2009

Animal Photography for A Good Cause

Posted on December 17, 2009

Studio 3 teamed up with the Oregon Humane Society to shoot some fun animal photography for the 2009 OHS Magazine cover and inserts. Every year we love volunteering our services to help these animals in need. Henry Ngan’s beautiful photography helped the Oregon Humane Society more than double their holiday donations. Read below to see how Henry tamed these animals and snapped nothing short of adorable animal photography.

It’s always fun to shoot for the Oregon Humane Society, especially when they bring over those cute kittens.Everyone in the studio gets involved.We decided to take the glamour approach by incorporating Hollywood lighting.With kittens it’s of course hit and miss.Some won’t last a second on the set.You may only end up with one star that will pose for you and follow instruction.I was inspired by how Hollywood stars were photographed and lit in the ’30 and ’40s. So I took this approach and lit the subject with a strong key light, to create majestic animal photography for the holiday cover. I had to shoot fast and also be able to freeze motion. In order to get the exact effect I was looking for, I approached Pro Photo Supply and Rob Layman and got a hold of a high speed Canon camera and some Elinchrom lighting to do the job.We tried various tricks to get the cat’s attention:Dangling bird feathers from a fish line in front of the feline seems to work best.I found it was just a matter of time and patience. No matter what, I always get the necessary shot. n this case, there was a lot of chasing and cajoling and a bit of catnip to entice the subject into submission, in the end I got exactly what I wanted.Job done. Except…then it is time to dive up the kittens and see who wants to take one home. Unfortunately, I only had a fish tank at home, not a good idea. But, being with the studio I have enjoyed volunteering to create great animal photography for the cover photo of Oregon Humane Society Magazine for many years now and look forward to the years to come.

http://www.prophotosupply.com/

http://www.elinchrom.us/

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras

Digital Art & Photo Retouching Magicians

Posted on October 15, 2009

Transcending the boundaries between photography and fine art, Studio 3’s digital art department has been hard at work expanding creative possibilities through flawless photo retouching & enviable digital art. Get to know the magicians and how they manipulate photoshop to work to their advantage.

Being a Digital Artist is a ton of fun. When I began my career in the Graphic Arts about ten years ago I never imagined myself doing the things I do now. Back then I did a lot of flyer design for nightclubs, brochures for salons, etc., and the occasional logo design to now doing incredible digital art and photo retouching. After teaching myself the ins and outs of Photoshop in relation to Graphic Design, I capitalized on that experience and landed a job with a local photographer and began getting into some actual photo retouching. It was at this point that I figured out that I could combine the two and achieve some pretty amazing results. I began taking my own pictures, and manipulating them into some pretty interesting, other-worldly things. I used my retouching experience to make the images perfect, and my design experience to composite the pieces together in a way that was aesthetically pleasing.

Studio 3 has given me a platform to really expand my Digital creativity exponentially. Also, the amount of Photoshop knowledge I have gained during my time here is immeasurable. I work with such a creative and capable team that I learn something new almost daily.

If I had to name favorite Photoshop tool / trick it would have to be the brush tool. The brush is my best friend when working on a digital project. It can be used to change the color of an image, add or subtract from an image, blend, and airbrush. I even use the brush tool frequently to hand paint elements into an image that weren’t there to begin with. It’s incredibly universal.

– Alex Gumina, Digital Lead

I’ve worked in art-related fields for over two decades. As a painter with a technical bent, I enjoy expressing my creative and scientific inclinations as a Digital Artist. Working with Photoshop is like doing math using pixels and images instead of numbers and equations, to create an awesome photo retouching experience. I love it, and there’s always something new to learn or a different approach to take.

I draw my inspiration from the visual arts – Painting and photography. I enjoy contemporary art magazines not only to see what the latest trends are, but to imagine what we could innovate next.

One of my favorite Photoshop tricks is pretty old-school. With a new twist, I’ve found that it becomes even more useful.

Here’s the old-school part: I use a black and white version of the image as an adjustment layer mask. This allows me to affect the highlights more than the shadows. Or, if I invert the layer mask, I can focus the adjustment more on the shadows. Apply curves to adjust the mask, blur it, paint on it, etc.

