Our teamwork is like clockwork, and in each and every shoot WE work it to make products look great and entice the viewer.
Virtually invisible when behind-the-scenes, our team members mesh seamlessly to create mouthwatering images and a fantastic client experience. Every moving part in the Studio 3 process works to fashion something more than just the sum of its parts. We have the attention to detail, the creative styling, the mastery of lighting, and the expert technical ability to not only capture the shot, but to go above and beyond each and every time. Any drink photography shot could have been taken to feature this Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, but our team coordinated to create that perfect pour, resulting in a mouth-watering image that makes it nearly impossible not to “taste” the cider being poured into the glass.
Let us refresh your brand in a way that makes your customers’ mouths water. Let us WORK it on your next product photo shoot, and see that Studio 3 work ethic in action.
Tag: Craig Wagner
Portfolio Perfection!
At Studio 3, we are constantly improving our portfolio by being inspired by photography trends, current advertising campaigns, as well as feedback from local portfolio shows. This particular shoot was meant for photographer Craig Wagner. We had been constantly receiving client needs that included drinks, food, incorporated in a lifestyle environment. We decided to meet this need, by heading to a Portland hotspot, Produce Row. Below you can read Liz Swales, the Portland producer’s take on the shoot…
The Seattle marketing team came to me with the request of adding some beautiful, natural, and simple lifestyle, drink shots to Craig Wagner’s portfolio.
The first thing that came to my mind was Produce Row, a place that I used to manage and call home. The bar, lighting, classic nature and overall feel of the well known restaurant and bar in Portland, Oregon made it a dream to shoot in.
We were able to use what Produce Row has to offer, lots of whiskey, fancy mixology, and a bar with 25 taps. It was the perfect set up. With the addition of Craig’s beautiful lighting and creativity, we were able to create classy images that met the request.
I set up the shoot among two days, knowing from previous experience that there are only about 3 hours in the day the restaurant is slow. I didn’t want our shoot to affect or be effected by their overall patrons.
This made our team work well and get our creative ideas working in a timely fashion.
It was a great experience combining efforts with our team and my old team at Produce Row, while capturing the beauty and knowledge of drink mixing.
-Liz Swales
And of course, this story wouldn’t be complete without Craig Wagner’s insight on how he was able to capture such beautiful images.
The sequence of the bartender making a drink are amongst my favorite, I created a bit of energy by dragging the shutter to allow movement, the soft natural light was a bonus.
With mixology being all of the rage these days, I thought it be nice to expand my portfolio with some environmental shots, my producer sent our scout to a few locations including Produce Row, which was remodeled in 2010, the space, environment and lighting made it the perfect choice for this particular project.
Shooting on location can be challenging, light conditions can change rapidly, space can be tight and you may need to shoot during business
hours. We chose to break the shoot into two afternoon sessions to lower our impact on their patrons.
A large bank of north facing windows provided beautiful natural light. Only using a flexfill and a kicker light in addition allowed us to move
around the venue quickly.
-Craig Wagner
Check out Craig Wagner’s beautiful images below and be sure to give us a call for your next on location shoot!
Studio 3's Photographer Craig Wagner & CMD's Art Director Lawrence Wolf collaborate!
See below to view Craig Wagner’s in-studio Product Photography and his lifestyle images!
Studio 3, Inc, Behind the Scenes, Commercial Product Photography, Commercial Lifestyle Photography, Lawrence Wolf, CMD
We are excited at Studio 3 about our latest partnership with CMD in Portland. Craig Wagner (Photographer) and Lawrence Wolf (Art Director) talk about their thoughts around their latest creative venture. Read below to hear more about the collaboration between Studio 3 Inc. and CMD.
A few words from Lawrence Wolf at CMD.
“One of the great things about working at CMD is the way the company embraces the Rose City’s bike culture. Bike commuting is actively encouraged year round, with a lot of extra support for people who get into the saddle for the Bike Commute Challenge each September. And, as an art director, I get to spend my days crafting the visual language of all the things we make for our clients: websites, mobile apps, brochures, you name it. It’s a process where I’m fortunate to work with some really talented individuals. This brings me to Studio 3 Photography, and partnering on a creative project that reflects my personal passion for cycling as well as that embraced by Portland and CMD.
I first worked with Studio 3 in December 2010, shooting bird’s eye views of two Western Star trucks. It wasn’t an easy shoot, given the sheer size of the trucks. And thanks to the unpredictable nature of Pacific Northwest skies in winter, we were forced to shoot inside a warehouse. In that kind of situation, you can only get an angle so wide before running into problems with distortion.
But Craig was very methodical in overcoming these logistic issues. Over the two days we shot, we bonded over a mutual appreciation for all things on wheels, be it two, four or eighteen. That shoot was just the beginning of a strong professional relationship, and then this past spring, something got us talking about my old bike.
