Photography Archives - Page 12 of 18

Studio 3 Films Director David King and Hog Wild's President Joe Rooper discuss their latest video project!

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Studio 3 Inc

Studio 3 Films, Behind the Scenes, Click Shot Commercial Video, Power Popper Commercial Video

Studio 3 Films is so excited to partner with Hogwild in Portland to highlight their latest products! For insight into this video project read below to hear from our Director, David King!

Hog Wild, a Portland toy company and one of our long-time photography clients, came to us with a need for two video commercials to launch their newest products: Click Shots and Power Poppers. Both spots were to be shot in studio, featuring kids, voiceover and a lot of action. We brought in frequent collaborator and Director of Photography Andy Maser with his RED Epic for the shoot. We wanted to shoot with the RED for a couple of reasons: 240 frames per second, slow motion would help us capture the fast action of the products and the 4k resolution at 24 frames would give us the option of doing some fast, optical zooms in post production.

We shot the spots over two days; one day at Studio 3, and because our stage was already booked for another shoot, we shot the next day at Picture This Studios. While not professionals, the kids were fantastic. The RED Epic performed as expected. Two weeks later, the post production was done and the spots were on their way to Hong Kong for one of the biggest toy trade shows in the world.

“Studio 3 produced two .30 TV commercials for us. Both were for toy products brand new to the market and both need high energy and pizzazz. We gave them a decent script and storyboard but what they came back with based upon their creative input, camera techniques, direction and post production was a mile above where we started. We’ve used other companies for our TV spots in the past but we’re incredibly happy with the results we received from Studio 3. Three thumbs up for their creative smarts, direction and technical expertise.” President/CEO Hogwild

Meet Liz! Production Coordinator Lady of Many Talents

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Studio 3 Inc

We are so excited to introduce our newest member to the Studio 3 team. Her name is Liz Swales, and she has effortlessly joined our PDX studio as our Production Coordinator. She’s excited about working on projects from Commercial Photography, Video Production, CGI, and Post Production services! She’s a woman of many talents and charisma, read below to learn more:

I am a crazy, obsessive organized person, that doesn’t feel right without a to-do list in one hand and a phone in the other. With these enduring qualities I knew I needed to find a place that could harbor my talents and keep me constantly busy. Hence I found Studio 3, a place full of awesome creatives and a need for someone to keep it all together. I am very excited to learn about the innovative methods of Food Photography, the excitement of Lifestyle Photography, the craziness of Video Production, the intricacies of CGI/Digital Animation and the language of Digital Art.
Once my to-do list is checked off, I sit back, relax, pour myself a glass of red wine (from Oregon), and nibble on some authentic cheese. I’ve been hard pressed to find a cheese I don’t like. You can also find me walking my adorable Beagle Swijen up on Mt. Tabor (coffee in hand), decorating my house with inspiration from my favorite design magazines, cuddling up to watch a dramatic movie, singing my heart out, to the track: Brass in Pocket, and always participating in impromptu dance parties. I hope to have one with the team on our studio’s turntable, with a 360-degree spin! I just have to convince the team!

We look forward to seeing Liz grow in her new role and develop long term relationships with our stellar clients. Who knows, maybe she’ll get the Studio 3 team dancing?!

Product Photographer Matt Jebbia Dior Brush!

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Studio 3 Inc

Product Photographer Matt Jebbia set out with a goal of showing movement in a still object. His inspiration of the beauty product industry shines below in his latest image. Read below for a few words from Matt.

Its well known around the studio that I have a little fetish for beauty products. Not for personal use per se, but I find them a lot of fun to photograph. For one there are so many different varieties, with all kinds of colors, glass, metals, and plastics to choose from. I started a few months ago shooting a couple of Dior products and decided to continue to add to my portfolio with this Dior brush. My goal with this image was to add to the current series of beauty product images centered around the Dior brand and I wanted to add some life to the Dior brush given that it’s a static object.

So I decided to throw some powder onto the brush and blow it away. I started by setting up two rim lights accenting the brush from just behind and to the right and left side of the brush. Studio 3’s photographer – David Bell uses this lighting setup for some of his shoots and I decided it would work perfectly for the image I wanted to create. Adding a small silver reflector in front of the camera added some light to the front of the brush and brought out the silver tones in the brush banding. With the static image in place I added powder to the top of the brush and a Nikon SB 800 speed-light from below to add some light to the powder as I blew it off the brush with canned air. It took a bit of trial and error to get the desired powder bursts, but in the end I loved several of the captures so much I decided to have our amazing digital artists composite several of the powder bursts into the final image. – Matt Jebbia

Commercial Photographer David Bell Tick Tock!

