Seattle – Cameron Karsten's Imaginarium

Photo Essay: Ryderville Ink’s Tsunami Over Mt. Baker

March 25, 2013 by cameronkarsten Leave a Comment

Tracy Lang moves from huge woodblock prints to the art of the tattoo. Welcome the new Ryderville Ink. Unlike any tattoo I’ve seen before, her Tsunami Over Mt. Baker wraps the right shoulder with a pinhole view of Mt. Baker as the body’s shoulder blade carries a wispy yet powerful Japanese-style tsunami over its summit. Bad ass. And if you would ever want a piece of art on your body, it would be by Tracy Lang of Ryderville Ink.

I shot this series of images as Tracy’s friend Shelley from Whidbey Island sat through the final three hours of work.

Filed Under: Art, Bainbridge Island, Cameron Karsten, Commercial Photography, Community, Photo Essay, Photo Shoot, Photography, Seattle, Washington Tagged With: Bainbridge Island, Cameron Karsten Photography, commercial photographer, Ryderville Ink, tattoo, Tattoo shop, Tracy Lang, Washington

Photo Essay: International Rescue Committee (IRC) Seattle Chapter

March 13, 2013 by cameronkarsten Leave a Comment

Having recently connected with International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Seattle Chapter, doors opened to a host of incredibly humbling experiences. Shooting for them takes me back to my travel roots, experiencing other cultures and the people. The above photograph is a group of recently arrived refugees from Nepal and Bhutan who wanted to create a knitting community. The experience being there resulted in the women erupting in traditional song and laughter, with communication spoken via hand and body gesture.

Started in Seattle in 1976, little presence is known of their existence within the city. The continuing goal working with them is to create a library of imagery that they can utilize as posters, thank you cards, newsletters, website material and more. Below are more images taken for IRC’s Seattle Chapter.

A knitting community created by recent arrivals of IRC’s Seattle Chapter

A daughter who recently arrived from Eritrea sees her father for the first time in over one year.

A joyous father is happily reunited with his daughters after flying into SeaTac from Eritrea.

A woman practices job training skills at an activity created by IRC for newly arrived refugees.

A man from Burma studies basic job training skills in Tukwila, WA after arriving to the United States three months ago.

A teacher back in Burma, now faces a new language, a new culture, and a new set of skills acquired at IRC’s job training class.

Denis, a refugee from Bosnia under IRC from over 14 years ago, now volunteers to help new arrivals adapt to American culture and job market.

Learn more by visiting IRC Seattle Chapter

Filed Under: Cameron Karsten, Community, Photo Essay, Photo Shoot, Photo-Journalism, Photography, Seattle, Washington Tagged With: Cameron Karsten Photography, International Rescue Committee, IRC, non-profit, refugee, Seattle, Seattle Chapter, social documentary photographer, Washington

Photo of the Day: Athena Devouring Her Soldiers

March 11, 2013 by cameronkarsten 1 Comment

Inspired by Francisco Goya’s 1819-1823 oil painting Saturn Devouring His Son, the above project speaks of humanity’s innate compulsion to send its soldiers into the throes of death. We fight for land. We fight for possession and power. It is our willingness to send man and woman into war; and Athena above, goddess of warfare (and wisdom) unleashes her rage over the very men and women we as a people send into battle.

On the other side of the coin, we also fight for freedom, for a voice, for the ability to live our lives as we choose. There are always two sides, our decisions coming from a place we find within ourselves.

Shot with three Q-flashes, black back drop, and a 6-stop neutral density filter allowing me to shoot wide open, I brought the subject as close to the wide angle lens as possible to create distortion in her face and hands. Goya’s image is offered below for reference.

Location: private residence

Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark III with Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens

16mm, 1/80 sec at ƒ/2.8, ISO 100, tripod.