I’ve been customizing this vintage Trek touring bike since the birth of my son. It had sat in my garage, collecting dust for several years, because it’s so much heavier than my aluminum road bike and I tend to opt for speed. But it’s always been a great bike. The steel frame gives it a really comfortable ride. It reminds me of the matching, yellow Schwinns that my parents used to pedal me around on. When I started thinking about how to introduce my boy to cycling, I swapped out the drop bars for mustache bars (to accommodate a front-mounted child seat). This gave the bike a totally different look, and I suddenly developed a new appreciation for the bike’s classic styling.
Soon after, I added a Brooks leather saddle and matching bar tape. Then it kind of took on a life of its own. Since then, I continue to adjust little details like striped white tires, or black dice valve covers.
My latest addition was designing the “Slow Ride” aluminum head badge, which I had made at International Graphics. “Slow Ride” was influenced by a few things: My son’s 70s-era, Evel Knievel helmet, and the fact that the bike weighs upwards of 30 pounds. We won’t be winning any races on this thing, but that’s hardly the point of our rides.
I was thrilled that Craig was interested in collaborating on a “Slow Ride” shoot featuring the customized bike. As an art director, I really admire his attention to detail and the way he plans a shot. He’s keenly aware of potential challenges, and always has a good solution for telling a story through his lens. Half the fun of this shoot was working together on the idea, putting together moodboards, and scouting locations.”
A few words from Craig Wagner at Studio 3, Inc.
“Working with Lawrence’s “Slow Ride” concept was fun and allowed me plenty of creative freedom. The mood boards were coherent and well designed. With a clear understanding of the desired outcome and tone, we were ready to go. I look forward to many more future projects with Lawrence’s creative concept development and the CMD team. See below for some of the shots we got on-location!”
Get involved in the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s Bike Commute Challenge by clicking here.To view CMD’s joint blog post click here.
Photographer Craig Wagner: Light Manipulation!
Craig Wagner is brilliant when it comes to manipulating and controlling light. Read below to hear his thoughts around these beautiful images!
I’ve always enjoyed some of the surreal imagery created by Man Ray during the 20th century. My inspiration for these images initially stemmed from past memories of his work. He would use a process known as solarisation and the visual impact, yet basic, was amazing! He created a photogram silhouette of an object, by placing simple objects directly on film plates and adjusting the exposure. This technique would create a “rayogram” look and feel. He was well known for this look and I wanted to create something similar with glassware.
For this shoot I chose to use the Canon 5D Mark III with the Canon 90mm tilt shift lens. This lens allowed more control of the plain of focus, as if I was using a large format view camera.
With my first image I began with a silhouette type look, playing with the composition and selective focus of the glassware, this led me to stacking the glasses on set. I wanted a cooler black & white feel so I began adjusting the hue. I did this by gelling the lights.
My next thought was toward tonality, I wanted to simulate a warmer Gelatin silver print so I changed my camera angle to give it a different perspective.
Again wanting to create as much “in camera”, not in Adobe Photoshop, I altered the image by holding different glassware in front of the lens until I achieved the “Motion Blur” effect you see here.
I must say since I spent so many years shooting with film and now exclusively digital, I sometimes miss the older technology and the in camera control.
To view more of Studio 3’s Product Photography click here!
Product Photographer Craig Wagner Time for a Dip!
Product Photographer Craig Wagner puts his creative skills to use for our client Nixon. Utilizing natural elements to add drama and movement brings these watch images to life. Read below for a few words from Craig!
This photo shoot required a lot of teamwork and was a problem solver’s dream. It was obvious that digital art would be needed but I chose to capture as much as we could in camera giving the final image a surreal look.
For the first image of the Nixon Dip Dye collection we utilized the Profoto Pro-8a 2400 power packs for their high flash duration to capture the water splashes and their impressive recycle time to capture the floating colored dyes. Studio3’s custom made “Time-Delay” triggering device allowed us to precisely control the amount and height of each splash. Managing the colored dye proved to be the real creative challenge on this shoot. Our studio producer rounded up a variety of colored powdered pigments and dyes to suspend in the water. We were surprised to find that regular kitchen food coloring provided us the results we were after. To get the right amount of movement of the dye we used a 33 gallon tank which allowed us enough water space to create just the right current.
The second image below of the Nixon Velvet collection was shot on black plexiglass utilizing our Roscoe smoke machine. which we love to pull off the shelf and add into many of our fun creative shoots. Finding that the smoke was a big challenge to manage its direction and flow on such a small set, we turned to dry-ice which provided a smaller much more controllable amount of vapor flow. Adding colored gels to our strobes really made the smoke stand out and added a lot of movement to the overall image. Nixon’s creative team was great to work with. They had a (tight) solid concept but were very open to experimentation and my team’s input. This shoot gave us the opportunity to play with some new equipment, pull some of our fun gadgets off the shelves and exercise our creativity to bring these Nixon watches to life!
Commercial Product Photographer Craig Wagner Live Hard Work Hard!
