MPB Meets: Portrait Photographer Karli Evans

Photographer and director Karli Evans knows her way around Miami and translates the vibrancy of the culture seamlessly with her lifestyle visuals. Karli often works with creatives of colour and has nailed how to honour different skin tones in her work. In this article, Karli gives us an insight into her skillset and shares her advice on lighting and post-processing, along with her experience shooting with a Leica M9 Black. Let’s hear about her experiences.

MPB: Hey Karli, super excited to chat with you. Tell us a little about you and what you do.

KE: Excited to chat with you all too! I’m a photographer and director based in Miami. I moved down here to study Visual Journalism at the University of Miami ten years ago, but I ended up falling in love with the city and I haven’t been able to leave. I started out shooting events for Miami New Times, but now I have my own company, All Seeing Media LLC, and focus on creative portraiture, lifestyle campaigns, and short film and video features.

MPB: How did you get into visual storytelling?

KE: I kind of stumbled into it but began to realise over time how powerful it is and how much I enjoy the psychology of it. I feel like it teaches me about the world but also continues to teach me about myself.

I took my first black-and-white 35mm film class when I was a sophomore in high school and I became enamoured with the process of imagining an image or seeing a frame in my mind’s eye and being able to physically capture or create that. In high school, I was always coming up with these loose narratives and roping in friends to model for creative shoots at some abandoned location I scouted around town. It’s a practice that’s continued to evolve as the narratives and set designs to continue to become more elaborate. It’s a labour of love, but the more I’ve fed it the more it feels like it feeds me.

MPB: What’s in your kit bag usually, and how did it feel working with the Leica for the first time? 

KE: In 2020, I jumped ship from a Nikon D800 to a Sony mirrorless, so now I primarily shoot with a Sony A7R IV. I’m a stickler for fixed lenses and always carry a homemade kit of primes, a 20mm f/1.4, 35mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.8 and an 85mm f/1.4.

This was actually my second time using Leica. I had a loan of a similar model last year, so I knew what to expect, but I had an amazing time with the Leica M9. It was cool working with the Voigtlander glass too—the focus is a little trickier—but I started getting to the point where I almost didn’t have to think about it and that was fun. When I use my Sony, I will concede I tend to overshoot. Especially for client work. I like that the Leica M9 forces me to slow down and be really intentional with each frame.

This was actually my second time using Leica. I had a loan of a similar model last year, so I knew what to expect, but I had an amazing time with the Leica M9. It was cool working with the Voigtlander glass too—the focus is a little trickier—but I started getting to the point where I almost didn’t have to think about it and that was fun. When I use my Sony, I will concede I tend to overshoot. Especially for client work. I like that the Leica M9 forces me to slow down and be really intentional with each frame.

(Read our Sony A7R IV review to learn more about Karli's gear.)

MPB: There are some themes within your stills work that are very intriguing and beautifully done. One is your affinity for photographing Miami’s creatives of colour. What draws you to stories of Miami’s underground art scene?

KE: I’m attracted to interesting people, and alternative ways of thinking, and I love underground music and fashion. In Miami, it’s created almost exclusively by creatives of colour. These performers and artists have taught me so much about identity expression and questioning the way we’re taught to think about the world—those are the types of ideas I want to explore and re-imagine in my work.

MPB: What lighting techniques do you employ to honour darker skin tones? 

KE: I always prefer to shoot with natural light whenever possible, but the most helpful technique I’ve found is to adjust how I expose my images. My camera tends to overexpose my photos a little more than I prefer. So, I use the exposure compensation to slightly underexpose my images—usually by two-thirds to a full stop / -0.67 -0.1—when shooting portraits, to expose more for the highlights, and less for the shadows. I know I’ll be able to brighten if I need, and there’s more information recorded in the shadows than the highlights.

MPB: How do you ensure that skin isn’t too brightened, darkened or orange in post-processing? This has been a struggle for people of colour since the start of photography.

KE: It has been a struggle, and as a portrait photographer it’s an important thing to be aware of. I work mostly in Lightroom and there are a couple of things I like to do. First, I adjust the whites and lights in curves to make sure the highlights aren’t too hot. Then, I use the colour sliders to make sure the hue of orange—and sometimes yellow—look right, and I adjust the saturation and luminance.

MPB: Do undertones matter, you think? What is a good tip to make sure undertones are complimented while photographing brown skin?

KE: They do matter! I think it’s something you become better at noticing over time—some people naturally look better against a warmer or a cooler background, or edited with a warmer or cooler tint. I do a lot of environmental work and I enjoy finding locations that complement my subject. I think I respond to this in an instinctual way a lot of the time, and I think editing can be the same. Trying different things helps you learn. I love that Lightroom makes the temperature, tint and colour adjustments sliders. As a visual person, that’s a natural way for me to move—sometimes even drastically at first—to see what works and what doesn’t for a specific individual or session.

MPB: Do you have any other tips around photographing or post-processing the beauty of different skin tones?

KE: First, know what your goals are. If it’s a creative shoot there’s more room for flexibility, but if colour accuracy is key, getting the best white balance you can in-camera gives you the absolute best baseline images to be working with in post. This is going to sound neurotic, but I also like to look at my final edits on multiple screens—a colour-corrected monitor, my laptop screen and my iPhone—to make sure they look okay on each of those. And don’t forget to check in with your models and subjects to make sure they feel like their skin tone looks right.

MPB: What keeps you going while creating conceptual work? What do you hope people feel when looking at your work?

KE: It’s funny how that question is phrased because, for me, the conceptual work is what keeps me going! I’m fortunate to be a full-time photographer, but some of that work is commercial, where it’s my job to please someone else. I still enjoy these projects, but the most rewarding work for me is when I’m collaborating with someone, or creating something I’ve been imagining.

Thanks, Karli. You can see more of Karli’s work on Instagram @allseeingmedia. To get started as a photographer on social media, see our tips for photographers on Instagram.

For more tips and techniques, expert interviews and camera gear guides, check out the MPB content hub.