted with an eye
for light, detail and the quiet personality of a space.
Her work has appeared in top design publications. She collaborates
(00:50):
with leading designers across the country, and she has a
remarkable way of capturing the emotion of a room without
ever altering its authenticity.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Well, welcome, Carrie. We're excited to have you on the
podcast today.
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Thank you, I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Well, Carrie, we always like to start each episode with
the same question, tell us a little bit about the
street that you grew up on.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
Well, this is going to be a slightly funny answer.
My father was transferred in nineteen eighty from one small
town really to another small town, and I guess they
took the opportunity to go house hunting in during Thanksgiving
break and ended up moving during Christmas break, and we
didn't know it, but we moved in. And then college
(01:30):
came back from break and we lived down the street
from a fraternity house, and we had not noticed the
letters on the home. Oh my god, the things that
we had happened at our house by virtue of being
close to that were very funny. Snowed once and we
built a snowman, and someone ran over our snowman. We
had fights in our front yards, some makeups from fights
(01:54):
in our front yard. There were a whole more. Morning
I went outside and there were people with what is
a metal detector in the yard, and I guess there
had been a fight and either the girl took off
the necklace and through it or the boyfriend said I
don't want you to have the necklace and he took
it off and through it. Well, they had made up,
and now they wanted to find the necklace in the yard.
(02:15):
I think it sort of freaked my parents out, and
we ended up moving before I was in high school.
I think my dad didn't want us to be anywhere
near a fraternity house when we were arry.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
This must be a little bit of a theme in
your life, because you had a cover for us recently
from a wonderful place in Galveston, and I believe that
through its long history it was once a fraternity house
as well, So maybe you're drawn to frat houses.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
Unbeknownst to me, all right Land there it was. I
had a great childhood, though, and I liked living in
a small town and kind of having a fair amount
of freedom.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Well, you're obviously in the creative world now, and i'd
love to hear a little bit about what led you
to your career choice, how you got there, and just.
Speaker 5 (02:58):
Kind of the lens you see everything.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
I graduated from University of Texas and moved to Houston
with everyone else, I guess, looking for work, and I
started an oil and gas which was very odd pivot,
but it was great. I really did get I had
great female mentors at that company, and I would say
I really grew up there. They were an international company,
(03:21):
so I got to travel a lot, and through travel
I began to connect with photography. And then dare I say,
became obsessed with it. At one point I did quit
my job and I had an around the world ticket
and I camped across Africa for three months and drove
a campra van down the coast of Australia and been
to Asia and it was a great stop. I had
(03:44):
spent the better part of a year doing that, and
it was a Swiss company, so we had so much vacation.
They gave us the same vacation time that they gave
the Europeans, so even year one I had six weeks
and it was almost hard to use. But I was
unmarried for most of my time there and well compensated,
and so I used all of it. And that's really
(04:04):
where I developed. I guess I call it maybe seeing
in pictures, and so every thing that I would see,
I'd be like, oh, that could be a picture. And
so traveled a lot and then had children. I had
my first and then eighteen months later I had twins
who were well. There were premies. One was one pound.
I did not work at all. My job was to
(04:26):
keep him alive, really through some difficult circumstances. And I
would say in some of that time it was just
very hard and a little isolating having a medically fragile child,
and we weren't that drop everything and do things people
like we had been previously. And then but once they
(04:46):
got in school, my brother is a builder, and he
built this house and said, it's really beautiful. You take
good pictures. Would you photograph this house? Which is really
funny because I've always been the person to say, don't
ask someone you know to photograph your wedding. Let's they
have a portfolio of wedding photography that you love, because
there's so many different styles of it. Of course, I'm
glad he did ask me to do that. Because I
(05:08):
didn't know anything about interiors and photographing them. I read
what I could online. It was often without accompanying images.
In terms of trying to achieve a look. It would
just it would be more maybe about equipment, but there
would be some advice that would say lights on, and
other advice that would say lights off, and so I
think it was kind of partially real estate photography advice,
(05:31):
and then you'd get some marriage with some editorial advice.
So I would just say I mucked around and didn't
know what I was doing, but I practiced all the
time in my house. I had a great shoot though
with a lot of natural light, and then I went
to another one and I thought it was the worst
shoot I've ever done. It was very dark and I
didn't know how to supplementally light and I did not
(05:51):
have the skill set at that time. It was for
my brother, so he was pretty forgiving. But with time,
I just practiced in my home a lot to kind
of better understand different lighting situations, shooting into windows, compositions
and what worked, and tried to develop and home my
skills on obviously on my own time and not on
(06:13):
anyone's paid time. But I have always liked design and
interior design and architecture, so I was interested enough to
continue to pursue it on my own and work. But
of course, you know, you say, oh, I'm doing this
as a business, but it doesn't mean your phone's ringing.
