About

With my fave film camera, the Pentax Spotmatic.
Image taken at Taylor House in Hammond, LA.

Hi, my name is Karen, and it’s lovely to meet you! I’m the photographer behind Burn Like A Flame. I offer multiple photography services for K-Pop and other fandom events, such as event photography, photo booths, custom printed photos, and lots of other fun things!

I also like to run my own K-Pop events occasionally in the New Orleans area. Check out my Events page for more information on those!

I live in Louisiana, close to New Orleans. For my day job, I work in IT, providing support to multiple offices. I’m also in school, getting my degree in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance.

How’d you get into K-Pop?

I’ve always been a music person. Alternative, industrial, goth, metal, classic rock, pop, rap, hip-hop, R&B – I’ll pretty much give anything a listen, and I love learning about new bands and genres. Just like a lot of people over the past few years, I kind of started poking around K-Pop, thanks to the rising popularity of BTS in the US. Yep, I’m one of those people who heard Dynamite and Butter and was like “hmmm okay then.”

One of my friends, M, is a huge BTS fan, and when the group announced that they were going to livestream their Las Vegas Permission To Dance concert, I said “Sure, I’ll host a watch party, they sound fun in concert!” Three hours after watching the show with a group of friends, I was HOOKED.

I started asking and digging for recommendations on other groups, which led me to Stray Kids, whose sound I fell in love with, and that led me to ATEEZ, who almost instantly became my favorite group. There’s so much I am still finding and hearing about, and it’s a lot of fun!

Who’s your favorite groups/biases/ults?

~deep breath~ Here we go!

Ult groups:

  • ATEEZ
    • Ult of Ults: Hongjoong
    • Biases: OT8 – I truly do love them all. But if I have to pick, Seonghwa.
  • Stray Kids
    • Ult: Bang Chan
    • Biases: OT8, honestly. But if I have to pick somebody, I’d have to say Jeongin.
  • SHINee
    • Biases: Key and Taemin
  • Seventeen
    • Biases: Vernon, S. Coups

Other groups and soloists I like:

  • BTS
    • Biases: RM, J-Hope, and Suga (yes, the entire dang rap line)
  • Monsta X
    • Bias: Joohoney
  • ONEUS
    • Bias: Leedo
  • Mamamoo
    • Bias: Hwasa
ATEEZ Towards The Light: Will To Power concert.
Taken at Gas South Arena, Duluth, GA, July 2024.

Where did the name “Burn Like A Flame” come from?

It’s a translated lyric from “Answer”, from ATEEZ’s Treasure Epilogue: Action to Answer album.

Call, call, call us right now
Burn like a flame
Call, call, call us right now
As loud as you can be heard anywhere
Burn like a flame

Anything else?

I’m married to a wonderful fellow geek who loves classic Doctor Who, board games, video gaming, 3D printing, woodworking, and most everything tech-related.

We have a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Daisy, and a Chihuahua, Mia. We got Daisy from a local breeder in 2019, and Mia was my mother-in-law’s pup that we took in after she passed in 2020. They’re both extremely spoiled, LOVE snuggles and attention from people, and taking up all the room on the bed. 

I love going to sci-fi/comic/anime conventions and ren faires.

I met my husband and some of my oldest friends through LARPing (live action roleplaying).

I love vintage-inspired fashion, especially dresses that look like they’re from the 40s and 50s, but my heart will always hold a special place for early 90s grunge fashion (dresses + combat boots forever).