Post: LR4 & Adobe PS6

Francisco Goya (1819-1823 oil painting) Saturn Devouring His Son

Filed Under: Art, Bainbridge Island, Cameron Karsten, Photo of the Day, Photo Shoot, Photography, Seattle, Still life, Washington Tagged With: art, Cameron Karsten Photography, editorial photographer, Francisco Goya, inspiration, social commentary

Photo(z) of the Day: MK Cuttin’ It All Down

March 5, 2013 by cameronkarsten Leave a Comment

I invited Matt over on an unusually warm late winter day in the PNW. Two ideas: Matt in his element pruning trees outside (above); Matt taking the outdoor technique indoors and getting a little carried away (below).

This blossoming flibert tree (also known as a hazelnut tree) is a sign of the beginning of spring. The pollen on each flower is loaded, and the slightest gust of wind releases plumes of the fine yellow dust. Honey bees were loving it, one of their few choicest sources of food this time of year. Matt climbed the ladder. I positioned lights and posted on top of his car. Snap.

Banzai pruning is an artform, same as large-scale pruning, but on a different level. Instead of setting up Matt to look like a Zen master delicately snipping away at this miniature money tree, I wanted him to look guilty, cutting away his profits with shock and awe. Maybe it also reflects the scale of environmental damage that the fracking on the Bakken Shale in Montana and North Dakota cause, as well as the further advancement of permitting for the Keystone XL Pipeline. As an individual, spending his days outdoors working with trees, Matt chooses the preservation and cultivation of nature over the growth of the “money tree”.

Filed Under: Bainbridge Island, Cameron Karsten, Commercial Photography, Environment, Environmental Portrait, Photo of the Day, Photo Shoot, Photography, Seattle, Washington Tagged With: Cameron Karsten Photography, editorial photographer, filbert tree, money tree, pruning, Seattle Photographer

Photo of the Day: The Gun Collector at 9

March 4, 2013 by cameronkarsten 1 Comment

For the Gun Buy-Back Program project, I had to purchase an armory of squirt guns. Instead of letting them go to waste, I laid them out in a different scenario. Could this represent the gun collector at age nine? Or does our adult behavior represent the love and care of our parents and the environment in which we’re raised?

Filed Under: Bainbridge Island, Cameron Karsten, Commercial Photography, Diptych, Photo of the Day, Photo Shoot, Photography, Product Shoot, Seattle, Still life, Washington Tagged With: Cameron Karsten Photography, gun buy back, gun laws, guns, product photography, Seattle, squirt guns, Washington

Photo of the Day: Tele Smash

February 28, 2013 by cameronkarsten Leave a Comment

Now this was fun. I brought two of my buddies over with the idea of creating an ad for a flatscreen TV. Composited of multiple images, I slowly pieced through from right to left until the final shot with the action. And we were nervous. I heard of dangerous fumes inside old tube televisions, but this wasn’t that old. So with a couple of deep breaths, some practice swings and snaps, and a wooden baseball bat, we counted down. One. Two. Three.

It was the loudest sound. Bat bouncing off the screen, cracking the wood but not the glass. We were amazed. Maybe he just swung wrong. Second time. One. Two. Three.

Again, this time the bat shattered and our ear drums rang. Okay. Something heavier. With a neighbor’s sledge hammer we felt more confident, more practiced with the swing and the shutter release. One. Two. Three.

Glass everywhere and the beautifully astounding sound of exploding glass. And then the poof of powder, fumes. We dropped our gear and ran out of the house.

All and all, once the dust had settled, the ventilation flowing, a mere two hours with a Shop-Vac and thick gloves cleaned the disastrous mess, revealing a 2-inch thick screen of glass now in a million pieces. The bat never had a chance. A few hours of PS6 later. Success.

Filed Under: Bainbridge Island, Cameron Karsten, Commercial Photography, Environmental Portrait, Photo of the Day, Photo Shoot, Photography, Product Shoot, Seattle, Washington Tagged With: action, advertisement, Cameron Karsten Photography, Commercial Photography, exploding glass, flatscreen television ad, Seattle Photographer

Photo of the Day: The Gun Buy-Back Program

February 25, 2013 by cameronkarsten 3 Comments

An idea pops into your. You’ve been listening to the radio, following current events, examining your place in the constant shifting world. Then the idea takes shape, morphs into words, thoughts, conversations and a variety of imagery.