So until you kind of have a few clients. The
jobs were space such that you could almost get rusty
(06:35):
between the jobs, so it did it. Practicing at home
was pretty instrumental for me to maintain and grow the skill.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Set well and carry That brings me to a good question,
because I know in the business. It's hard sometimes to
land those first clients, like you said, obviously your brother,
but then just in between to take to grow and
to do now editorial like you do so much of
in different things, and as you've honed those skills even
as you practice at home. What advice would you give
for emerging photographers or others in the creative field to
(07:05):
start getting those clients.
Speaker 5 (07:07):
Finding those clients.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
I'm guessing maybe this was prior Instagram, so you kind
of had to do it in a different way than
you could today.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
Even I would say I was very fortunate because I
was kind of on this Instagram bubble like it certainly exists,
you know, Studie McGhee was already out there successfully doing
it and in big accounts in various parts of the
country were but I wouldn't say that there was Maybe
Marie flanagain had probably started to kind of lead the
(07:34):
design world down that path in Houston, but most people
were still not photographing their work professionally. But I was
so naive to the world. Literally, I was going on
I don't know if houses still around, but I might
go on house and say, here your designers in Houston,
and I would get a list, and then I would
go to Instagram and see if those people had an account,
and then you could see if they had worked with
(07:54):
someone professionally, because their pictures would obviously indicate that, or
if you could tell that clearly if they were sell
phone pictures. So I would follow those people. I would
like in comment on their stuff. And one of the
main things that I would do is I would drive
around town at beautiful times to day, so sunrise and sunset,
and I would take pictures of homes. And I might
(08:16):
have been perceived as the crazy person taking a picture
of a house that you know, I didn't have permission
necessarily to take, but I did it anyway, and I
could go home. I could practice editing, I could practice
blending different light situations, cleaning up, you know, debris in
the yard and all the things. And then I had
content to post. And the general public didn't know that
(08:36):
that was not a paid job. But I would hustle
and do that. I would say pretty frequently even And
another thing that we did, and this could apply to
other creatives too. We had a friend who had a
lighting store. I had a friend who had a party
planning business. Someone who did calligraphy, someone who had a
(08:57):
new floral business, and so we would have these, you know,
like style shoots. So we would kind of come together
and build content for ourselves because you know, the cliger,
for she makes money, but she can't pay for a
photo shoot, right, her margins are such that she can't
do that. So we would all kind of bring something
to the table and then all get the content and
share it. And then each of us had our kind
(09:19):
of friend groups, and so it kind of grew our
Instagram following and just general awareness about each of our businesses.
And we came together and supported each other in those
ways and kind of worked out, you know, different challenges
with being business owners. And with the exception of one,
we were all moms to you know, elementary age kids,
(09:41):
and so it was a nice community. As someone who
would generally work totally alone, then we had a network.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
It's always fun hearing about communities and how you can
utilize each other's resources and helpfully help grow each other's
businesses as well too.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
So yes, those were really really some of the most
fun times.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Well, we really The interiors vary from house to house.
In general, the layouts are very similar. Often you know,
you always have that kitchen in your great room and
the certain staple rooms that you're always photographing. How do
you use your eye to make each home look different
and have a unique look through the lens that you
do while still maintaining that fresh outlook.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
I'm seeing some differences in architecture now where the kitchen
isn't as maybe formulaic as it has been for a
few years, where it's you know, two pennants over the
island and the barstools and everything being you know, you've
seen it a lot, so I am kind of interested
in when someone is doing a kitchen that's very different
and getting the opportunity to photograph something that I've never
(10:42):
seen before versus something that I've seen frequently. But when
you get the opportunity to work with a team that's
had an architect that's done something that is it's very
special and unique. Those are those aren't the magic moments?
And incorporating views of like a room into a room
to where you feel like you're just kind of the
picture just leads you through and the ultimate goal oftentimes
(11:05):
isn't to take any kind of informative picture so much
as an emotional one and I want someone to feel
something when they see the picture. So if I were
to liken it to say real estate, where they just
want you to show every appliance in the kitchen so
you can see the work triangle or whatever, how that
layout would be. I don't care about showing all the appliances.
(11:25):
I want someone to feel like they would be cooking
in that kitchen. And so coming from it from the
perspective of, you know, wanting to entice people with the image,
but wanting the viewer to feel like they wanted to
be in the image is ultimately the goal. Whether that's
always successful, but that's the goal.
