V-Tech Electronics & New Product Photography

Product Photography

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/

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Hi Tech Photo Fun: Intel’s Classmate PC

Hi Tech Photo
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
hi tech photography
hi tech photography

On-Location: Nintendo DS Lite + Wii

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Nintendo’s newest version of the world’s best-selling portable game system has reported record-breaking consumer response. The new Nintendo DSi sold nearly 500,000 units in the first week following its US launch on April 5, 2009. Studio 3, Inc’s Seattle office was once again hired by Nintendo to shoot an on-location lifestyle photography campaign that spanned across the west coast, from a rainy university campus in Seattle to the sun-drenched beaches of Los Angeles.
The six-day project featured DSi users hanging out with friends at school, lounging in the sand, and relaxing at home. Studio 3′s producers hired a team of trusted stylists to help beautify the cast of 50 booked models and worked with local scouts to find and secure ten different locations for the on-location shots. The images are currently being featured in online DSi campaigns and will be included in various print applications both domestically and internationally throughout the year!
Among those fifty models, our stylists, assistants, and photographer, one thing held true all around: everyone had a favorite Nintendo game. So, in honor of all the memories and fun video games have provided us, we did some digging to see what games hit home in the Studio 3 Seattle office!
Let’s start off with what might be one of the most universally loved games of all time: GoldenEye 007. I think it’s safe to say that at least 50% of all sleepovers in the 90’s included at least 3-4 hours of intense GoldenEye matches.
Next up is quite a kick back to the days of SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System… yes that old one for all you young’ns): Scooby Doo Mystery. There’s something to be said about getting to play video games inspired by our favorite TV shows and movies and that something is “heck yes”.
Another Seattle office favorite that also bridges the TV-video game divide is the Pokemon series (Blue and Red, of course) for the Game-Boy system. As far as becoming a real trainer goes, the games got us as close as we could get without finding real Pokemon to catch. High fives to any of you that still remember those original American commercials with the school bus full of the Pokemon and how much you wished you could get on there!
Last and most certainly not least, while it might not be a game originally made by Nintendo, Space Invaders will always reign as one of the most fun, classic pieces of entertainment of all time. Whether played on a CRT TV monitor, a Game-Boy of any generation, a phone, or that Texas Instruments calculator everyone has for high school math, fending off those little aliens is infinitely fun and stressful in the best way.
Happy gaming y’all!
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Product Photography Fun: 40k tool!

Selling at the typical price of a mid-sized luxury automobile, Leatherman proudly presents its $40,000 utility tool!  Studio 3, Inc’s Portland office had the privilege of working on some product photography with this treasure just months after capturing images of “Mr. Crunch”, Tim Leatherman’s original prototype for the world renowned tool.
Studio 3 photographer David Bell’s striking product photography images of the celebratory piece show the elegance and attention to even the finest details that has helped establish the Leatherman craft as one of love and mastery. Through the images alone, you can seriously get lost in the tool’s ornate embellishments and finely tuned mechanisms. And to think that they’re all contained in something that fits in the palm of your hand, truly an amazing sight! In David’s words:

This series of tools are very special. They are custom made by a silversmith in Argentina. He takes a Leatherman tool, disassembles it, then high polishes all its components, and then he makes new handles out of gold and silver. The challenge and direction given were to highlight this special quality. Making the gold and silver pop and look as special as it is in real life. Having shot all of Leatherman’s tools for years and just recently shooting one of the original Tim Leatherman Prototypes it was such a treat to shoot these beautiful works of art. It was like shooting fine jewelry, as opposed to the hard stainless steel tool that I am so accustomed to. It is always exciting to shoot the newest and finest tool that Leatherman is coming out with and now I got to shoot true works of art for them.

Purchase one to commemorate Leatherman Tool’s 25th anniversary, their recent accreditation of being named National Geographic’s “2008 Gear of the Year” or to simply put on a pedestal & gaze at.
Product Photography
Product Photography
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Capturing Architectural Photography: Bonneville

The big story this season for Studio 3, Inc. was partnering with Bonneville Environmental Foundation on an opportunity to photograph some architectural photography of the construction of wind turbines at White Creek Wind Farm in Roosevelt, Washington.High up above the north side of the Columbia River in Klickitat County are towering wind turbines, 89 of them, manufactured by Siemens AG overlooking the ridges and capturing the winds that come howling through the Columbia River Gorge.They are in nice neat rows one after another on a wheat farm that is now multipurpose. They are the future of power generation because they provide the answers to concerns such as emissions from coal fired generation plants and fish migration on the Columbia River.Wind power is clean and renewable and does not impact salmon migration up the Columbia to their spawning grounds as do hydro-electric dams along the river.All of this wind farm construction is driving new employment in rural Klickitat County, a place that has struggled with high unemployment after good jobs in lumber and aluminum industries dried up.
The tips of the turbine blades soar 415 feet off the ground, creating an imposing view from the wheat farms and cattle ranches dotting the hills surrounding Goldendale. With winds of 30 mph, one 290 ton turbine can generate enough power to supply 100 homes for a day. That’s amazing! Read below to see how Henry captured some great architectural photography images:

My idea was to show how farming and wind power generation can co-exist together.Farmers and ranchers essentially now have a secondary revenue stream without impacting their primary business of growing crops or raising cattle.I used a large format Hasselblad H2 with an Imacon digital recording back.Various prime lenses were used from a 35mm wide to a 210mm tele.Some images were shot with my handy Leica LX5 giving me a little more portability.There was always some danger lurking all around with cranes, towers, loaded trucks with a single tower section, and construction crews that may not be aware of my presence. So I always had to be wearing full safety gear including steel toe shoes, hard hat, and safety vest.  In the end, I got fantastic images.Bonneville Environmental Foundation strives to increase the visibility of clean, renewable, distributed energy technologies and Studio 3, Inc. is proud to be a part of this project.

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