The gun buy-back program has been incorporating our society. The process flowed through my brain-waves and thus the above image. I wondered about the origins, the beginnings of such violence permeating humanity. Then I read an article in this month’s National Geographic entitled The Left Bank Ape, which explores the unique adaptations between two species along the Africa’s Congo River. The north side (or right bank) are our common ancestors, the chimpanzee, whom we share 98.4% of our genetic DNA, while the south side (or left bank) is the bonobo. And what makes these two species of primates markedly different are their social behaviors; during disputes the chimp is more aggressive, often resulting in death, while the bonobo prefers the tender acts of affection and using sex to solve issues within the community.

Observing today’s violence around the world, I ask: Where did we come from? Where are we going? And what are we doing to get there?

Filed Under: Art, Bainbridge Island, Cameron Karsten, Commercial Photography, Community, Education, Environmental Portrait, Photo of the Day, Photography, Seattle, Washington Tagged With: AdBusters, Cameron Karsten Photography, gun buy back program, parody, political satire, Seattle, Washington

Photo Essay: Aaron’s VW and The Sequester

February 21, 2013 by cameronkarsten 3 Comments

Aaron Kuester is a busy man. With a wife and 3 year old son, work as a steel-shaper of sorts at Kitsap’s Naval base, and an enthusiastic car builder and racer. Currently, he’s working on building a custom Volkswagon Beetle Baja Desert Racer, not necessarily for the Baja 2000 Off-Road Race, but some day… some day.

But with The Sequester approaching on March 1st, 2013, government spending-cuts will affect Aaron and his family. As an employee repairing the steel parts of submarines and naval ships, the full-force of the $85 billion-dollar cuts would mean his 5 day work-week will crunch to 4 days within the 22-day furlough. Anything longer will be technically a lay-off, which Aaron, as well as every other government employee, hopes will remain a distant impossibility for him, his family, and his hobby.

On a quiet President’s Day afternoon, Aaron invited me into his garage, and below are some of the images I created with four strobes, some daylight fill and a little PS6.

Filed Under: Art, Bainbridge Island, Cameron Karsten, Commercial Photography, Environmental Portrait, Photo Essay, Photo Shoot, Photography, Seattle, Washington Tagged With: Aaron Kuester, Baja 2000, Cameron Karsten Photography, Commercial Photography, environmental portrait, hobbiest, Poulsbo, Seattle Photographer, VW baja racer, Washington

Product Photography: Rwanda Partners Bowl Series

February 17, 2013 by cameronkarsten 2 Comments

By approaching Rwanda Partners and offering them my help, I scored the opportunity to take a selection of their bowls into the studio and photograph them for their website. With three lights, some plexi glass and fishing line, I was able to create a clean, depth-defining product shot to help them better portray their products. Hopefully, more opportunities will arise with Rwanda Partners after the initial shoot. Visit RwandaPartners.org for more.

Location: SCCA Studios

Camera/Lens Specifics: Canon 5D Mark III with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro Lens

100mm, 1/160 sec at ƒ/16, ISO 100, tripod.

Post: Capture One & Adobe PS6

Filed Under: Africa, Art, Bainbridge Island, Cameron Karsten, Commercial Photography, Community, Photo Shoot, Photography, Product Shoot, Seattle, Still life Tagged With: Africa, Cameron Karsten Photography, commercial photographer, Commercial Photography, non-profit organization, product photography, Rwanda Partners, Seattle, Washington

Photography Essay: CannaTest, LLC. (Location – Bainbridge Island, WA)

February 8, 2013 by cameronkarsten 1 Comment

I had the opportunity to connect with CannaTest, LLC. to explore the new changes in Washington State regarding the passing of Initiative 502 and the legalization of recreational marijuana. CannaTest’s tagline “What’s in your medicine?” legitimizes the professionalism of medical cannabis in the emerging industry, breaking down the percentages of Cannabinoids that are within each strain of plant. From THC to THCV, CBD, CBG and other active ingredients, CannaTest provides qualitative numbers for accurate labeling to insure clients are receiving the necessary medicine for their specified therapy.

Visit www.Canna-Test.com for more information.