Through styling, lighting, and digital compositing, the S3 team created a VR world of wonder in our Portland studio. VR is changing how people experience entertainment and our goal for this shoot was to portray those immersive interactions.

“The trick was to show different facets of the experience in a cohesive composition.” Sean Yates, Digital Artist

Our vision for this virtual reality shoot was to build off of the brand’s concepts and identity- everything from the colors, to the talent and wardrobe.

“I selected translucent and iridescent wardrobe staples to create yet another dimension to this multi-dimensional shoot. The talent selected for this project perfectly captured the world of wonderment VR provides to its users. Disney lookout, we’ve found your new spokesmodel! ” Eva Goldfarb, Producer

“Our digital artists are both creative and technical. They are a great tool to have in the box. It’s really our symbiotic relationship that brings a shoot like this to life.” Craig Wagner, Photographer

Just like VR technology, the team at Studio 3 is constantly evolving and changing to provide innovative imagery. Contact us for brand-specific product photography (with a 21st-century twist).

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1. Choosing the right background for the food at hand

Not all surfaces and backgrounds are photogenic. And while others might be beautiful on their own, they still may not necessarily complement the food/beverage at hand. So, what are some factors to consider when selecting a background? Color is a big one. Ideally, you want to avoid overly-bright colors or busy patterns that will distract from your subject. A shiny surface probably wouldn’t be a good choice either. Using neutral or pastel color palettes can go a long way in making your food/beverage ‘pop’- in a similar way that a certain color might bring out a person’s eyes. For instance, if most food contains warm color tones, it might be a good idea to shoot against cool-toned surfaces to create a pleasing contrast. If you want to learn more about how to create ‘color harmony,’ check out this helpful article on the subject, which also includes some useful guides.
You can also use the background to express character, suggest a mood, or establish a sense of place. Here’s a photo taken by Studio 3’s very own David Bell, which showcases a delicious chocolate cake placed in a rustic environment. The flooring suggests farm-style, naturalism, organic ingredients etc., while the rich brown tones in the wood compliment the chocolate perfectly.     

2. Knolling style – to use or not to use?

You may not be familiar with the term, but you’re definitely familiar with the style. ‘Knolling’ refers to this style of photography:

Bright + even lighting, Birds-Eye point-of-view, and a meticulous arrangement of items. First popularized in 1987 by a janitor who would fastidiously arrange the various construction tools he found around the warehouse, ‘Knolling’ photography has recently taken over Instagram as one of the most prolific trends in recent years – and has also found a strong niche in food/beverage photography. It’s easy to see why: if executed correctly, Knolling photography has a unique way of making any subject look bold and dazzling – even if it’s just some popcorn. Right angles, clusters of color, and clean/crisp lines are the name of the game. An appreciation of image composition, as well as the spatial relationships between objects will help your Knolling photography soar.

3. Using mist, glycerine, and other fakery

Want that ultra-fresh, dripping condensation look? Simply hit your glass with some mist! Or even better yet, many professionals will use Glycerin to the same effect. It gives your food/drinks a cold, fresh look, which in turn makes them appear more delectable. This is especially true of foods like fruits and veggies. If you see food in photographs looking wet or frosty, then you can bet your top dollar that glycerin was used! Think of your classic vending machine: can you picture those big water droplets rolling off a cold can of Coke on the front image? Yup, that’s either mist or Glycerin.

If your image requires ice, we highly suggest the use of fake ice cubes. Obviously, real ice melts, thus requiring frequent re-sets, which can take time and money away from your project (and also make a mess!). If you happen to be using glass, real ice will also cause significant fogging, obscuring your subject even more. These are just a few of the reasons professional photographers have embraced the use of fake ice and other perishable food prop replacements.   

4. Styling: Paint, pins, and putty

It takes a fine touch. There are countless cosmetic steps food stylists can take to improve the overall quality and composition of your food/beverage photography. Remember, we’re not actually serving the food, so no need to shy away from using un-edible items to get the necessary shot. Metal pins, for instance, can be used to hold food in place if you want to display the perfect balance of ingredients without them falling over. Photographer and food stylists will also use non-stick putty to the same effect, like so:

Ultimately, it’s about arranging and styling your subject to maximize it’s photogenic potential. Is your food stackable, or should it be fanned out, serving style? Does your subject have green stems? Should a side dish be included? What about some unique serving flatware? You can even utilize acrylic paint to boost colors, cover up blemishes, and even create patterns if desired. Get creative here! Like any good dish, there is a lot more to the finished product than merely the sum of the individual parts. It’s about how they all interact!
Here at Studio 3 Inc., we not only specialize in food and beverage photography, but also portraiture, lifestyle, sports, and product photography. Since 1974, we’ve been making your photography dreams come to life! Partner with us for your next creative endeavor, and see just how we stay inspired.
 