Speaker 2 (11:41):
Yeah, I think it is always interesting when you want
to be part of that space or to lead you
into that next room and be a part of that too.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Styling helps a lot with that so that people it
does give that lifestyle feel versus just a picture of
a room. You know.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Yeah, we don't want to look to look too perfect,
do we know?
Speaker 3 (12:00):
You want to say this is where people do life,
and hopefully they do life really well there.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Now as a designer, and obviously I work with photographers
as well, you know, there's sometimes there's that shot that
I want as a designer, how do you handle it?
Sometimes when your client wants particular things and you're just like,
this isn't the right shot. I can't get this for you.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I would endeavor to set up with the composition that
they generally asked for and say, okay, I think this
is I get what you're going for, but I think
this is problematic for these two or three reasons. So
what if we did X, Y, and Z and this
eliminates this problem and it captures this and incorporates this
(12:39):
as well. So I try to be a partner. I mean,
they're the paying client, and I want to give them
what they want. But if there's a reason for optics.
I had a situation where there was a pitched ceiling
in a living room, but then it continued into a
kitchen that was then a flat ceiling, and they were
asking me to stand in the corner and get this wide,
(12:59):
wide shot. I already knew without setting up how terrible
it was going to look. But I was like, here,
look at this. See how wonky that we And it
was for the architect too, and I was like, so
you don't, let's find a composition that tells the story
that you want to tell that captures the important elements
in this space, but let's do it in a more
flattering way, and most people just say, yeah, you're right.
(13:20):
It's just a difference between someone who literally sees in
pictures and someone who doesn't. And some people get better
at it over time, having done a lot of photoshoots,
even though clearly you know they're not the photographer and
that's not their responsibility. But hopefully through some education, then
the request for you know, impossible shots or ones that
(13:42):
would just look wonky with the optics of the lens
and what they're asking for, hopefully that comes to a minimum.
But explaining it and showing what I'm trying to say
instead of tell someone just flat out no, I wouldn't
do that.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
Well, Photoshoots are definitely an exercise in collaboration, and so
it takes all of the players to bring expertise and
sometimes stay in your own lane and then sometimes bring
that those those wishes to piece everything together to create
beautiful photography. So, Carrie, I want to go back to
something you said a moment ago when you were talking
(14:14):
about taking photographs that were informative versus emotional, and I
think that's so important for our listeners to understand, and
we do have several a lot of designers who are
listening only because not every image is for the same purpose.
And even even for us novice photographers. If you look
(14:35):
on my iPhone, sometimes it's a beautiful sunset and sometimes
it's a label from something at the market because I
need to expand to see how many carbs is in it.
All of the above, so I think it's important. Could
you could you maybe just elaborate on that a little
bit to share what the difference is. You did reference
(14:57):
styling a little bit. I'm sure that lighting is such
an integral part of that, but what are some of
the tricks that.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
You use to capture that. Any season photographer who's going
to listen to this is going to laugh at it.
But if it's a new photographer, maybe they know. Maybe
they don't know, because everyone says if you're going to
do photograph in tears, you have to have a wide
angle lens. Yes, you do have to have a white
angle lens, and you hope that you're lucky enough to
leave it in your bag and you want to use
(15:24):
a different lens and be far away from your subject
and zoom in because the compression of the elements creates
and this is a word that makes no sense, but
I call it butter. And it just is so lovely
how everything comes together in a tight and intimate way
versus if you were closer to the subject and shot
(15:45):
it with a wide angle lens, the elements separate and
it's just a trick of the optics of a camera.
And so sometimes I just said that, they're like, if
this wall wasn't here, I could take the most beautiful
picture of this thing, but it and it's not that
we don't. We'll just you know, work and find it,
try to find a different angle, because the optics really
(16:05):
do matter. And I'm not saying that I don't love
a wide shot of something, but usually my favorite shot
of the room isn't the wide shot of the room.
I'm always going to take that because you know, there's
also website pictures, and there's social media pictures, and you know,
maybe depending on the design and style of your website,
you can present all of that. But the ones that
(16:26):
I really often linger on as a viewer myself of
other people's work is one that's just a little more
intimate and it feels just a little more special, and
it allows me to appreciate certain elements in the room
that when you just see the room as a whole,
you might you might miss, especially on a screen. Maybe
(16:46):
not on your desktop because then you have a big image,
but for social media, I might miss the certain beautiful
hand painted element of a tile. If the kitchen's big
and I'm, you know, way in the living room taking
a picture of it, But if I've got to zoom
right in on it, then it becomes just I think,
more special and delicious like Butter.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
Oh I love it delicious like Butter. Well, we're in Iowa,
so we know.