For a new twist, I use a Black & White adjustment layer to fine-tune a greyscale version of the image. This way, I can affect the masking of certain colors more than others. Often, I’ve found this to be more intuitive and precise than using channels, the Color Range tool, or just painting a mask with the Brush tool. Once I find a good-looking mask with the Black & White adjustment layer, I “Select All” and “Copy the Merged” layers. Turning off the Black & White adjustment layer, I create my new adjustment layer and paste my new layer mask in place.

And then it is time for a sandwich.

-Carl Beery, Digital Artist

To Check Out An Incredible Portfolio Of Photo Retouching Visit Our Website!

Food Photography: Taco Time NW

Posted on August 4, 2009

The home of the cactus sign and hand-rolled burritos we all love, Taco Time Northwest is not the average Mexican quick-service eatery. Their attention to using only the freshest, top quality ingredients and preparing everything in house every day is what they say makes the “deliciously fresh difference”. With so much importance placed on their ingredients, Taco Time sought a way to communicate the pride they take in their preparation to all their guests and hired Studio 3 to help out with some new food photography.

Our beloved food photography guru David Bell knew the way to showcase fresh ingredients is through clean, vivid, invigorating images. The series he created brings all of Taco Time’s key ingredients down to their most basic level, showing customers exactly where their food is coming from. Says David about the series:

Fresh, Local, Made in store. These were the key words given to me. Taco Time NW wanted me to shoot beautiful images of what goes into making their food. These images are being used for decor in the restaurants. We wanted the images to be art ~ beautiful, yummy ingredient shots.

Yummy indeed!Having stemmed off of the original Taco Time franchise in the company’s early years, Taco Time NW’s mission has always been to provide its customers with fresh, locally grown ingredients and food made in store with care and skill. A family-owned and operated company, they make it a priority to give back to the Northwest communities where their guests and employees live and work. Over the past decade, through their fundraising efforts, Taco Time NW is honored to have donated nearly $2 million to over 600 different charities in Western Washington!Their love and care for the people they serve and work with as well as their integrity behind their trade let you know that they’re real Northwest community members!

These 3 photos are part of the series that will be featured inside the local restaurant chain alongside others David shot.

To View More Food Photography Check Out Our Food Photography Portfolio!

Highlighting Seasonal Offerings with Mouthwatering Food Photography!

Posted on March 14, 2009

Studio 3, Inc. and long-standing client Burgerville, Inc – the Northwest’s socially responsible fast food joint – have joined forces to produce monthly, mouth-watering food photography shoots, which focus on gourmet seasonal offerings.

Renowned food photographer, David Bell, was commissioned to shoot the new gourmet Burgerville look, based on his extensive high-end food photography and drink experience from shooting for such clients as Starbucks, Widmer Brothers Brewery, Publix Super Markets, Inc. and Coca Cola. The results are nothing short of delicious.

Every month until December 2010, Burgerville plans to highlight one seasonal, locally available ingredient through food photography. The new campaign kicked off in January 2009, with Studio 3, Inc. shooting Yukon Gold potato menu items. Rosemary, spinach, and asparagus recipes are scheduled for upcoming months. Burgerville is also considering adding regionally produced beer and wine pairings to its seasonal menus, which will perhaps add some new drink photography to their repertoire. All recipes are developed by local food chef Grace Pae and the Burgerville Chef Council.

David Bell couldn’t be more excited to work with Burgerville, especially since they are known for their progressive practices and commitment to local services. David highlights his experience of helping develop food photography for Burgerville’s seasonal ad campaigns:

I knew I needed to make these food photography images absolutely mouthwatering. The styling and art direction was client provided, but I had a bag of tools to create an epic image that would have customer’s begging for Burgerville’s seasonal offerings. In order to create that ready to bite shot I used a wide angle lens to make sure the image was nothing short of in your face. I was lucky enough to have the capabilities to create the image and having the background white allowed me to play. The final image was later dropped on a graphic background, that only added to the highlighting of the delicious burger. To keep things real, I used strobe lighting to ensure all looked natural. I absolutely love working with Burgerville and am definitely behind their initiative of keeping things fresh and local. I can’t wait to try and shoot their next seasonal food product. YUM!

