A trip down memory lane takes us back to summer of 1983, and we’re in the middle of the Alvord Desert. For a few years around this time, we’ve been shooting calendars for Freightliner Trucks in-studio. These trucks were a work of art, show-trucks that were built and painted particularly to collaborate with the themes of each year’s calendar. But it was time for something new and fresh! This was our first attempt to shoot the calendar on location. Tom Stuart, our lead photographer at the time, scouted a few places that’ll be a great large flat space to offer beautiful surroundings to match the hues and beauty of the models and show-trucks we were shooting. So we arrived at Alvord Desert! Tom Stuart and our current Lead Shooter Craig Wagner, geared up, packed the studio van, grip truck, two RVs, and three 1984 Freightliner beauty trucks. They headed to the desert with two clients, three assistants, three models, a hair and make up stylist, and 3 truck drivers in tow.
For a week, our crew, clients, models, truck drivers, and stylist camped in the dessert shooting at sunrise and sunset and finding time in between to soak up the scenery and it’s activities. While our clients, models, and stylist camped in the two RV’s, the truck drivers slept in the semi-truck sleepers and Studio 3 rolled out our sleeping bags without hesitation, and slept under the stars.
The fun didn’t stop with shooting during the beautiful hours of sunrise and sunset. Thanks to the wind and rain, most of the day was spent getting equipment set up, with our crew jogging for a quarter of a mile at a time to retrieve our belongings. When we weren’t running for our lives, or shooting with the sun’s timing, the crew was enjoying BBQ’s, the local farmers hospitality with horseback riding, and dipping into the hot springs. With that said, take us back to the summer of 1983!
Category: Vehicles
Commercial Lifestyle Photographer Matt Jebbia Summer Fun!
This shoot was a fun collaboration between many of us here at the studio. What made it work was having access to some great vintage props, a great model and a perfect morning of Seattle summer weather. A few words from Commercial Lifestyle Photographer Matt Jebbia!
We came up with the concept of using Dick’s burgers due to the upcoming 60th anniversary of “Dick’s Drive-In”, and we were lucky that fellow Studio 3’s Commercial Product Photographer David Bell had the perfect vintage VW that he allowed us to use.
Since we were a bit worried about taking this awesome vintage car on location I decided to use the Studio 3 parking lot. It provided a nice backdrop and allowed us to utilize some studio equipment that would have been harder to use out on location.
We set up a 6×12 foot sail in the parking lot that helped to diffuse the harsh noon sun, added a medium soft-box to add some light to our models face, and played around with some different camera angles and props to bring this shoot to life. We use a variety of camera systems at Studio 3 but for this shoot I opted to use the Hasselblad H2d with an 80mm lens. It’s not my camera of choice for location shoots but since we were 10 feet from the studio door it made it easy to use and allowed us to shoot tethered for quick image review.
I have a coca cola image in my portfolio already and decided to add the coke bottle at the end of the shoot, just to add a different prop and I felt that we had the perfect model, vehicle, and location to make it work. It was a bit stressful working so closely with a vintage convertible owned by our Senior Photographer. But once we all got into the flow of creating the perfect shot, it all seemed to come together. And luckily for all of us no vehicles were damaged in the process!
To view more Commercial Lifestyle images created at Studio 3, Inc. click here!
Road trippin' with Sperrys!
Photographer Dana Jonas is taking full advantage of this amazing summer weather we are finally getting in Seattle! From our studio in Queen Anne over to North Bend, up to Snoqualmie, through Fall City and circling back over at Carnation, it was truly a full day’s road trip!
The most challenging and adventurous part of this shoot was finding the EPIC yellow VW bus. After many phone calls and emails, someone suggested an upcoming VW show. So I took a drive to Renton and found Jason, the owner of my dream bus. After a break-down and few reschedules, we finally got this beast in front of my camera, and with the help of Jeff, Billy, and the ever-sexy Sperrys, made her look fabulous!!
We love a challenge!
We are living large with an abundance of studio space so we decided to put it to use with our latest project, a 360 degree interior spin of the spacious Freightliner Coronado. Most of us aren’t long-haul truckers and have never had the chance to even venture into one of these massive vehicles. So here’s your chance to sit back and view our interactive 360 interior spin of this amazing truck. Check out the quote below to get insight on the creative process from photographer Henry Ngan!
“Working on this project presented numerous challenges. First and foremost is how to capture this interior space through a camera lens so the viewer feels as if they are actually sitting inside the truck. We accomplished this by experimenting with several focal lengths to find the sweet spot where lens distortion is kept to a minimum. Multiple still images were needed at several angles to capture the full 360 degree view of the interior from front of cab to the rear sleeping quarters. The second challenge we faced is how to light the interior space from the front of the cab to the rear spaces so that we accounted for the varying lighting changes that occur naturally. As you transition from front of cab to the sleeping quarters you have less windows that allow for light to enter into these spaces creating a natural warm environment. Through my extensive exposure to varying photographic challenges my favorite projects are the ones that utilize all my skills and creativity.”
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They just don't make them like they used to….
Vehicle Photography that will Inspire an Adventure!
We’ll help you plan your next adventure and escape your current dilemma with Jim Felt’s newest addition to our vehicle photography portfolio. Read on to learn about his inspiration behind the shoot:
My absolute inspiration behind this shoot was the Red Cadillac. I saw it leaving a repair shop and knew I had to shoot it. I hunted down the owner and was lucky enough to bring the awesome ride into the studio. This allowed us to create not only my image but the other in addition some great vehicle photography for the studio’s portfolio.
When visualizing my shoot, I was stuck between creating a vintage, time correct piece versus a high roller who owns the car in the new millennium. I decided to go with a Vegas theme that looks as if it could have been shot last week. The thought was a showgirl on the run, hence the real gun and fur coat. I wanted to end with one Bad Ass picture. Originally in my thought process I was thinking red car, redhead…it just so happens I knew just the model and she was perfect for the theme.
In order to capture this image, I used a tall ladder with the camera mounted on top. I wanted the camera mounted on the ladder, so I could step down and direct the model from the shooting floor. I also chose to have a tight shot, so we would not have to enhance the background in digital. We added the yellow stripes in the studio and I lit it to have the vehicle reflect Las Vegas like lights. In order to create these reflections you could say I lit it with a bit of everything. Then wham bam, the image was captured.
I think my favorite thing about this image is how it leaves you questioning…Is she a gangster? Did she kill someone? Is she in trouble? What exactly is she running from? We may never know, but what we do know is we ended up with a great image that in the model’s terms is ‘cool & shit’.
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