Tag Archives: Location Photography

No Selfies, please! Creating Great Corporate Portraits

Don’t get us wrong, even professional photographers love a good selfie, but when it comes to your career and reputation, a high-quality portrait is the smart choice.  And, since very few people actually like getting their picture taken, how does one get a great headshot?

With over 20 years of experience, Gamut One Studios’ four talented photographers offer unsurpassed expertise in getting the best business portrait.  To get started, we will review the subject’s desired headshot style, usage needs, their profession and their company brand to achieve the perfect professional look.  Additionally, our convenient Edina location allows for either in-studio or on-location packages that are easy to schedule and budget.

Subject Profession

Professions in fields such as law, finance, insurance and medical often seek out a more formal look to their portraits due to the high need for professionalism and trust in their positions. Creative industry employees need to go above and beyond in creating an eye-catching and current look that will suitably represent their company and line of work.  Casual portraits are often appealing to fields where a subject wants to appear open and relatable to his/her peers.

Corporate Brand Image

Your company may have a certain brand aesthetic that appeals to your industry and frequently the marketing materials or brand standards will dictate how formal or staged the head shots should be.

 

Business portraits

Corporate portrait photography by Gamut One Studios


In Studio or on Location 
Some clients like the look and structure of photographing on an in-studio set while others want a specific location such as their corporate facility for the background.  Some commonly used head shot backgrounds are: 
  • Outdoors
  • Company building or facility
  • Soft focus background indoors or outdoors
  • Colored canvases and paper backdrops (in studio or on location)
  • Flat or textured walls
  • Company products in background
Poses, Cropping and Retouching
Usage of the image will dictate whether it should be a full length, half or close up shot but no matter what the pose, the subject needs to be relaxed or at least look relaxed for a quality portrait. Making sure your subject is ready and comfortable is very important for impressive portraits and a skilled photographer will know how to make the subject at ease. Gamut One Studios also offers professional hair & make up stylists’ services that can make a big difference in how the subject feels and can really bring out the best in each person. Additionally, our post production retouching services utilize a variety of adjustments that result in a natural and attractive portrait.

While not everyone likes getting their picture taken, when done right, it can be a powerful tool in creating a strong image for you and your company.  At Gamut One Studios, we always go above and beyond when creating your professional portrait…so much so that you may never want to use a selfie again!

 

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Handcrafted video for a handcrafted company

If you are one of the lucky ones, you are blessed with fond memories of swapping stories and tall tales around a crackling campfire after a camping, fishing or hiking adventure ‘Up North’. How then, in our busy lives surrounded by technology and the constant state of connectivity, can we find more of those simple and carefree times?

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Frost River, a Duluth MN based maker of hand crafted leather and canvas soft goods, gets to share these types of memories and tales every day with long time customers in their workshop and storefront on West Superior Street.  In order to bring the story of their company and its heritage products to others, long time partners Frost River and Gamut One Studios collaborated to produce a video that recounts the history of their company and its enduring, generation-proof soft goods.

Videographers, Dewey Koshenina and Jeff Schmieg couldn’t have been more perfect for the job.  From multiple wilderness locales, filming the true beauty of the land and the leather and canvas products in action to Frost River’s workshop, where Dewey and Jeff captured the Frost River artisans carefully crafting each piece into what would soon become a family’s cherished heirloom.

We invite you to relax with a fresh cup of coffee or a frosty mug of beer and experience the tale of Frost River as told through the eyes of Gamut One Studios. You will quickly see how something new can become a tradition-rich favorite, full of experience from generations past and present.

G1 Studios and Frost River from Gamut One on Vimeo.

Be sure to check out our friends at Frost River for yourself the next time you are in Duluth, MN.

Capturing the Screams

Put yourself in Bill’s shoes. Recently he set out to photograph the atmosphere of Nickelodeon Universe, a world-class amusement park. The best way to comprehend the challenge Bill faced is to visit the park at Mall of America. As proven in Nickelodeon’s 2012 marketing campaign, “We Want Your Scream,” the place is an overwhelming, kid’s nirvana. Bill’s recent assignment was to capture it all.

As you may know, the campaign went on to become an award-winning success. Just how did Gamut One contribute to this brand-building blockbuster? Well, Bill’s photography figures prominently in the campaign. Here’s how he operates…

First of all, Bill plans everything possible. Clients often ask: What contributes to a successful photographic shoot? The answer: Technical execution is critical, but the key to great photography and successful integration with the overall marketing campaign comes down to planning.

At Mall of America there were time constraints due to scheduling. Additionally, Mall of America’s enormous skylights change the lighting minute-by-minute. Navigating the model group through the rides required upfront planning and careful on-site management. Timing was a constant consideration. Allowing a motion sick kid to take one more “drop” on the Rock Bottom Drop (it’s exactly what it sounds like!) wouldn’t get Bill the shot he needed. Because the opportunity to capture genuine emotion is fleeting, successful shots don’t just happen, they are planned.