Speaker 5 (17:12):
All about Butter.
Speaker 4 (17:14):
I think that advice is so good, especially for designers
who are either young and just starting their business or
maybe they pivoted from a different career, only because if
you don't have a lot of content, you can do
a lot just by creating vignettes. You don't necessarily have
to have higher space for social media purposes to show
(17:36):
what you can do.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
I one hundred percent believe and support that. And those
are actually fairly quick pictures to take, too, so you
can create more content without taking a lot more time.
It's just in terms of taking the picture but I
just always say prepare, prepare, prepare. The photoshoot's going to
cost the same whether you prepared for it or you
didn't prepare for it. But if you don't have all
(17:58):
the things, then you can't get many shots. If you're
able to hire a stylist, I would recommend doing that,
And if you can't, it's okay, but go find examples
that inspire you, and then you're not going to copy it,
but you can recreate. You're going to go clip your
own version of branches. You're going to go find your
own produce at the market that's fresh at that season,
(18:18):
but don't bring apples and grapes and orange juice and
have a color assortment, you know, just find what works
in that space and just recreate that. Soon enough, you'll
realize that a lot of the key is repeating color
and the tones, and so if there was an eggplant
(18:39):
color used in the room, well, how great would it
be to have figs and or have other elements, the
styling elements that just subtly reference that, because how it
draws the eye through the image with some repeating color
is just it works so well. It's brilliant, and most
people don't know why they love the picture, but they
(19:00):
love the picture. Now, a designer might know, but ultimately
they're creating those images to put out into the world
so that other viewers see them and love their work.
The casual person isn't going to know the trick that
made them save that image, but the design the designer
in collaboration with a photographer and the stylist should know
that and be working towards that end.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
So, Carrie, you've sort of perfectly segued into my next questions,
and I love that you said prepared or not. The
photoshoot does cost the same simple for people to understand
that price tag does not does not vary.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
But photoshoots do.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
For interiors do require so much upfront preparation that requires time, energy,
some money sometimes, So tell us what you do. We
know what the designer prepares for, getting the props, making
sure there's enough flowers, that sort of thing, But is
there anything that you do to prepare for a photo shoot.
And once you walk through those doors for the first time,
(20:00):
what is your first things?
Speaker 3 (20:02):
I love it if I have the opportunity to do
a walk through with the stylist in advance of the shoot.
And that sometimes that works. But sometimes I have a
shoot on the day the stylist is working on that,
and if I do have the ability to do that,
I get to see the house. Usually, you know, we
might not have the walk through at the same time
(20:23):
of day that the photo shoot would start. So maybe
I get to see the first time the house in
the afternoon and I think, oh, the afternoon light is
here and it's good, and I'll take pictures of rooms.
And then when I start the day, then the light
is different on shoot day, and so I kind of
look at it from that standpoint and then I think, Okay, well,
I really loved I noticed at two twenty the light
(20:45):
is great. That's coming through the window and it's hitting
the plaster with all this stapple light on the staircase.
So we're shooting this at this time of day because
I already know that that's when it's going to be
the most beautiful. That's one thing that if I have
the oppertun to do, I really like to do. But
when I first arrive, we walk the project and I
(21:07):
get a sense of hopefully I've seen a shot list
in advance. That might not always happen, and so I'm
trying to gauge the space and the time because usually
they'll say we're going to photograph the living room. Well,
I might walk in and say, well, there's six pictures
in here because it's so incredible, Let's take some time
to do this, and you know, hopefully we have the
(21:30):
team there and we can move the furniture around. And
when I go to the prep walkthrough, though, is when
it's the opportunity to say, it'd be great to have
a piece of art right there. It wouldn't it be
great if we could do this, or if you know,
we could go get a plant and put it in here.
And whether there's a stylist or isn't, sometimes the photographer
(21:50):
can help advise the client if there isn't a stylist involved,
and then they can kind of source those things and
it helps them prepare for a shoot. I know there
are places in the country where there aren't stylists, you know,
and there isn't the market for that, or there isn't
the budget for it, because it's also a huge expense
to the shoot, additional expense. So a good photographer should
(22:14):
be able to make some great recommendations, you know, in
the absence of a stylist and how to improve the shots.
And in that case, if you don't have a stylist,
I would definitely encourage people to ask for the photographer
to do a walkthrough.
Speaker 4 (22:26):
You've already talked a little bit about light. You referenced
it a moment ago, and while it can certainly vary
at the same location throughout the day, it also varies
all around the world. And I know that you've had
the great pleasure of traveling the world that you alluded
to earlier. So how do you think that that has
shaped your photography and create a vision.
