KX2 Studios

ABOUT US!

It is important to know how we came to be. KX2 Studios has been an evolution that has taken place over
a quarter century. As this business has evolved so have we in order to remain competitive in a very
competitive market.

Since Karl first picked up a camera as a kid he was fascinated with the magic that is photography. He
developed a passion that has kept him focused on learning his craft. By High School Karl was never seen
without his trusty Pentax camera. In Jr. High and High School he was a photographer for the newspaper
and yearbook, where he captured the life events and showed what mattered most to his peers. He
recognized that the images he captured could bring joy to the hearts of his subjects. He loved the magic
of developing images in the darkroom.

In 1989 Karl had the opportunity to photograph his first wedding. It was at that moment he realized he
might just be able to make a living turning his hobby into a profession. Karl has always loved the idea of
capturing images, whether on film in a static form or in motion. While still in High School, Karl explored
the avenues of working in Television when he went to work at the local Fox Television affiliate KCWT 27
in Wenatchee WA. This opportunity pushed him to pursue an education in media. While studying Radio,
Television and Film production at San Antonio College, Karl went to work at KRRT 35 the Fox affiliate in
San Antonio as an associate editor and photographer producing low budget commercials for the station.
He also worked as a photographer for KVDA 60 the local Telemundo affiliate.

In 1991 Karl worked on a couple major projects. A movie with Patrick Swayze (Father Hood) as a
production assistant (gopher), and a music video for REM (Everybody Hurts).
Karl continued to pursue photography as a hobby occasionally doing paid gigs until 1994 when he went
to work for a chain of studios offered him a position as a photographer. Karl worked hard and learned
how these systems work. He became studio manager in two months and District management in eleven
months. Karl now had 15 studios to manage from Bellingham to Centralia. The beeper was always going
off. He was not taking pictures rather just dealing with customer service and training issues. The joy was
gone.

In late 1996, just before Christmas, this family friendly corporate environment that he was climbing to
make regional director suddenly spit him out of the system during a merger with another studio chain.
Karl was suddenly out of a job, one he was really doing well with. He went back to work as a chef while
he regrouped. In early 1997 Karl started his first real photography business. InFocus Photography, He
owned two camera bodies and three lenses. He was determined to make it work.
While continuing to grow his business Karl went to work for another national chain studio in Bellevue
Washington. He remained with them until 1998, at which time he knew he had to pursue this alone. In
late 1997 Karl teamed up with his friend Gill Bahnsen of GB Imaging, to collaborate on and event that
Gill needed help with. Gill knew Karl had the large volume experience and Gill had the better gear. They
worked together on a few other projects and soon decided to go into business together. Studio L
Photography was born. Unfortunately as the business began to grow both parties had different ideas of
how to build the business should go. In 1999 Gill pulled out of Studio L Photography. What Karl had
learned about systems and operations Karl was able to apply to his studio. He brought what he had
learned about customer service to his new venture.

In the late 1990s there was a revolution beginning to take hold. The digital revolution, being a small
operation Karl needed to figure out how to be a part of it. He knew it was inevitable and had to be done
in order for his small company to grow. In early 2001 Karl relocated his business from Burien
Washington to his hometown of Leavenworth Washington. This was a strategic move in order to
become a bigger fish in a smaller pond. It was the right move; it was still an emerging market with only a
handful of photographers in the Wenatchee Valley. Before long he was up and running, he had began to
network and build his clientele.

In 2002 Karl scraped together and invested $30,000, to take his fledgling studio “digital”. What a bumpy ride it was.
At this time most studios were just going digital. They were investing thousands of dollars in a single
camera body (3-5MP). It was a learning curve. Suddenly we as the photographers were become the lab,
what we had farmed out to a professional lab the photographer was now becoming the technician.

There was a huge controversy over whether film was better than digital.
Studios that had been around for generations were going out of business. Professional labs that had
been servicing photographers for years suddenly went away. Studios struggled to make the transition.
Karl struggled; he kept his nose to the grind stone. He persevered, in an effort to not only continue to
grow as a professional, but to grow his business. In a few ways even the established studios were on the
same playing field. Karl had actually beaten a couple into the digital arena. It gave him a competitive
edge.

Karl could still hear one of his teachers’ words in the back of his mind saying “Change with the times or
die on the vine”. Those words rang true more than ever at this turning point in professional
photography. He knew he had taken a huge risk, and it had paid off.

Over the next few years Studio L Photography saw tremendous growth, out growing its studio space and
moved four times in five years. Then suddenly it happened. It stopped. The digital revolution had taken
hold. Prices came way down and a new breed of photographer popped up. Before long the market was
over saturated with new photographers who had never even loaded film into a camera.
The year prior we had photographed 45 weddings and 60 seniors, along with countless families. Then
we photographed less than half of that. Our business had fallen off by more than 50% in an area with
less than 45,000 people. We were vendors at a wedding show with 45 vendors and 36 of them were
photographers, many of which had never even owned a camera a year ago.

Sadly at the end of the summer in 2006 Karl closed the doors on Studio L Photography and relocated
back to the Seattle area to go to work for a couple well established studios. Karl worked as the manager
for Photoazz Studios church directory division, traveling the Northwest working with wonderful families
in churches helping them get great family portraits while also producing a church directory for them. He
also went to work for Perler’s Photography in Puyallup as a staff photographer photographing students
for yearbooks and sports.

Karl had to regroup. He and his wife Kendra moved to Bonney Lake where they opened Schraml Image &
Design in early 2008. Working out of their home studio they saw modest business, some lines grew
while others did not. The focus on the business waned, keeping mostly a part time venture for the last
couple years. The began to focus their energies on Schraml Creative Group an Web and Graphic Design
company they had formed playing up on Kendra’s IT background.

As that business began to grow Karl began to focus more on commercial and product photography. Over
time however Karl realized he really missed the true joy he got from being an integral part of the
important moments in people’s lives by capturing those memories that they would treasure for years to
come.

Karl had lost his focus on the people, the friends of his business. When he realized this he and Kendra
sat down decided to come back bigger and stronger.
Creating a new studio KX2 Studios (Karl x Kendra) focusing on wonderful portraits that will be cherished
for years to come. Besides nobody can pronounce Schraml anyway.

In 2014 Karl and Kendra had the opportunity to return to SoCal. Karl worked with many industry professionals photographing actors head shots and even working on a couple television productions.

Karl and Kendra relocated to San Antonio TX in early 2015 to be closer to family. The business was being run out of their home for the first several months. Building clientele, building a new business in a new market. In early 2017 they moved into a new studio space in the heart of the Medical Center area on Fredericksburg Rd. This beautiful new space offers lots more flexibility and opens doors for much more to come.

So here we are….

A NEW NAME!

A NEW LOOK!

A NEW ATTITUDE!