Understanding the key client objective is critical. During pre-shoot discussions with the client about the goals for “We Want Your Scream,” the mandate became pretty clear: capture the scream. To do so, Bill pushed the limit. Since he was dealing with high speeds and excitement, he had to board the rides. Riding backwards on a roller coaster eight times to get the perfect shot? Been there. Done that.

When Bill walked through the amusement park for a pre-shoot visit he was immediately struck by the magnitude of technical aspects the job would face. Each ride presented different obstacles and opportunities due to the layout and pure emotions of the ride models. Through utilization of stop action photography techniques, Bill was able to freeze flowing hair and capture peak emotions. Tactics such as slow shutter speed and effective panning illustrated the speed and raw power of the ride experience.

When Bill starts having fun it’s contagious. By participating with the group he gained insight into their experience and captured the unique essence of each ride. At Gamut One, having fun is more than a method of meeting client goals, it’s a competitive advantage.

And that’s the story of how Bill took more speed than a photographer can handle (to this day he can’t look at the Splat – O – Sphere, without getting “that sinking feeling”). To keep up with our adventures in photography subscribe to our RSS feed.

Hangin’ with the Prez

Gamut One Studios had a brush with fame last Friday when photographers Jeff Schmieg and Dewey Koshenina had the unique opportunity to photograph President Barack Obama.  President Obama spent the mid-day touring and speaking at Honeywell while our swift and skillful photographers captured it all on camera.

The President has an extremely tight schedule, so when you are photographing him, you’ve got to be quick and on your game.   Gamut One Studios, a contracted Honeywell vendor, was brought in to photograph the President’s visit and provided Honeywell with over 400 press ready images within hours of the event.  Images were uploaded to a private web gallery where the Honeywell staff could quickly access and distribute images as needed for public relations, documentation and promotion.

Seeing how the whole White House machine operates behind the scenes was very interesting.  It was a complex process but most notably, a very well oiled machine that is highly choreographed for maximum efficiency and security.

As you can probably imagine, the day was full of protocol, politics and stoic secret service agents. That doesn’t phase Jeff, our ‘nerves of steel’ photographer who has smoothly photographed tactical response teams while expert marksmen pointed automatic weapons at him.  Provided with White House Press Pool credentials, Jeff followed the President as he toured parts of the manufacturing floor and met Honeywell employees.  Jeff was then allowed inside the rope-line to photograph the president up close during the speech.

Rubbing Elbows with the Associated Press and White House Staff photographers who cover the president every day brought new insight into the workings of this political operation.  Dewey photographed the event from the main press stage for another view point of the action.

Capturing the spark and excitement that people had when meeting President Obama made our job even better.  The kids (and many adults) in attendance were beyond excited… beaming with perma-grins as they showed off their autographs and photos while they soaked in the whole experience.

We got some cool press pool badges that make great souvenirs from the event.  I think Jeff and Dewey will wear them all week…you just never know when you may want to impress someone!

A “Giant” Super Bowl Party

Our second annual Super Bowl Party on Feb. 5th, 2012 was a “Giant” success. We wanted to recap it here in case you missed our Facebook album post just a few days after the party.

The Giants defeated the Patriots 21-17 in Super Bowl XLVI, which gave the Giants their fourth Super Bowl title. The game was action packed and even BIGGER than life as shown on our 35-foot cove wall.

Over 215 guests enjoyed our large selection of tailgating fare including nachos, brats, hot dogs, and of course our selection of almost 10 chili varieties. The Gamut One Chili Cook Off is a highly anticipated savory event where our guests taste, enjoy, taste some more and then vote on their favorite chili selections.

GOLDEN CHILI PEPPER AWARD

The chili varieties were outstanding this year, but only one could be crowned as winner. The 2012 Golden Chili Pepper Award goes to Dewey Koshenina for his Spicy Chicken & Mushroom White Chili.

When asked about what made his winning chili so special, Dewey proudly responded that his recipe is not for the lighthearted. “Chili should make your tongue scream for your Mommy,” Dewey said with a grin.

Dewey beat out 8 other entries, including the 2011 winning recipe by Bill Bartlett.

FAMILY FUN

As always, the Gamut One party is family friendly. With face painting, basketball, and of
course the bouncy obstacle course, all the kids had a blast!

VIP LOUNGE

Thank you to all who supported Beyond the Yellow Ribbon with your silent auction bids for the VIP Lounge as well as purchasing raffle tickets. Your support has made a difference with this great organization and the lives of our troops.

GAMUT ONE PHOTO BOOTH

This is always a big hit for our party. The expressions and posing creativity of the kids is always a blast! If you would like an electronic copy of a Photo Booth image, just email us at the studio. See a sample of some of our favorites here.

We look forward to celebrating with you all again next year!

Robots, smoke grenades and paint bullets

It’s easy to stay passionate about a job when you work in vastly different environments each day.

Often, we’re in the studio lighting and shooting products, many times we’re on location in offices, factories and at events. And, sometimes we have tactical response teams pointing loaded weapons at us.

That was Jeff’s shoot out in Alameda County, California for Recon Robotics. He has been photographing their products in studio and location for the past five years. Jeff’s extensive knowledge of the product and close working relationship with Recon has now provided more unique location photography opportunities.