Speaker 3 (22:49):
Well, as I said earlier, I just became someone who
kind of would see in pictures and so it's kind
of ironic or cool. I guess that looking at pictures
makes you a better photographer. There's so much that goes
into it. But I ultimately I think being you know,
if you love newborns, then that would be great to
(23:10):
be a newborn photographer, if you love interiors being I mean,
I love the subject matter so much that for a client, well,
you know, they've spent what a year two years in
the home working on it and preparing everything, So I
always expect them to have some have been in the
house at some point and turned around and said, oh,
that's a shot that they didn't ever think of. But ultimately,
(23:33):
my job is to go into a house and find
something that no one's seen before. And oftentimes I like
the client to maybe I don't know if they've stepped
out for a call or they've gone to the restroom
that I can sneak a photo in and it's like
their magic surprise on when I deliver the images that
there's something that I saw that was beautiful that they
(23:53):
didn't ask for or that they didn't know was even happening.
And then it's like a little Christmas gift in the
middle of the week.
Speaker 4 (24:00):
It's a wonderful medium in the fact that you can
make something so special out of nothing.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
Sometimes it's like jaw dropping how the simplest pictures can
sometimes say the most.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
And I love your advice to take pictures. I mean,
maybe this is a great tip for those people out
there who are listening who want to become a better
photographer because social media and we're going to get to that.
We're going to get to social media in a moment.
But it sort of demands all of this photography. That's
what the platform is all about. And I think there
(24:32):
are a lot of people out there who are so
curious about taking better photographs or starting at all. And
so you know what you said to maybe pick a
subject that you're really interested in and that will help
you see it differently.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
Absolutely. I mean I've seen pictures of cars that take
my breath away and I don't care anything about cars,
but clearly the person who took the picture loves them,
and so that really comes through in the image.
Speaker 4 (24:58):
Yes, you can certainly tell the past. It goes beyond
the subject. So, okay, let's talk about it. Social media,
like everything in life, it has pros and cons. What
role does social media playing your business and exposure? Do
you love it personally? Do you not? Are you worried
about people stealing your images? Just give it all to us?
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Oh well, I would say I only have a career
because of social media. You know, if Instagram hadn't come
on in the scene at that time, there would not
have been really the need for the images. I mean
before people just shot them, you know. Occasionally for me,
might have a couple of projects on your website or
in a print magazine. As you know, but people never
photographed all of their projects, so it really created all
(25:44):
this demand. And I kind of again was there sort
of at the right time. I loved social media. It's
it's your business card if you're a photographer, right, I mean,
why do you need a card that doesn't have if
you could have a walking portfolio, you know that everyone
has on you have my portfolio in your in your pocket,
(26:05):
you know, So being a photographer, I mean it really
lends itself to that world. And there's just there's so
many ways it can be leveraged. And you know, if
you are starting out, it doesn't Again I kind of
referenced this before I went and just hustled. You can
you're a photographer. You can create content in any way,
shape or form that you want and go out and
(26:26):
do it. Don't just at home waiting for the phone
to ring. Yes, social media presents some challenges with image theft,
and I think that's the way of the world. I
think ultimately the pros outweigh the cons because again, you
wouldn't have all this work if people didn't feel the
need to post and share and stay relevant, and you know,
(26:48):
they don't want to fall out of the algorithm by
having nothing to post or you know, whatever it is
people say these days. Yeah, I mean there's there's things
that become difficult to manage well.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
And I think the good news is the education for
about the whole image theft and usage. That's people are
starting to listen to that. I think in this business
generally speaking, that designers or stylists or other people in
the business don't intend to do anything wrong. I think
the information has never been clear, and so now there's
(27:18):
far more clarity as everybody in the industry understands what
their rights are to photography and why you can't just
use somebody else's work.
Speaker 3 (27:29):
Yes, I would say initially it was definitely the wild West,
but there are some actual more education and more understanding,
and hopefully people haven't had to learn the hard way.
But maybe some of them have. I don't you know.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
I think I think I know some of them have.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
But some of it is just education and people make mistakes,
and of course, you know, you want to be you
want to represent yourself and not be kind of trampled
over by when it feels like big companies are taking
the image of a you know, a sole proprietor and
profiting off of them in a way that feels kind
of icky or hurts your feelings or whatever, But ultimately
it's business and it's just you have a civil conversation
(28:06):
about it and explain it. And I really haven't had
many situations where anyone was like, oh, I'm sorry and
they'll just pay for the image, and I am fine.
