Kim Ulrick of
Moolric is a photographer and April's Army member who I met through the super-secret Regretsy chat room whose breath-taking macro photography of nature ensured that I bug her until she agreed to answer my questions. An Australian, born and raised, Kim studied graphic design at university and decided on a career in web design. She went back for a few years to study photography, fell in love and now presents us with her passion (which she thankfully has the talent to back up) in her Etsy shop.
Tell us three other things about yourself.
I'm a scuba diver - certified to rescue diver.
I love my pets; I have two cats and a dog.
I play a lot of video games - especially WoW.
Tell us about how you first got into photography.
I did it in high school. I got my first SLR at 17 and had a darkroom set up in the laundry. I did it a bit more during my design degree, but i didn't really get into it until I got a digital camera. I started posting on
fotolog and for a long time I managed to post every single day. Knowing that people were actually looking at my photos, and liked them, made a huge difference.
What’s your favorite thing you’ve made?
I really like the wedding album i made for my brother and his wife. It was a big project, but having a physical book at the end that i had designed was so much better than a pile of photos. I've always thought that combining photos well, will make them greater than the sum of their parts.
From where do you take inspiration?
I do a lot of nature macro photos. I love looking for the little details that most people walk past. So I guess I get inspired by the weird and wonderful in nature - the bits that aren't as obvious as sunsets.
Name one piece of art you wish you’d created and why?
Do you count documentaries as art? I wish I'd had anything to do with making The Blue Planet. It really showcases how beautiful the world is and how different things are underwater.
I have to count documentaries. My husband is a filmmaker so I know the art that goes into it. Aside from watching the Discovery Channel, what are you doing when you’re not crafting?
Well, video games as I said before. But now that summer is coming up I'll be spending a lot more time at the beach.
I'm jealous of your summer beginning as ours comes to a close. If you had to give up your medium and pursue another, what would it be and why?
I have tried a lot of different crafts. Pretty much anything that sounds fun - embroidery and sewing toys have been the big ones lately. It's rare that anything holds my attention for long though, the way
photography has. If I did do something else it would need to be something that was a large part digital.
I appreciate people who have a capacity for digital art. It's never been something that's come out weel for me. Tell us about a time you were making something that came out better than expected and how it happened.
I bought a
lomo camera to help me do 'messier' photos. I'm really bad at faking messy in my photos and design, so letting it happen naturally in the camera seemed like a good idea. But when I got the
first roll of film printed. the photos were so terrible. Underexposed and blah. But a couple of months later I found the bag and had a look at the scans I'd had done, did a bit of post-processing in photoshop
and I was amazed at the difference it made.
Who is one person living or dead, famous or not, who you wish owned one of your creations and why?
I honestly can't think of anyone. I don't really care too much about my photos being owned by individuals. I would much prefer to see my photos in a book or magazine and owned/seen by a million people instead.
I like the way you think. How would you explain how to do what you do to an eight year old?
"I take photos." I think photography is self-explanatory to even a small child. And
kids get their photos taken so much now, I think they all understand
what a camera does in essence. Unless you use a film camera. Then they
get confused when their picture doesn't show up on the back.
There is a lot that is involved in taking a great picture. What’s your favorite part of the process?
Going for walks looking for bugs and flowers to shoot. I become hyper-aware of my surroundings. Though the times I've done aerial photography have been pretty awesome too.
One random thing you think people should know.
The animals in Australia won't actually try to kill you if you come visit.
Your shop address/facebook/Twitter/blog/website. Etc.
Shop at
http://moolric.etsy.com
Website at
http://pets.kimulrick.com and also at
http://www.kimulrick.com
Flickr at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimmau
And one final question. If you could go anywhere on Earth at any point in time, where and when
would you go and why?
Assuming I could get home again safely, I'd want to go to the
Cretaceous period and see some dinosaurs.
My husband would be inclined to agree with you. As Kim's a Regretsy member, I'm going to take this time to let you guys know the April's Army Charity store opens tomorrow, August 30th, so check it out. This month we're helping pay a girl's tuition to beauty school. Please make a note and go by tomorrow and at least share the links and love.
