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.

Commercial Lifestyle Photographer

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.

Commercial Lifestyle Photographer

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!

Commercial Lifestyle Photographer

To view more Commercial Lifestyle images created at Studio 3, Inc. 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.  
Product Photographer
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!

Product Photographer

To view these on the Nixon website click here!

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!

Product Photographer

Product Photographer

Product Photographer

Technology Photography! You've got mail

It’s no secret our photographers love shooting technology. We’ve got a group that has a passion for Technology Photography! With the constant innovation it’s often times hard to keep up. At Studio 3, instead of our photographers getting frustrated by the constant change, they get inspired. Read below to see their words on not only the changing environment of technology, but what they love about shooting it:

What I find extremely inspiring about technology is it’s incredible pace! I believe in the near future we will be able to see technology manifest right in front of us. With that said, I freaking love showing all the possibilities of new technology, that inspires me to push the envelope and do some really unique stuff.
-Dana

Technology Photography

 

Technology is my middle name, I am inspired on what technology can do to enhance our lives, by accomplishing tasks with much more efficiency. I am the type of guy that is a tech guru, knowing everything that goes on inside, underneath the hood, inside the box, therefore I find it thrilling to stand in the consumer’s shoes…how am I going to convey what this product can do for you? Therefore, I always try to show the product in a good light: friendly and approachable.
-Henry

Technology Photography

 
The challenge of making it interesting and drawing the viewer in, that is so inspiring. On top of it all you have to make the product look new fresh and different, that’s my favorite part. I am always so excited to see what is new, hot, and how I can show it off.
-David

Technology Photography

I get inspired by the “top secret” nature of shooting the product, knowing about technological advancements before the general public has always been cool and inspires you to concept something way more exciting than just a black box. In fact, I have actually shot a black box, one of my favorite shoots, where we shot it on a roadway set with a vivid sunset as the background. We shot it on an 8X10 transparency, with all the effects done in camera and the client loved it!
-Craig

Technology Photography

To view more of our Technology images photographed at Studio 3 please click here!

Inside Look: Matt Jebbia's Daydreamin' Material

In these last weeks of summer, we were feeling the warmth and beauty of these carefree days that face us every year. With the feeling of endless amounts of free time to daydream and think about the possibilities that lie ahead, we wanted to share with you what inspires one of our in house photographers, Matt Jebbia. Read below to see how he spends his brainstorming time and maybe you can find your own inspiration:

What inspires me is the use of light. Light has the ability to shape an object or subjects mood, presence, and form to convey a story.  Light can be either natural or artificial, in school I learned to use light in the standard photographic ways.  But what I love, is that you can break all the conventional rules of light to create even more dramatic and beautiful images.
The photographers that inspire me the most with their unconventional use of light are: Shuakashi (http://www.shuakashi.com/), who often paints with light to create streaks and patterns that blow my mind, Melissa Rodwell, Jill Greenberg, and most of all my all time favorite Irving Penn.  I love fashion and beauty as a subject, so nonetheless, these photographers who specialize in this area are of particular inspiration.  The way they capture light, and movement, and even the perception of movement in their subjects…That’s what is so inspiring to me.