The post A Focus On Food: Our Tricks And Tips Behind Food + Beverage Photography appeared first on Studio 3, Inc.®.

Being independent is good! Nimble businesses thrive on independence, and also talented individuals who can wear multiple hats. That being said, media and marketing is all too often a department where corners are cut, and projects which would otherwise be performed by professionals are either outsourced to ‘one-size-fits-all’ services like Fiverr.com – or handed off to someone conveniently in the office, who may only have a vague understanding of Photoshop. Here’s an example:        


The first image is passable. But the other has that ‘Wow!’ factor, which is so essential to standing out amongst the overload of images we’re exposed to online on a daily basis. And that’s just one of the many reasons why investing in original, quality content always pays off in the end. Working with professional studios/photographers has countless other benefits: They use higher quality equipment, have more experience, work with insurance policies, can work with deadlines – the list just goes on and on!
So why do so many companies still choose to skimp out on their product/brand photography?
For some, it’s a quantity-over-quality decision. Like, more = better. After all, in today’s climate of fast-paced Social Media trends and the 24/hr news-cycle, there seems to be an ever-increasing demand for immediate, topical content. For example, it only took a few days for marketers to seize upon the latest Banksy demonstration, creating content like this:
It’s so easy to get caught up in this social media zeitgeist, and feel compelled to post away, every single day – regardless of the quality of the content. But there’s a difference between producing a consistent stream of quality, brand-elevating content – and simply overcrowding your feed with memes and amateur images in a bid to stay top-of-mind. This difference is borne-out in the return-on-investment our clients see when they partner with us time and time again. Here’s a Social Media-minded ad we put together for Leatherman Multi-Tools which did extremely well.

Producing content like this is where Studio 3 comes in! With professional photography, videography, and digital GFX services available throughout the Pacific Northwest, we specialize in helping brands promote and display their products in the most outstanding way possible. We believe in quality – and doing what is necessary to achieve the highest caliber of style / design for our clients. Whether you need product, food, beverage, or lifestyle photography – when you team up with Studio 3, you’ll have your expectations blown out of the water!

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What colors are consumers loving this month? Season? Year?

What does this mean for you? How can we help?

The most exciting part of the rainbow world in which we work is getting to put our skills to good use. Our commitment to client satisfaction and beautiful photography is unmatched in our field. From styling – to shooting – to retouching – to bragging about our clients – we love keeping life colorful. DO HUE?
 
 

The post HOW DO YOU HUE? Three Ways Studio 3 Makes It Pop appeared first on Studio 3, Inc.®.

1. Production Stills The Studio 3 Team lives for the details of a shoot. Our production team can often be found scouring Hollywood Vintage, in line for Sandwiches at Whole Foods or on set with our sleeves rolled up. These moments are content gold!! Going out to location scout for an upcoming shoot? You know what to do; bring that camera. There are so many moving pieces to a photo shoot, capture them.

2. Sunny Day List Much like a rainy day list… but for when you live in the PNW. Have a list of Test* ideas at the ready so that if you find an hour or two of free time, your photographers are out creating content!

3. Plan Ahead Scrambling for content is not fun. Identify your top performing platforms and plan the content for them for the next month. That may seem daunting but before you know it you may have the next 3 months planned (guilty). We use an internal calendar and Microsoft Excel, but this could easily be done with Google docs as well. This allows you to plan internal shoots for specific themes, categories, and special events.

4. Inspiration Pages Creative block prevention 101. Keep a folder of inspiration images on your desktop, or create a page on Pinterest so when your not feeling at the top of your game you can rely on past-you’s creative genius.

4. Company Culture Make content a part of your company culture. Outside of work, it’s hard to get through a meal without someone pulling out their phone to “get one for Instagram.” Why not utilize that in the work place? Designate a company phone as the “social media phone” so that everyone can participate in your company’s story.

 
 
*Testing, testing, one, two, three. When we are not delivering smiles and beautiful photography to clients, we are out creating it for ourselves. You heard me right; we are constantly flexing our creativity—keeping our portfolio fresh and artist souls happy.

The post Content Eats: 5 Photography Tips to Creating Online Content in 2018 appeared first on Studio 3, Inc.®.

During the holiday season we understand you would rather be at home with a book and warm cup of Stash Tea, so we have done what we can to bring the cozy here.
Cue the elves (aka Studio 3, Inc.’s production team,) sit back, relax, and let us make your photographic dreams come true.