I don't need any punitive I don't take it that way.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
You have the benefit of having these beautifully lit images
because you are a photographer. Now, of course a designer
has those if they're paying for those images, but all
of us out there may just have the random shots
that we take. How important is it to you? I mean,
I know it depends a little bit on what the
business is, but when you are strolling through other accounts,
(28:42):
how important is it for you for the quality of
the image to be fabulous?
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Look, I think everyone should turn the lights off and
take pictures, and sometimes people outside of the design world
don't know that at all, And I think that's helpful.
If you're even photographing food, get that yellow tin jatafit,
get natural light, get good side light, and that's helpful.
It's just I think you can create content with your
phone and have it look pretty. I think it helps
if it's straight up and down in lieu of maybe
(29:09):
having something photographed and maybe a project went off the
rails and you don't want to hire someone for the
full shoot, but there's some pretty moments. Turn the lights
off and take it with your phone and then do
a little editing. The phones are so good now, so
that doesn't bother me. And I think too that designers
could have a separate folder of things that they want
(29:31):
to communicate with their clients, some of which would be
represented in a beautiful photograph that they paid for, but
some that could be very well explained with an average
image from a cell phone, but that you could technically
improved if you took a little time and.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Tried well, Carrie, Trends is obviously a popular word in
the creative world, and there's always trends in every different
type of industry and business, and I'm sure that goes
for photography as well. What do you feel about photography trends?
Is there one at the moment that you feel like
it's run its course or when you're loving I don't
(30:08):
like trends.
Speaker 3 (30:10):
There was when I was first starting, you know, the
trend to kind of blow everything out, and the windows
weren't you know, crisp. It was you know, it could
be a style. But I felt like maybe that was
technically incorrect to not have managed to control the light
a little better. And maybe I almost thought that there
(30:30):
were so many people creating content and DIY and home
bloggers that they were taking their pictures themselves, and so
I think that was an overexposed picture that's not professionals
better than a dark picture from the cell phone. And
so I think there was just this let's light everything
(30:50):
up too much, and I didn't care for that. I'll
be the first to say I love Harris Kinjar's work
that he's producing with Sean Anderson. It's dark, it's moody,
it's fantastic. But it doesn't make sense for every designer
who doesn't design a moody room to go, oh, I
like that moody photography make my design moody, and you think, well,
you have all white walls. You want it to look
(31:12):
like smoke damage. Stop jumping on a trend. Hire someone
who has a portfolio that matches best with your design,
because there are other clients who are like, our brand
is airy, and bright, and you know it isn't moody
and deep, and so the trend doesn't matter. You have
(31:33):
a brand, marry the photography that best goes with the
design and the brand that you have, versus jumping on
some trend to go, oh, there was a moody thing.
Unless you start just designing moody, then yeah, go there.
But if it is incongruss with the design, I don't
think that you should be jumping on a trend. Plus,
that's his voice, it's not your voice. Quit trying to
(31:55):
be the copy of someone else and find your own,
because your own would be unique and it would be
good enough if you focused on what you're good at.
And so it's just like if a painter tried to
go paint like someone else. Just know, paint how you
would paint, and then it'll be good. But don't try
to be like other people.
Speaker 4 (32:12):
Well, and I can speak to the moody photography thing.
I mean I'm receiving quite a bit of it through submissions,
and perhaps it's my non twenty five year old set
of eyes that I have, but I can't see what's
in it.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
It's I think it's very hard to see some of
the elements.
Speaker 4 (32:31):
I can't see, and it doesn't do if a designer
is trying to attract people to their work, it's like
you want to see those beautiful elements and the beautiful
patterns and the fabric details and that really dark, moody photography.
To your point, if you design that way, it is
one thing, but also it just may be a different,
(32:53):
more artful sort of style, like maybe not the best
for Instagram or for editorial purposes.
Speaker 3 (32:59):
Can still be beautiful, but some of that might be
not the most widely appealing.
Speaker 4 (33:06):
Well, Carrie, we know that we love to talk to
you about photography and all things photographs that I know
that photography is not your only creative Wane, So tell
us about your other business and that you have and
show it round top.
Speaker 3 (33:22):
Well, I am importing frames from Europe and I pair
them either with vintage or contemporary art. And that was
kind of born out of truly going to some design
projects and being a little bit sad that there wasn't
more art on the walls, and I would bring my
own art, hold it on the wall, and then photoshop
my body out of it later. And then I just
(33:42):
thought this is kind of crazy, but I was moving
and in one closet I had a bunch of frames,
and then in another I guess I had an art
buying problem. I had art under lots of beds that
I had sort of bought and then hidden, and I
would take them to the frame store and then I
would leave with them all unframed because I was so
uninspired by just the commercially available frames. And then when
(34:02):
I was moving and I was kind of putting together
all my hoards, I was like, oh, look at this
frame on this art now that I because they'd never
I guess I'd never really stored them in the same place.
I don't know why, and so I started doing that.
And then I also felt like there was a hole
in the market for smalls. I think a lot of
people know what galleries to get to go get, you know,
(34:24):
fifty five by seventy something giant canvas. But in these
giant homes that are new, if you put all gallery
wrap or floater frames, and it just feels like all
the arts new. And I wanted to feel more collected,
and so I kind of started the shop element of
that business. And I have a booth ed Marburger and
(34:48):
round top in both the fall and the spring, and
then I'm in a local antique mall in Houston called MAI.
It's Memorial Antiques and Interiors. But then I kind of
expanded that to say, you know, I'm looking at two
thousand pieces of art a week, sometimes more. And I thought, well,
you know, this isn't something that I can afford to
buy to put in my little frame. Maybe it's not
(35:09):
the right size. I chase this down the rabbit hole,
only to find out that it's, you know, a five
thousand dollars piece, and that's not really my price point
for buying and sitting in inventory. But it's a beautiful piece,
and this would look so good and you know, any
of these houses and this is a Spanish artist and
no one in Houston knows who they are, And how
cool would that be to build the collection that looks
like maybe you still spent two to three months curating it,
(35:32):
but looks like you spent thirty years. And so that
was kind of the next step in that part of
the business that you know, goes along with photography. I
want with photography, look, the furniture's kind of low, and
the lighting's high, and the ceilings, you know, are high
in these homes, you know, eleven feet is high. Twelve
feet sometimes persents real challenges with photography and truth, because
(35:56):
if you don't have a lot of art, the middle
part of your picture is kind of the empty zone.
And so it was kind of the anti furniture. Don't
go buy art from the furniture store and don't not
have art. And sometimes the gallery experience to me is
just intimidating because there's no prices and you're like, what
(36:17):
does this cost? What does this cost? What does this cost?
People want to know am I swinging in the five
thousand dollars part of the pond or the five hundred
thousand dollars of the part of the pond? And I
might can afford to be in this gallery, but I
need to know where on the continuum these pieces are.
And so I want people to own something original that
is not out of their budget and that brings them
(36:40):
joy and is personal. And because the art is unique,
and then the frame is additionally unique, then together no
one for all the people are like I could paint that, well,
I'm like number one, you're never going to but it'll
never exist in this frame. And so it's just so
perfect and unique, and it gives me the opportunity to
(37:01):
be a little more creative. And the kind of the
colors of the frame and maybe the undertones and the
frame reference the color of in the art, or you know,
you can just do some pairing that's unexpected but looks
so good together. And because I am photographing someone else's
creative design, I am there in a way to document it.
(37:24):
And I'm not saying that what we do isn't creative,
but it isn't just like fine art photography. I am
hired to do a job, and so this thing is
like it's all my own.
Speaker 4 (37:35):
It's really wonderful. And I think the pairing with the
frames with the old pieces or vintage pieces, there's some
wonderful marriage there that feels so twenty twenty five. We're
almost at twenty twenty six. It feels modern. Even when
you take those vintage elements, I don't know, it gives
them new life. Yes, face a facelift.
Speaker 3 (37:56):
Well one. I always love the reu and the repurposing
of I mean, they don't make frames like they used to,
just you know, they don't make a lot of things
like they used to. But just the attention to the detail.
It could make me cry. It's so beautiful, you know,
and so but you might hate the painting in there.
But what if we reimagine it all together and make
(38:19):
it something that is fresh and something that that younger
people would would enjoy, because they would never you know,
have a you know, a Victorian scene in their house.
But they love the frame and you put it with
something a little more modern. It's it's magic.
Speaker 4 (38:34):
It's pretty special. Well, and I love that you are
focusing on smalls because I think that sort of rips
that intimidation factor away for somebody who is just tapping
into the art world. Yes, early on or for the
first time, because artwork is intimidating, so can be intimidating.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Yes, and I don't want it to be. Look, you
should buy what you love. You shouldn't buy it in
my in my opinion. But I'm not here to tell
people how to invest their money. If you want to
curate art for part of your investment portfolio, there's a
million people and they're not me. I want people just
to buy what they love. And sometimes some of my
favorite pieces it's like I don't even know I can't
(39:13):
figure out who this artist was they didn't sign it,
and I have no I have no idea, but look
how great it looks in this frame and makes you
feel great when you look at it in your house
every day. So it's just kind of gives Sprinkle's joy
throughout people's homes and lives.