To Check Out More Food Photography Visit Our Website!

V-Tech Electronics & New Product Photography

Posted on March 13, 2009

VTech, the leading manufacturer of portable and user-friendly electronic devices and product, has added a new market to its line-up of wireless phones and children’s electronics: wireless Internet streaming radio. Craig Wagner of Studio 3, Inc., was hired to shoot the new product photography for the latest revolution in home audio, the VTech IS9181 WiFi Internet Radio.

Images from the Studio 3, Inc. photo shoot were showcased at the 2009 CES in Las Vegas, the 2009 SXSW Festival in Austin, and the Timeless concert series in Los Angeles. The new Wi-Fi Radio allows customers to play over 11,000 free Internet radio stations worldwide, stream music libraries stored on home computers, or connect to any digital audio player.

Studio 3, Inc. was thrilled to partner with VTech and produce new product photography images for such an exciting new product. Craig Wagner always enjoys shooting product photography and has some insight on the recent shoot.

Typically, when I think of Vtech, what comes to mind is bright colored electronic toys. So when I heard they were wanting us to shoot a radio that streamed stations from a WiFi signal I was intrigued. What is this latest product?
In the past I had shot for a local projector company, Infocus who has amazing projectors. This new Vtech client had seen past images from the Infocus shoot and wanted a similar look and feel.
So I chose to start with a Black Plexi surface to create a more eloquent look, which was exactly what my client was looking for. Creating pools of light on diffusion panels with gridded Speedotron heads help to accent all of the different facets on the radio and really allow it to be a hero in it’s own right. The lighting really allowed this product to go from ordinary radio, to a sleek instrument that you would want to display in your own house.
In order to capture this product photography, I used the Hasselbald H2D body with the standard HC 2,8/80 mm lens knowing it would create nothing short of beautiful, creative justice. The design of this lens ensures a flat image plane, low distortion and great color correction. This camera and lens combo is suited for almost any task in studio photography and allowed me to get the client exactly what they were looking for.

http://www.infocus.com/
http://www.hasselbladusa.com/
http://www.speedotron.com/
http://www.cesweb.org/

To View More of Our Product Photography Check Out Our Website.

Hi Tech Photo Fun: Intel’s Classmate PC

Posted on February 10, 2009

This January, Intel launched its new, convertible Classmate PC at the CES in Las Vegas. Henry Ngan of Studio 3, Inc. in Portland was hired to shoot the new hi tech photo advertising campaign.

The Intel-powered Classmate PC has received worldwide, enthusiastic support. The government of Portugal declared an initiative, providing clamshell Classmate PCs to all elementary school children via their local computer manufacturers and telecom service providers. Telmex, one of the leading telecommunications companies in Mexico, recently announced a donation of 50,000 Classmate PCs to students across the country.

Intel Vice President, Gordon Graylish, noted, “There are 1.3 billion school-age children around the world, and of those, only 5% have access to a PC or the Internet. The IT and hi tech industry has a huge opportunity to contribute to how technology can improve students’ learning and students’ lives.”

Studio 3, Inc. was delighted to be part of the Intel Classmate PC project. Henry Ngan has a few words on how he captures the perfect hi tech photo:

In order for our client, Intel, to communicate their ideas and their offerings to the educational and governmental community, I was tasked with creating beautifully lit hi tech images of their line of Classmate PCs and accessories as product photography. In addition to creating these beautiful images, we were given the task of building an entire set. So… we built classroom sets to put these products in realistic settings in our studio instead of doing this on location. Doing studio photography instead of shooting on location allows more precise control over the details, lighting, and timing in order to optimize the overall look the client is after. We used Speedotron lighting with various light modifiers to create the mood or the beautiful soft product lighting. I captured some of the images with Hasselblad H2 with Imacon Digital back. The others were captured with Canon 5D MkII camera with various lenses.

http://www.hasselbladusa.com/

http://www.usa.canon.com/cusa/consumer/products/cameras/slr_cameras

http://www.speedotron.com/products/category/black_line

hi tech photography — Studio 3, Inc.