We have decked the halls, strung the ornaments, and lit the client area with holiday cheer.
The Studio 3 Inc. creative team not only does whatever it takes to make your project a success, we do it while feeding you cookies and telling you jokes.
…We have even been known to have Fashion Santa drop by every now and then (We know him!)

Our studio is equipped with ample snacks, coffee as strong as our wifi connection, tea, any magazine you could dream of, and a crazy amount of crayons for the kid in you.
There are multiple conference rooms available for those times when you just need to be alone. Client meeting, business call, or impromptu dance party; We’ve got you covered.

We pride ourselves in providing a comprehensive client experience. Not only can you expect top of the line photography but also a welcoming work environment, great food, and even better company.
Drop us a line, let’s talk photography! We’re here 24 hours a day, it feels like, but let’s say 9-5. We can’t wait to work with you.
Happy Holidays!!

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“Hold a Danner boot in your hand and you’ll notice the hand crafted precision. Try it on and you’ll feel the difference. Test it against the elements and you’ll appreciate the value of a product that is built to last.”   -Danner, Since 1932

However, when your marketing luxury like Jimmy Choo, the environment changes with the contrasting brand identity.

“A 21^st Century Luxury Accessories Brand, with shoes at its heart, offering an empowered sense of glamour and a playfully daring Spirit.”   – Jimmy Choo

4.   Your Appearance; Organic vs. Styled

Are you showing a process or presenting it’s end result? As brands and agencies move towards targeting the holistic customer, we see the shift manifest in an increase of lifestyle photography… And that’s in addition to the perfect product shot, 360-degree spin, and detail so good you can almost feel it. It’s a comprehensive marketing approach. You are your brand, and we are your people for all things photography, videography, and retouching.

5.   Your Quality; iPhone vs. Professional Photographer
If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional, just wait until you hire an amateur… said a brilliant person. After meeting with a client, and doing a little research on their product, we stumbled upon this brilliant blog post that couldn’t say it any better.

“It’s amazing how big of a difference having really nice pictures of your space can make. A few months ago I ran an informal experiment (as research for another project) where I listed my apartment for rent on craigslist. They were both the same price, in the same area. One listing had really nice pictures taken with a high quality dslr and wide angel lens and the other had badly lit pictures taken with my iPhone. The listing with the nice pictures got 10x the emails.”   – Jon Wheatley of Need/Want

Maybe it’s obvious, but maybe not. In today’s digital age everyone has a camera in their pocket, and iPhone 7s are promoted as so good they can be used for magazine covers and advertising (We won’t name names). We are bombarded with mediocre images… like this production still that I took versus Craig Wagner’s beautiful image masterfully finished by digital artist Michelle Smith. See the difference?
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Regardless of the project or scope, Studio 3, Inc. works with our clients, building relationships and crafting the perfect image for their brand. If you have yet to work with us, what are you waiting for? Drop us a line, let’s put our heads together to create something beautiful.

The post Brand Identity; Telling YOUR Story Through Photography and Video appeared first on Studio 3, Inc.®.

Digital Photography in 1993 = Big, Ugly, and Awesome… and boy did we think we were cool. Before the digital camera was the norm, it was enormous!

 
Take a Hasselblad, attach a HUGE digital back, and add cooling fans, a dehumidifying unit, and a large filter wheel, then you can start to imagine our first digital camera. The digital back was a Scitex Leaf DCB, it was 4 megapixels, and it cost $36,000. All of this was attached to a computer slower than molasses, packing a whopping 8 megabytes of RAM.
To take a picture, you would trigger the camera at the computer. The filter would rotate in front of lens to red and shoot. Then green and shoot. Then blue and shoot. One million years later, you would see the image come up on the computer. By aligning the three layers in the camera software, you got to finally see the finished photograph. Piece of cake, really.
This software really was sophisticated. The early versions had a button that was labeled “Guess”… we didn’t like to click that, but it worked. Later versions changed the label to “Auto,” a little easier to stomach.
The thing they must have hidden in the fine print was how much the lenses would be used. Every time you took a shot, it was actually three shots. Due to the fact that our equipment was being used three times as often we had a lot of lenses going in for repair and rebuild. The local shop got to know us pretty well and would give us the heads up when it were time to retire a lens.
This was the beginning of digital photography in the commercial world. It was a huge investment for the studio, and we where the first to take the plunge. It brings back a lot of fun and crazy memories, not to mention the price!  $2000.00 for a 2gig hard drive… and that was a Deal!
What a ride it has been.

• David Bell, Photographer, Digital Pioneer.

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