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Capturing paradise: Karston Tannis re‑creates island vibes with iPhone 16 Pro Max

A group shot of designers Sasha Flynn, Aaron Potts, Samantha Black, Niyi Okuboyejo, Nicole Benefield, Ade Okuboyejo, Shawna McGee, and Larissa Muehleder.

creatives February 21, 2025

As far back as he can remember, Karston Tannis has always had a camera in his hand. From shooting home videos with a camcorder as a kid, to capturing candids of his BMX community around New York City using disposable cameras in his teens, to jetsetting around the world with iPhone 16 Pro Max, the portrait photographer has always felt compelled by the idea of documenting people in their own environments.

“I love telling stories of people in places,” says Tannis, who specializes in lifestyle, fashion, and travel. “I really live for the adventure, so I love a tool that allows me to seamlessly integrate that into a multitude of environments, whether that be the runways at Fashion Week, hanging off the edge of a helicopter, or even documenting the everyday moments of life.”

For a recent shoot spotlighting fashion designers and their bespoke creations, Tannis showcased the vibrancy of the African diaspora, capturing portraits on iPhone 16 Pro Max with a Caribbean-inspired backdrop.

A behind-the-scenes shot of Karston Tannis capturing a portrait of designer Ade Okuboyejo. Shot on iPhone 16 Pro Max.

In the images below, explore how Tannis brought the African diaspora to life — from a custom-built boat on the makeshift shores of Saint Lucia, to a fruit stand inspired by the fishing villages and markets of the Caribbean and Ghana, and the rich-hued fashion designs of Tannis’s subjects — through his lens with iPhone 16 Pro Max.

A portrait of Sammy B designer Samantha Black, wearing vibrant yellow against a backdrop made to look like a fruit stand. Shot on iPhone 16 Pro Max by Karston Tannis.

“Shooting natively with iPhone 16 Pro Max allowed me to get the highest quality and retain the most detail. I wanted to create something that had very controlled lighting. The Caribbean is full of such vibrant colors and textures. I really wanted to transform the space and bring the viewer into this new world. I used a big light source reflected into a silver umbrella to mimic midday sun. This provided a dynamic lighting scenario where there was a lot of contrast with specular highlights, but also a big enough source to avoid harsh shadows. The 16 Pro Max is capable of capturing all of those details quickly.”

Adore Adorn designer Sasha Flynn.

Dobale designer Ade Okuboyejo.

“iPhone 16 Pro Max was fully capable of capturing and depicting the rich colors and textures of the set while giving flexibility in post to tweak as desired. This gave me infinite possibilities to dial in a signature look in real time.”

A portrait of A. Potts designer Aaron Potts wearing a long black tunic and a black hat, next to a backdrop made to look like a fruit stand.

A portrait of designer Nia Thomas wearing a crocheted brown skirt and matching top, against a backdrop made to look like a fruit stand. Shot on iPhone 16 Pro Max by Karston Tannis.

“We started losing a lot of the natural light that was coming in through the window. Because we were shifting different colors and there were a lot of warm elements in the space, some of the images tended to read a little bit cooler. I was experimenting with the Dramatic Photographic Style and adjusting color on the fly. It gave this depth in how some of the tones looked toward the shadow side — I love a little bit of that warm flare it gave.”

Designer Nicole Benefield.

S.McGee Collection designer Shawna McGee.

Post-Imperial designer Niyi Okuboyejo.

“I wanted to push the boundaries of what the phone was capable of straight out of the box. It’s not shot in RAW, I didn’t have too many settings applied to it. I just did very basic editing, adjusting the saturation, contrast, and clarity. I really wanted to allow the phone to capture images as it would, because I want people to see that they’re able to utilize this device in such a beautiful way. The quality of the camera system on iPhone continues to level the playing field for creators in various ways.”

A portrait of designer Muehleder designer Larissa Muehleder, wearing a tan and yellow silk minidress, against a backdrop made to look like a fruit stand. Shot on iPhone 16 Pro Max by Karston Tannis.

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Text of this article

February 21, 2025

UPDATE

Capturing paradise: Karston Tannis re‑creates island vibes with iPhone 16 Pro Max

As far back as he can remember, Karston Tannis has always had a camera in his hand. From shooting home videos with a camcorder as a kid, to capturing candids of his BMX community around New York City using disposable cameras in his teens, to jetsetting around the world with iPhone 16 Pro Max, the portrait photographer has always felt compelled by the idea of documenting people in their own environments.

“I love telling stories of people in places,” says Tannis, who specializes in lifestyle, fashion, and travel. “I really live for the adventure, so I love a tool that allows me to seamlessly integrate that into a multitude of environments, whether that be the runways at Fashion Week, hanging off the edge of a helicopter, or even documenting the everyday moments of life.”

For a recent shoot spotlighting fashion designers and their bespoke creations, Tannis showcased the vibrancy of the African diaspora, capturing portraits on iPhone 16 Pro Max with a Caribbean-inspired backdrop.

In the images below, explore how Tannis brought the African diaspora to life — from a custom-built boat on the makeshift shores of Saint Lucia, to a fruit stand inspired by the fishing villages and markets of the Caribbean and Ghana, and the rich-hued fashion designs of Tannis’s subjects — through his lens with iPhone 16 Pro Max.

“Shooting natively with iPhone 16 Pro Max allowed me to get the highest quality and retain the most detail. I wanted to create something that had very controlled lighting. The Caribbean is full of such vibrant colors and textures. I really wanted to transform the space and bring the viewer into this new world. I used a big light source reflected into a silver umbrella to mimic midday sun. This provided a dynamic lighting scenario where there was a lot of contrast with specular highlights, but also a big enough source to avoid harsh shadows. The 16 Pro Max is capable of capturing all of those details quickly.”

“iPhone 16 Pro Max was fully capable of capturing and depicting the rich colors and textures of the set while giving flexibility in post to tweak as desired. This gave me infinite possibilities to dial in a signature look in real time.”

“We started losing a lot of the natural light that was coming in through the window. Because we were shifting different colors and there were a lot of warm elements in the space, some of the images tended to read a little bit cooler. I was experimenting with the Dramatic Photographic Style and adjusting color on the fly. It gave this depth in how some of the tones looked toward the shadow side — I love a little bit of that warm flare it gave.”

“I wanted to push the boundaries of what the phone was capable of straight out of the box. It’s not shot in RAW, I didn’t have too many settings applied to it. I just did very basic editing, adjusting the saturation, contrast, and clarity. I really wanted to allow the phone to capture images as it would, because I want people to see that they’re able to utilize this device in such a beautiful way. The quality of the camera system on iPhone continues to level the playing field for creators in various ways.”

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