Exploration with Culture
To depict the differences of diffused light and hard light on flowers, I created the following composition of an unknown flower species. Upon completion, the differences observed are slim. Diffused light – left. Hard light – right.
Location: SCCA Studios, Seattle, WA
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens
100mm, 1/200 sec at ƒ/5.6 & ƒ/11, ISO 200, tripod mount.
Post: Adobe LR3 & PS5
To create a narrative environmental portrait, I had three fellow photographers with one Elinchrom and two Triton strobes, as well as a lonely Speedlite. The Tritons were placed behind the subject through the doorway, with the Elinchrom resting beneath the camera pointed at the foreground and up the stairs. The Speedlite, attached to a PocketWizard, was placed directly at the feet of my subject (aka Tre). And once the exposure and lighting was perfected, I placed a handful of potato starch in Tre’s right hand. One. Two. He lobbed the starch over his head. Three. I released the shutter, capturing the four flashes while dragging the shutter to 2.5 seconds in order to absorb the ambient light and the fall of the potato starch. The effect? A man and his dog, come upon the viewer and suddenly something mystical transpires. The man is not who we think he is. Neither is his dog.
Location: U District, Seattle, WA
Model: Tre Williams
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS USM Zoom Lens
24mm, 2.5 sec at f/11, ISO 400, tripod mount.
Post: Adobe LR3 & PS5
Lo-key is the opposite of hi-key. The absence of light and a play on dark tones defines the dramatic lo-key photograph. Incorporate a good use of positive and negative values, and a narrative should unfold between your subject and the audience. Here I photographed my subject in character as a Shaman. He’s preparing for a ceremony with wild turkey heads using a large rusty cleaver in silhouette. He painted himself a sooty black with a singular white stripe running from forehead down to chin. There’s an aggressive, tense look as if he was suddenly interrupted within his sanctuary preparing for the ritual.
Location: SCCA Studios, Seattle, WA
Model: Matt Kuntz
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
70mm, 1/10 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100, tripod mount.
Post: Adobe LR3 & PS5
Food Prep. An enjoyable shoot because after you’re finished you get to eat it. I wanted to create a striking image focusing strictly on the food and a particular message. And the message? Polluting our planet, polluting our food. We live off the resources this planet provides us, and by wrapping a plastic holder for a six-pack can of Dale’s Pale Ale around the salmon’s head while floating over a white ceramic plate, represents the sense of fragility yet power which our food is. This image is a composite: one image exposed for the plate, the other for the salmon which was hung with 15lbs fishing line cleaned up in PS5.
Location: SCCA Studios, Seattle, WA
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
70mm, 1/25 sec at f/4.5, ISO 100, tripod mount.
Post: Adobe LR3 & PS5
Softboxes come in a range of shapes and sizes. Here we needed to experiment with three different boxes in the studio: a strip bank, an octobank, and a 2×3 foot softbox. Here I photographed the solemnity of a noose in the following order:
1) Strip bank
2) 2×3 Softbox
3) Octobank
And my preferred choice with this subject? The strip bank highlights the noose on camera right, creating more contrast and thus more drama. Which is your favorite?
Location: SCCA Studios, Seattle, WA
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
100mm, 1/25 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100, tripod mount.
Post: Adobe LR3 & PS5
On this next assignment we were asked to control the highlights on a highly reflective subject with the use of one strobe. I chose a simple brass cuff with Native American symbology carved into the surface. Using one strobe camera left raised to a 45 degree angle with a gold reflector directly beneath the floating cuff, I sought to create an image representing a National Geographic artifact found at an archaeological dig.
Location: Home Studios, Bainbridge Island, WA
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens
100mm, 1/60 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100, tripod mount.
Post: Adobe LR3 & PS5
Location: SCCA Studios, Seattle, WA
Model: Sean Sweeney (Sweendo)
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
1/60 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100, tripod mount.
Post: Adobe LR3 & PS5
The assignment here was to create a commercial portrait focusing on butterfly lighting. To do this you place the key light directly in front and above the subject’s nose in order to create a shadow effect directly underneath the nose that resembles a butterfly. Three other lights were used in this portrait of an “Arctic Explorer”; a fill light to camera right nearest the camera, a hairlight at three-quarters rear camera right, and a background light on a black seamless at camera left 90 degrees from the subject.
Location: SCCA Studios, Seattle, WA
Model: Sean Sweeney (Sweendo)
Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark II with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens
93mm, 1/60 sec at f/2.8, ISO 100, tripod mount.
Post: Adobe LR3 & PS5
Cameron Karsten's Imaginarium 