Here at Studio 3, Inc. we are big fans of big engines, smooth lines, and sleek rides. Our professional photographers have decades of experience working with large vehicles and wrangling all the angles to show those sweet wheels at their very best.
After many years working with Griot’s Garage, we have had the opportunity to add amazing shots of classic and rare cars to our vehicle photography portfolio. The gorgeous cherry-red car featured above appeared in a Griot’s catalog, as well as the Porsche 956 below.
The 1954 Ferrari 375 MM Scagliette Coupe was also in another catalog; read the in-depth story behind this vehicle and its amazing history here.
It’s one thing to shoot cars in a controlled environment or a studio; it’s another challenge entirely to shoot outside while exposed to the elements. Yet Studio 3 photographers work with vehicles in action all the time. Above, a shot for Griot’s Garage website.
Our work is not just limited to cars and trucks…we also can work wonders with vehicles of the two-wheeled variety. We can make a Ducati motorcycle gleam and pop against black for a promo shot.
And…the same Ducati bike, placed into a digitally enhanced environment courtesy of our Digital Team:
Speaking of digital art, if our vehicle photography needs an extra oomph…our skilled Digital Artists can provide that special finishing magic to create just a touch of excitement to your photos.
Give Studio 3 a call now to accelerate your 2016 campaigns and see how our Team can rev your vehicles go from 0 to 60 in 1 second flat. 503-238-1748 in Portland and 206-282-0939 in Seattle. Get ready for the ride of your life.
Tag: Digital Art
Digital Art – Day of the Dead
This time of year evokes the spooky, the eerie, and the haunted: graveyards, ghosts, ghouls, haunted houses, and of course, skeletons. Studio 3 went all-out this year in celebrating, creating a beauty-meets-death digital art image evoking the traditions of iconic Day of the Dead calaveras makeup.
Known as Dia de los Muertos and celebrated for more than 4000 years among Meso-American cultures, the Day of the Dead is a yearly holiday that gathers family and friends to pray for and remember those closest to them who have passed away. Though called a “Day,” the celebration actually spans the triduum of Allhallowtide: All Hallows’ Eve, Hallowmas, and All Souls’ Day (October 31, November 1 and November 2, respectively). Though people in Mexico wear traditional skull masks to celebrate, the ritual has evolved here to include a highly artistic style of make-up design (the skeletal face of La Calavera Catrina: the icon of death in Mexico), combining stunning and elaborate face-paint with various flowers, beads and any other props. The skull makeup acts as the wearer’s mask to overcome fear of death, act recklessly and get up to the mischief that is forbidden at other times of the year.
Studio 3 Digital Artist Carl Beery created this Day of the Dead-themed calaveras makeup utilizing a photo of our very own Producer Liz Swales, shot by Photographer Jim Felt. As with all projects Carl approaches, he endeavors to solve a creative problem utilizing digital tools and incorporate the different source imagery into a single image in an aesthetically pleasing manner. Carl also strives to keep an open mind during source imagery searching, since at times there can be new resources discovered that take the image in a better and more cohesive direction. In beginning the brainstorming process he first went back to his roots of traditional artistry by printing out the source imagery and sketching design ideas over Miss Liz’s photograph. During further reference image searching, he came across some skull and flower vector graphics that begged to be used. He seamlessly integrated these with the photograph and added a sugar skull graphic to the makeup case as an interesting visual pun. Employing his color skills and emphasizing color guiding the eye through the canvas, Carl utilized a favorite palette of rich purples and golds to offset the white and black tones of the makeup. The resulting image celebrates the richness of the Mexican tradition, updated with whimsical modern graphics for a boldly irreverent feel.
If you’re wanting to create your own Day of the Dead makeup, there are many tutorials out there to get you all decked out La Calavera Catrina-style. Or you can just give us a ring and let our Digital Artists do it for you, Photoshop-style. Let’s hope Miss Liz won’t be up to any mischief this year!
Lifestyle Photographer Matt Jebbia & Digital Artist Alex Gumina "Peace of Mind"
It’s summer in the Northwest, the perfect opportunity to get outside and shoot. Recently, Lifestyle Photographer Matt Jebbia headed to Green Lake to capture the practice of yoga in a peaceful setting. He came out with some great pictures, read below for his inspiration behind the shoot:
There is just something amazing about shooting outside in the NW. Seattle being one of my favorite areas to live and work has just an astounding amount of parks with water that just add an awesome element to any photographer’s photo shoots. These yoga images were shot on a pier at Green Lake in North Seattle. I was a bit concerned that my choice of time of day was a bit ambitious given that the sun is usually at its hottest point at 4:30pm. Turns out that in relationship to my model the sun created some pretty nice lighting on her face when she turned just the right way. This inspired me further, knowing with the help of our digital team, we could create an awesome tropical, yet serene image.
The pictures inspired a collaboration between Matt and Alex, with the end result of the model appearing as if she were in a tropical place like Bali or the Maldives. Alex Gumina shares how he created the tropical feel:
When Studio 3 photographer Matt Jebbia originally came to me with these yoga images he wanted to give them a more tropical feel. They were shot on location at Green Lake and although a beautiful setting, it certainly feels more like the Pacific Northwest than it does a tropical paradise. His initial edits for me were “remove the houses, lengthen the dock where needed / remove the railing, and see what you can do with the background in general”. The words “see what you can do…” sort of opened up the door for me to get creative, and I decided to take full advantage.
I thought to myself “where would be a really beautiful, peaceful place to do some yoga?” and the Maldive Islands came to mind. After a quick Google search I found an inspiration image and went to work. If you look closely, you’ll actually see this image at the top of my layers palette. I pasted it in so I could sample the blues for my sky gradient. For the clouds I considered using a Photoshop brush or some vector art, but I wanted something a little more original so I decided to hand “paint” them in on my own. It was at this point that I decided to start recording a video (see below).
I had already drawn my path around the model and used an alpha channel for her hair, so it was really just a matter of cleaning the image up, dropping in the background, and changing the color of the water. While reviewing the image with our Studio Producer, Megan Nolan, she pointed out that it looked like the model was struggling a bit with the sun in her eyes. I did some quick adjusting to fix it and I think the end result is perfect.
I spent about half an hour on the image before I started recording, and about three hours on it after. When I finished I imported the video into Adobe Premiere, did some quick editing, squished it down to three minutes, and added an audio track. What you have here is the final product. Enjoy!
Digital Art & Photo Retouching Magicians
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!