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Studio 3 Inc

Commercial Photographer David Bell had some spare time on his hands, and the inspiration to create a collection of beautiful images showcasing the technology and texture of the Diesel watch collection. A few words from David…

I decided to shoot a collection of Deisel watches in order to create a new product photography series for my portfolio. I’ve always loved how fascinating a watch can be from the technology, materials, gadgets, weight, and pure beauty of the details.
I included added textures to highlight the specific components of each watch by photographing them in different environments to compliment the design. I chose these products due to the challenge and pleasure I derive from photographing something with extreme complexity. My goal was to make the watches stand out individually and seen as a series. I wanted them to pop and stand alone from the backgrounds in a hero type fashion. I chose the backgrounds based on specific element in the watches so it had a beautiful composition. As you can see the bold watches were matched with dark and gritty backgrounds to compliment the gears.
I chose to work with the Hasselblad H3D-39 megapixel back camera with the tilt shift adapter. The decision to use this camera which is a medium format platform is due to the large sensor that allows for capturing fine details. The high res nature of this equipment is my ideal shooting device. My chosen lighting technique was either dramatic or high key depending on the background and the end look I desired. I used the Speedtron Studio Strobe Lighting kit with utilizing grids, spots and floods; that helped with creating the desired effect. I am looking forward to my next inspiration and having a day off to play and be creative. Enjoy the collection below!

Commercial Product Photographer Craig Wagner Live Hard Work Hard!

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Studio 3 Inc

We all agree around Studio 3 that Craig Wagner is one of the hardest working photographers around. And his lighting skills are truly amazing! What he can do with an ordinary pile of broken concrete and a pair of work boots rocks! A few thoughts from Commercial Product Photographer Craig Wagner!

This was truly a smoke and mirrors shot. I returned from a location shoot to a pile of rubble sitting in the studio. This was left over from a previous project. How could I let this opportunity pass? I pulled a few tools from my garage for props, contrasted the rough concrete texture with smoke, and asked my producer to locate a pair of boots. Nothing like a bit of inspiration after a shoot day!
I found myself in a rock and a hard place on this project due to working alone, which I may add, I do prefer sometimes during photo testing. It can greatly help with the creative juices. Normally, as a team we get extremely involved in the concepting process, but this project was extremely spontaneous. So it was completely up to me!

I had to operate the Hasselblad and the Roscoe Smoke Machine at the same time. What to do? I recently downloaded Phocus App for my Iphone 5 that enabled me to trigger the camera and operate the smoke machine while being away from the eye of the camera. I am not trying to do a big recommendation for this App, but its pretty cool. It allows me to completely control the camera functions with not being tied to the camera or the computer and it even gives me a preview mode so I’m not running back and forth to the computer screen. This is a really great tool for our Commercial Photography clients and one of the great things about working at Studio 3 is we are always up to date on the latest technology!

Beverage Photographer David Bell Espresso Made Easy!

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Studio 3 Inc

It’s a known fact that all of us, at Studio 3 Inc., love coffee. One thing we love more than drinking this delectable beverage is highlighting its beauty through the lens. Our most recent Drink Series was shot and the set was designed by Beverage Photographer David Bell, characterizing the steps necessary to make a fantastic cup of coffee with the amazing Moka Pot. David, details his inspiration behind this specific shoot, along with his love for the product:

When I was in Italy, staying with a family, this was how our coffee was made every day. What a wonderful memory! Ahhh…the smell of espresso is always accessible when you have a Moka Pot, more commonly known as the “stovetop espresso maker”. The coffee that the Moka Pot makes is a cross between espresso and drip coffee. It’s simplicity is similar to Instant Coffee with an amazing flavor. It’s strong, but not bitter – perfection!

This product was brought to us thanks to it’s wonderful creators Luigi De Ponti and Alfonso Bialetti. This invention, has made enjoying espresso available to everyone, which is what I wanted to showcase in my step by step imagery. So I decided to create a series showcasing the brilliance of this machine.

I shot this series utilizing one of my favorite cameras the Hasselblad H-39. I also used a very long lens in order to capture the detail and the background. For image composition I used bright colored cups to help separate the pot from the background. This helps to create color and interesting reflections in the product.

As long as you have the right bean variety and grind, you can always count on a wonderful cup of joe anytime of day!

David Bell’s Espresso Made Easy Image Series is below!

To view more Drink Photography created by David Bell and other photographers at Studio 3 please click here!

Technology Photographer Henry Ngan Up Close and Personal!

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Studio 3 Inc

Tech-Guru and Photographer Henry Ngan takes us on a micro journey into the inner workings of an Intel board. If you have ever wondered what runs the high processing computer systems of today check out these beautiful images. Read on for a few words from Henry on this tech savvy shoot and yes we call him the Technology Photographer here at Studio 3!