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!
Product Photographer Craig Wagner Art of Science!
Product Photographer Craig Wagner set out to highlight scientific equipment to be viewed as art. He focused on using a combination of color, camera angle, and shallow depth of field to create visually appealing “eye candy” out of traditional lab equipment. We are very excited about this amazing collection!
Again I came across an opportunity to have some creative fun in the studio. Recently I scouted the labs at OHSU for an upcoming photo shoot; seeing all the glass beakers, flasks and medical paraphernalia sparked some visual ideas. I asked the scientist if I could brow a few “props” and he graciously handed me a box and we filled it up!
I wanted to create the sense of a clean, sterile lab, but somewhat surreal so I kept my sets simple. For the most part they consisted of a reflective Plexi surface for the table top and various diffusion panels as my backdrops. This allowed me to back-light the sets using our Classic Fresnel Mole Richardson hot lights, specifically their 1000 watt Baby Solarspot as a key-light. This provided smooth and even light control and Mini moles were used as kickers adding shadows and highlights to the glassware.
Always wanting to try out equipment, I approached the studio’s Hasselblad rep and friends at Pro Photo Supply who allowed me to demo Hasselblad’s HTS 1.5 tilt/shift adapter on this project. I mounted the product on our H4D with the standard 80mm f/2.8 lens. I found with it’s extreme tilt and swing capability it provided both technical and creative control of my plane and depth of focus. Up until now I’d only had with my large format Sinar cameras. The shallow depth of focus added to the surreal feel I was after.
Since my subject matter was for the most part clear I knew that the use of color would play an important role in this exercise. So I played with the color palette quite a bit, some times shooting mono chromatic allowing the composition of the flasks and test tubes to carry the image. When shooting other images I selected complimentary colors to create a more vibrant harmonious look and feel. Good old color theory 101!
Photographer Craig Wagner: Meet the FLESHRIPPER..
Photographer Craig Wagner at Studio 3 worked on this upcoming HALLOWEEN image! See below for the scary story.
This Halloween morning started out like any ordinary morning. I arrived at the studio in the eerie dark, Starbucks coffee in hand ready for the days work. I’m usually the first to arrive at the studio, but today I noticed something odd! The back door was propped open and the alarm was not activated. I peered inside not quite sure if it was safe to enter. Behind me I heard foot steps, as I turned I was startled by our studio producer Rachel Meyer. I was glad she showed up when she did since now I’m not alone… Once inside I hit the lights, NOTHING! I grabbed a flash light from the cabinet and we started to head for the circuit breakers. As we entered into the darkness of the wood shop, I encouraged fearless Rachel to lead the way, my trembling hand holding the dimming flashlight. Suddenly I heard the deafening sound of a chainsaw with the words, “FLESHRIPPER” written on the blade! So I bolted…out the back door alone. As I ran down the street, I realized…..I survived my meeting with THE FLESHRIPPER!
– Studio 3 Survivor
THE FLESHRIPPER IN ACTION! Coming to a studio near you.
Try your own, “Fleshripper Martini”! You might be one of the lucky survivors…
I can’t really say where my inspiration came from for this image, perhaps it was from listening to Cosby’s “Chicken Heart” way to many time as a kid. What ever the exact inspiration we had a blast in the studio. Myself and the crew definitely had the “ghoulish spirit” this year. We pulled together props to build the set, sprayed fake blood all over our Studio Producer Rachel, and Matt chose to play the part of Michael Myers. We were ready to go! This is the type of scene I love to light because it’s dark and moody with subtle details. And the blood made it a fun challenge!
I found shooting with our Canon system exporting into Lightroom perfect for this adventure and of course I used my Speedtrons. I wonder what the sequel will be like. – Craig Wagner
Creating Visual Solutions: One Strap At A Time!
Studio 3 loves shooting product, what we love even more is partnering with local companies to help their visual concepts come to life. Recently, we had the chance to shoot the photography for a camera strap company. This was no ordinary photo shoot, David Bell and Craig Wagner had the fun task of reshooting their entire product line. They definitely had a blast working with the client by helping create their vision; styling straps to look as if they were on invisible bodies, accessorizing them, and making every feature noticeable. It’s rare that such a fun partnership comes along, but when it does the shoot ends with everyone feeling extremely accomplished and excited about the future possibilities. Photographers, David Bell and Craig Wagner, took this project in stride. Craig Wagner’s ability to create visual solutions are described in his own words:
This shoot was extremely challenging, David and I were using numerous skills to get the perfect shot, it seemed as if we were more like puppeteers creating realistic suspending products, that appeared to be wrapped around an invisible body. In order to meet the challenge we used such supplies as armature wire and monofilament to create the perfect visual. It was definitely a time in which we both had to step up and rise to a challenge that we embraced! Challenging shoots are definitely something I live for and never fear. I think it’s the challenges that make shooting unique and exciting with each new project!
View these two photographers handiwork below:
