Style Sunday - an Interview with Ravencolours

This week we take a trip inside the eclectic and colorful world of Ravencolours. Her images run the gamut between somber and desaturated, to vibrant and alive. The compositions in her shop awaken the senses and reverberate deep into the subconscious with their rhythm, their color and their texture. Each image seems to be contain a little secret that flits between your consciousness and the periphery of your mind. Take a step inside and see what I mean...



Kate (aka Ravencolours) has been doing photography for four years, since her junior year of high school. "I am now a sophomore at Kent State University pursuing a degree in photojournalism," she says. "Besides photography, I love music. I have been playing clarinet for 9 years and was a proud band geek in high school! I also love listening to music. It's a big influence on my work, I can't work without it!"

FPOE
When did you realized you were a photographer? Was it a gradual process or did it hit you at once?

Kate
I took my first photography class strictly on a whim. My friend had taken the class and it seemed like something I would really enjoy and I knew the teacher, so I signed up. After my first few shoots I realized it was something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life, and my love for it has only grown.

FPOE
How would you describe your style?

Kate
I think my style is very inspired by film and old-school photography. I started out on an old Olympus X-370 35mm that I got handed down to me from my Great Uncle, so that's how I learned. I love and miss the darkroom. There is no darkroom on campus so I try to keep the look of film photography alive with my digital prints. I've also started a mini Polaroid camera collection.

FPOE
What inspires you to pick up your camera?

Kate
Good music, moods, happiness, boredom, need to experiment, sun rays poking through the clouds, beautiful art, nature, rain on a tin roof, snow flakes, cold weather, vacations, possibilities, compliments, friends, joy, love, life, sunsets, full moons, nature, aliens the list goes on

FPOE
What subjects really speak to you?

Kate
This is a tough one. Pretty much anything that I find beautiful or unique. I tend to gravitate towards things that have an interesting silhouette or texture.

FPOE
Tell me a little bit about your shooting and editing process.

Kate
I normally do my editing (and a good chunk of my shooting) at obscene hours of the night. I get an idea in my head and I have to shoot it, otherwise I'm afraid I will forget it or loose the mood. I look at each photo individually when I edit so it's not really any routine or regiment I follow. Since each picture is different, not one color scheme or process would look good on each photo. The process could take anywhere from a few minutes to hours to get a photo just right and sometimes you run into happy accidents that make the photos different but even better than I imagined.

FPOE
Can you tell me about any life experiences that have deepened or expanded your work?

Kate
I definitely think coming to college has helped at least improve my work. I feel like I have grown, just as a person, so that's automatically going to help me grow as an artist. It's helped me tremendously with my confidence and aided me in discovering what direction I want to go in with my work. Also, I took an AP art course in high school and I think being surrounded by all the different styles and creative people gave me the push I needed to be able to pursue photography in college in the first place.

FPOE
What was the process that brought you to Etsy?

Kate
Well, I started out on dA and met several wonderful artists on there who sold their work. I had heard negative things about their print selling process and decided to pursue different avenues of selling my work. It was through that process that I ran across Etsy, though I can't remember how for the life of me. I browsed the site, did my homework, gave msyelf a little pep talk and decided to set up shop! I never looked back.

FPOE
What has your experience selling been?

Kate
I've had a learning process selling. I've only had my shop for a year and every day it seems I learn something more about how to manage my shop or attract more buyers. I love the community on the site and the people who have helped me along the way.

FPOE
Do you sell other products other than photos?

Kate
Just photography for now ;)

FPOE
Any advice to other photographers selling on Etsy?

Kate
Don't get discouraged! There are lots of shops out there, so it will take a little bit of time for buyers to come to your shop. Take people's advice, they usually know what theyre talking about, go to shop critiques in the virtual lab or in chat rooms. Be proactive and advertise off of etsy, that's where you're going to get more sales.

To see more of Kate/Ravencolour's work, check out her Etsy Shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ravencolours