On water or land, there’s always a place to be thirsty and carry the right vessel.
Alaska by Air for RdM – Ketchikan Helicopters
Summer in Alaska is a beautiful thing, especially above the canopy. Shot for RdM – Ketchikan Helicopters out of Ketchikan, AK.
Newly redesigned website at www.CameronKarsten.com
Wonderful Machine – Cameron Karsten: Hook, Line, and Sinker
Grundéns started with a fisherman in Sweden who saw a need for better gear for the fishermen of the world. He wanted clothing that could handle the extreme conditions he and his comrades constantly faced. Now, this international brand is a leader in cold-water fishing and foul-weather gear, and their latest campaign aims to put a spotlight on the fishermen they serve. Grundéns called on Seattle photographer Cameron Karsten for the campaign visuals.
Grundéns has European, Canadian, and U.S. branchs, and Cameron got on board with Grundéns USA for their rebrand. He says all he had to do was get the initial meeting, share with them his photography and his verve for conservation and adventure, and from there they hit the ground running. Grundéns wanted their rebrand campaign to focus on the fishing experience with special attention to its connection to the environment. Their idea was to find stories from around the world that showed individuals with a passion for fishing, whether as a career or for pleasure. It was Cameron’s job to capture both images and videos for the campaign.
Grundens wanted to change how we see and experience fishing with their visuals by connecting the fisherman/woman with nature as a source of passion and conservation.
For phase one of the project, Grundéns sent Cameron to Norway, Guatemala, and Florida. There, he was to interact with real fisherman, spending time on boats and enduring the weather to capture them in action with their craft. In each location it became clear whether the project would focus on recreational or professional fishermen, both of which are groups Grundéns provide for.
These individuals see the need in their lives to connect with nature, out on the water and in the elements, and transcend the way we care for our planet.
Before turning to photography, Cameron traveled with the hopes of being a writer. But it wasn’t long before he started adding photos to his stories and composing his tales completely from images. He says although most of his work is more commercial, he loves getting back to travel photography, and this campaign was the perfect hybrid of travel photography and commercial goals.
For each location, Cameron and the production team talked through story options, set up some drone flying trials, and got the gear into place. But no matter what the preparations looked like ahead of time, the majority of the work always took place on site, where they had to asses the current weather conditions and set up their gear. Cameron says Guatemala was definitely the most challenging with all the saltwater spray.
Guatemala was tricky due to being on a boat with limited movement, and the harsh sun and saltwater spray. But it’s all part of the experience, helping tell an authentic story.
Cameron’s work is already being integrated into Grundéns’ new website, and will be featured in printed catalogs and brochures, advertising pieces, and social media channels. 70 Agency is getting everything into place for the final release.
In the mean time, ideas of heading to Alaska, Canada, the Cannery Islands, Belize, and Panama are circulating around, and Cameron is keeping his fingers crossed. He’s also excited to learn about the conservation and water awareness efforts Grundéns will be making through the course of their campaign.
Check out more work from Cameron at cameronkarsten.com.
Grundens Campaign Pt III – Florida Keys
Driving south over long interloping bridges connecting the dots of sands and mangrove swamps, where history tells a story of shipwrecks and jewels, and wise adventurers who lived the edge forging these sunken treasures. It was hot then, and it’s hot today, as the sun and gulf stream tropics stir an air of heat and humidity. Our treasure also lies underwater, lurking among the throngs of baitfish and circling sharks.
Grundens takes us to the Florida Keys, a tropical paradise for vacationers stretching back to the early 1900s when railroad tycoon Henry Flagler completed the first railway connecting the Keys to the mainland. Destroyed by hurricanes and now part of the world’s longest segmental bridge, we roll atop the Florida Keys Overseas Highway just waiting to get off pavement for turquoise waters. For more visit the Grundens’ Florida gallery.
Vodou Footprints: Levoy Exil – Saint Soleil’s Vodou Mystic
Levoy Exil is an artist. He’s from Haiti. He lives in Haiti. He is a visionary with deep roots into the mysticism of Haitian vodou. “I have revelations when I’m asleep. In black and white. The black is the body, the white is the spirit. I sing the song of creation to Damballah. I offer him blue, white and mauve. There are lines of dots all around the shapes, in relief. There are dots of light. The red is part of the body. It’s also a symbol of goodness, and it’s good for healing too. Damballah is a snake, made up of all colors.”
Levoy is an original member of the famous Haitian artistic movement called Saint Soleil, which began in 1972. Inspired by vodou religion and the cosmological energies called loa, or vodou spirits, St Soleil (Holy Sun) grew from the peasant mountainsides outside of Port-au-Prince into an internationally-renowned style specific to the culture of Haiti. Levoy still practices the art of the movement, and today is an icon of Haitian creativity and vodou symbology, helping bring to light the true beauty of this ancient belief system.
New Lifestyle Work
I love the way people work. Put them in their environment, watch them focus, study, learning and adapting. It’s the human brain and the psychology of man and woman to be determined, to want to understand, to want to help and create. It is self-empowerment and to photograph this from within a person feels like waves crashing on the coastline, a raw energy that has been with us since the beginning. Be sure to visit the updated Lifestyle portfolio at cameronkarsten.com
STORMR Deer Camp: Into the Hoh Rainforest (Pt. IV)
When there is a river nearby, there must be fish. Always bring your fly rod, seek the thrill and reel in those steelhead. Somewhere up the S. Fork Hoh River on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State on a Stormr assignment.
STORMR Deer Camp: Into the Hoh Rainforest (Pt. III)
Nature is stealth. Walk out into the woods and count the number of wild animals spotted. Many are heard, but few are seen. However there are eyes watching you and scents tracing your every movement. Stalking and hunting a wild animal is one of the most difficult thing to do, especially in the shadows of the Hoh Rainforest, but the rewards are one that will feed your family for months to follow. Practice the art of patience, endurance and awareness while chilled temperatures permeate the saturated environments of the Olympic Peninsula. On the hunt with STORMR foul-weather gear.
STORMR Deer Camp: Into the Hoh Rainforest (Pt. II)
It rained and then it poured. With STORMR gear, the woodsmen were kept warm as a low ceiling of clouds passed, and dry as the hiking became arduous with sweat and fatigued. Heavy ferns draped in our path while carpets of green moss stretched before us. Animal trails were easy to find, their beaten paths the only thing breaking the wildness of the Hoh Rainforest. These led us to the wide open swaths of America’s logging industry.
STORMR Deer Camp: Into the Hoh Rainforest (Pt. I)
Recently, I ventured into the Hoh Rainforest with STORMR foul-weather gear for a 4-day 3-night adventure. With four woodsmen we explored a sodden mossy wilderness furthest from humanity. These are the western edges of the Olympic Peninsula; a place so remote and ecologically diverse that it could be considered its own evolutionary island.
What we were in search of was the elusive black-tail buck. What we discovered were torrential downpours, rivers full of returning steelhead and King salmon, as well as pockets of clear-cut forests amidst pristine woodlands of idyllic nature where migratory elk bugled near the trails of deer, bear, and cougar scat.
For more visit www.STORMRrusa.com and www.CameronKarsten.com