A recent assignment took Jeff to Urban Shield, a SWAT and Tactical Response Team training and evaluation event with teams from California, Israel and Jordan competing.

SWAT Team Photography

The event ran for 48 straight hours with 27 different scenarios.  Recon Robotics sponsored one scenario in which the teams could utilize the Scout XT Robot to be more effective.  Recon wanted photos of the teams using their robot in training situations and to build their corporate image library.

Jeff liked the fast-action shoot and seeing the teams from Israel and Jordan. He says, “Having expert marksmen pointing loaded automatic weapons at you will always make you think twice, even if it’s just paint.”

Gamut One Studios - On LocationAnd, sometimes the perks are nice too. Jeff got to ride in this $170K Tactical Response Vehicle, aptly called the BAT.

In the last few weeks, he’s traveled in and out of state to photograph several different uses of Recon’s products. He worked with the Minneapolis Bomb Squad photographing the robots being used to help identify and scout police scenarios with possible explosives.

The latest shoot took Jeff to Fort Ripley near Brainerd, Minn. with a National Guard Squad.  The military uses the Scout XT to help units with reconnaissance missions where they can remotely deploy the robot into buildings, around barriers and in the identification of suspected improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The project was very successful.  We look forward to providing Recon Robotics with more great images while they build awareness of their great products.

Dog and Pony Show

Greg and Dewey recently traveled with art director Amy Rausch to complete a fast-paced, computer hard drive overloading, dog and pony, 4-day location shoot for Patterson Companies. The shoot took place at four locations in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

Dog and Pony? That’s right, the subjects were horses, dogs, cats, iguanas, and their caring veterinarians.  As one Massachusetts local jokingly asked Greg, “Aren’t there any dogs in Minnesota?”

Webster Veterinary

The draw to the east coast was Webster Veterinary, a division of Patterson Companies, Inc. Webster, located in Devens, MA, is the leading distributor of veterinary supplies to companion-pet veterinary clinics in the eastern United States. The goal, under direction of Amy Rausch and DVM Scott Handler, was to build a library of images to be used in Webster marketing materials.

As a doctor of veterinarian medicine and also the marketing director for Webster, Handler arranged for Greg and Dewey to photograph veterinarians, technicians, and patients in two Equine facilities and two small animal clinics/hospitals.

Day 1: Fairfield Equine in Newton, Connecticut

How can you pose a horse? With plenty of tranquilizer, of course. Well, that is not exactly true. It was very important for Greg and Dewey to be “shooting” as the doctors perform their patient care and exams.

Scott Handler and Rebecca Timpano, a marketing professional for Webster with extensive equine experience, guided the photographers to capture the essential procedures.

Technicians taking digital X-Rays

Shock wave therapy, horse secured by twitch

Why the headphones?

Shock wave therapy is a treatment that is increasingly used by veterinarians to treat orthopedic problems such as bone fractures.  This treatment does not use electrical pulses, but rather high-energy acoustic pulses, much like sound waves, that have the ability to travel readily through soft tissues to effect hard material and tissues such as mineralized deposits or bone.

Extensive IV treatment care

Day 2: Animal Medical Center in Nashua, New Hampshire

The small animal clinic in Nashua was bustling with furry feline patients, some with basic checkups and others undergoing extensive surgery. There were also many breeds and sizes of dogs from a Jack Russell all the way up to the Great Dane.

Did we mention the iguana?

Dr. Westring examines a post-surgery feline

Technician takes digital X-Rays of the cat’s teeth. Yes, the cat is sleeping, never mind the open eye.

Day 3: Massachusetts Equine Clinic in Uxbridge, MA

This was a beautiful setting for our Saturday morning shoot in south eastern Massachusetts. Uxbridge is just an hour from Boston and only 15 minutes from northern Rhode Island.

Mass. Equine Clinic in Uxbridge

“Floating” the horse’s teeth

Horses chew their food from grinding their teeth from side to side. This can cause sharp edges and uneven wear. Floating the horse’s teeth is a process that files down any ridges or points. This needs to be completed usually once per year to prevent possible damage to the horse’s tongue, cheek, or gums.

Vet tests Horse’s mobility

Day 4: Chelmsford Animal Hospital in Chelmsford, MA

This last day of the shoot was another opportunity to capture more small animals,
photos in the lab, exams, and some with the animal’s owners.

Behind the scenes: Dewey in lab

That’s a wrap!

Legal line: No felines or furry things were harmed during the shoot.

More about our wonderful client: Patterson Companies is an industry-leading specialty distributor serving the dental, veterinary and rehabilitation supply markets. Driven to meet the needs of healthcare professionals in these growing markets, Patterson provides a total-package approach to doing business.

Gamut One Studios is proud to be Patterson Companies’ contracted vendor for professional photography services. Gamut One Studios is a full service commercial photography studio in Minneapolis. Whether on location or in our 10,000 sq. ft. studio, G1 Studios delivers the best in high quality images and customer service.

 
 
 
 

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