Speaker 4 (39:30):
So we are at the tail end of this episode,
and I have a couple of rapid fire questions for you, Carrie,
and then I not with fire over. They're a rapid
fire that we're on there, so so, and then I'm
going to turn it over to Megan because she has
a couple of as well. So what is one photo
that you wish you would have taken. Was there a
(39:50):
moment in your travels or a kid moment even with
your boys, that you're like, oh, I wish I would
have had this documented.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
Probably yes, with kids, but sometimes they don't like when
I bring the camera out, so I try just to
be present with them. So I'll set aside the kid
thing because probably there's a lot of those, but I'm
trying to not be the person who annoys everyone with
my camera. I was driving to Round Top and there
(40:17):
was a storm rolling in and there's a pond and
a hill and a horse was running and I was like, ah,
should I crash the car, you know? And I just said, Okay,
there's no possible way I could take this picture because
there was traffic and I don't even think I have
my camera with me. But I was like, okay, just
freeze it in your mind, freeze it in your mind,
(40:37):
and it'll just be the picture that's only for me.
So yes, I still think about that.
Speaker 4 (40:42):
There's probably higher ones chasing a rainbow.
Speaker 3 (40:45):
Just yeah, everyone, yes, yes.
Speaker 4 (40:50):
And is there a dream brand or designer that you
would love to photograph for like you're such a fan
of their work or a product and it's like, oh,
I would love to imagine that through my lens and
bring it to fruition.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
So for me, I would think that it would be
like a version of you know, like a BlackBerry farms
but in all the settings, so kind of like a
boutique hotel but in nature, because I love design and
I love architecture, but I really still kind of was
born of a travel photographer, and so catching a place
(41:25):
that's in the situation and in nature and in its
natural setting is kind of to me my favorite and
I like, I love nature, but it's as lieu of
just taking a picture of a mountain. I'd rather have
a picture of an old bridge that gives the landscape scale,
or a lighthouse in something, or a fortress, an old
(41:48):
you know, some kind of human element in a landscape
is really stunning to me. But I do like the
boutique hotel element, you know, because then there's a lot
of content because you're really, here's the experience here. Yes,
there's the hotel, and here's your room. But I don't
want to go to here's the here's the queen room,
here's the king room, here's that. I don't want to
(42:09):
go take all those pictures of every of every booking option.
But oh, look at here's the food because I used
to do some food photography too. Or here's a hammock
that would be right by the ocean, and here's the
sunset and the breeze. So sometimes those assignments I think
could be fun there for my when my kids graduate,
so that I could if I traveled, I could be
(42:30):
gone a little bit longer. So that's still, you know,
a possibility, but not something I'm actively pursuing at this
at this juncture.
Speaker 2 (42:38):
Well, and Carrie, our last two questions. Tell us what
your perfect boulevard would look like.
Speaker 3 (42:43):
Well, it would probably be full of sand, and I
could be barefoot, and there would probably be some palm
trees and just a little imperfection, you know, and some
beautiful views.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
And music tells that story, like you were saying, definitely,
And finally, what's the beat that keeps you going?
Speaker 3 (43:02):
Okay, Well, so I will tell you Spotify. The Fleetwood
Mac channel on Spotify is really really good. They don't
play a bad song, so those are really great for
shoot days. The beat that keeps me moving, it's a
combination of I really enjoy people in the relationships that
I have built through this business and going and interacting
(43:23):
with most not all, of my clients are women. But
I do like that there's this I don't know, clients
who become friends and just we have such amazing dialogue
and everyone has such unique stories, and when you're with
someone all day long, you really get to know them
in a different way than if you just casually sell
them out. So that is always I'm always really surprised.
(43:47):
One of the things we didn't really talk too much
about the social media, but you know, you can hear
the news or see stuff on social media and you're like,
I hate this, and then I go out in the world,
I'm like, I love everyone, and so I think ultimately
getting out and just being with people we all I
don't know, it just improves humanity when we interact together
(44:08):
and create together and work together and support one another.
Speaker 5 (44:11):
So true and I love that. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:13):
Well, Carrie, thank you so much for sharing your insights
and stories and your incredible eye for capturing spaces with
us today.
Speaker 3 (44:20):
No, it was wonderful. I enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (44:24):
Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Boulevard Beat.
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow along and leave
a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen
so you never miss an episode, and of course, follow
your hosts on Instagram at Megan bloom Interiors, at CHRISA.
Speaker 5 (44:39):
Rossbund, and at Liz Legit.
Speaker 2 (44:41):
We'll be back next week as we take a stroll
down another boulevard
Speaker 5 (45:02):
To contin
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.