If you look at this internal computer hardware in ordinary light, it would look very industrial and a little on the rough side like maybe an uncut diamond. So my inspiration was to make this motherboard look more like polished jewelry basking in really nice golden light.

The other image was more Star Wars like in cool light. I had to handle the board and attached components very carefully guarding against static charges which would render the product useless. There were only 2 light sources used but the lighting was expanded in many directions using lots of reflectors of different sorts and mirrors. This was shot with a Canon 5D MkIII camera with a 100mm lens and some depth of field optimizing software.

On board the DQ77MK is Intel’s 3rd Generation Core i5 3570K unlocked, based on the 22nm Ivy Bridge Architecture. The 3570K seems to be the gamer and over clocker’s choice at the moment. So I decided to capture this Intergalactic Battleship with the 3570K mounted in the LGA1155 socket cruising overhead in the night sky. The other image of the Q77 chipset board shows off the amazing array of input/output headers, including SuperSpeed USB 3.0, high power USB, dual Intel Pro 1000 NICs, DVI-I plus DVI-D, eSATA, and even legacy support for IEEE1394 (firewire). The board is actually more of a mainstream business board with support for Intel vPro Technology. The i7 3770K is also supported on this board if you need HT for video editing. Sorry for geeking out but this is what goes through my mind when I’m shooting technology. – Henry Ngan

Product Photographer Matt Jebbia Hydrate for Life!

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Studio 3 Inc

Product Photographer Matt Jebbia puts his creative skills to use by breathing life into an ordinary subject. Utilizing water to help add drama and movement brings this image to life. Read below for a few words on this shoot by photographer Matt Jebbia.

Working with glass objects is probably one of my favorite products to work with. That combined with water just always seems to enhance an image and bring the subject to life. I planned the image out in my mind and on paper but it wasn’t until I assisted Studio3 photographer Craig Wagner on a Nixon watch photo shoot incorporating splash photography that I was able to create this image exactly the way I had envisioned. In a previous blog post we mentioned a shoot that Craig Wagner and I participated in utilizing the Broncolor Scoro S power packs. We suspended objects in a water tank and dropped objects into a water tank and captured splash images. Before striking that set I decided it was my time to finish this image the way I had planned.

I suspended the Dior Hydra-life product from a piece of round plexi into the 33 gallon tank upside down. I know in previous attempts that dropping an object like this into water is a time consuming adventure so I decided for this image to suspend it. I really only wanted the object to have nice lighting and the real splash came when I removed the Dior bottle and went to work on the perfect water ripple.
To get the perfect water ripple we used a small eyedropper and a cup full of water. I did several takes but as it works out sometimes the perfect shot is usually the first. When our digital team and I began working on the retouching I thought something was just missing from the final image. So I asked our Digital Artist Alex to create a droplet of water suspended and falling off the side of the Dior bottle. I think with that addition it brought the whole image together. – Matt Jebbia

To see more images in the Dior Collection photographed by Matt Jebbia click here!

Tech Photographer Henry Ngan: Looks Beyond the "Surface"!

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Studio 3 Inc

We recently had a chance to have Microsoft’s newest gadget, the Surface, in studio. Everyone had fun seeing all the different applications this machine can run. No one was quite as excited as our resident Tech Photographer and guru Henry Ngan who always sees the beauty in technology. Read below for a few words on this shoot from Henry Ngan, photographer and Rachel Meyer, producer:
Henry Ngan:

I was most intrigued by Microsoft’s own launch of the Surface tablet. This was Microsoft’s way of assuring rapid adoption and guiding its ODM and OEM partners in producing hardware that would take advantage of the new Windows 8 eco system. Finally, a tablet that not only consumes content but is also a device that facilitates productivity so you can get some work done.
The Surface is really well made from some exotic alloy and comes with its own kickstand and a colorful removable keyboard/cover. So, I wanted to show off its beauty and how well this device could become someone’s digital assistant. Some of the images were shot in a beautiful living space in Portland’s Pearl District. The beauty shots were done in the studio.

Rachel Meyer:

Anyone that has spent more than a few minutes with Henry can tell you that he is a total Tech Geek, so when he had the opportunity to shoot the Surface, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen him happier. I think that the sleek look of Surface, along with it’s practicality really inspired Henry.
The goal of the shoot was to show the product in a variety of environments and uses, while still keeping it very modern. Everyone on set was pretty amazed by the product itself, and its fun to see how much the models enjoyed the product as well!
Now if we can just get Henry one that he can take apart, he’ll be in heaven!

Check out a few images from the shoot below:

To view more Technology images created at Studio 3, Inc. click here!