Oh boy. Here we go.

The above image is a contact sheet from my days at photography school. It is has to be circa 1996-97. I recently opened up three 32 gallon totes filled to the brim with negs, prints, and contact sheets and this gem of a contact sheet was nestled in there. You can click the image above for a larger view if you so dare.

Did I seriously photograph a musician holding his guitar while standing next to a brick wall? I sure did. Did I really try that multiple exposure? [Hanging my head in shame] On the same shoot I even hung a bed sheet up on that tree and used that as a background. I’ll save you from that visual pollution. My poor, poor, poor subject. I need to look him up and apologize for wasting his time. Take a look! He did an outfit change in the middle of that roll. I was so convinced we were getting good stuff that I had him come right back to where we were shooting with the first outfit.

Note :  I was really, really, really proud of these pictures back then. I felt it was my best portrait work at the time. I think I was in the fourth quarter at school. I’m so grateful to my teachers and mentors who tore me new a@@holes every time I showed any of these images. I liked them. Everyone else hated them. I couldn’t understand why people didn’t like them. My subject was really happy with them when I gave him some prints. Thank God for those people who spoke truth in my life or I’d still be shooting that crap.

I moved on from there now I need to get beyond where I am today. Always growing. Always growing. Always.

Aside from the bad light, the inconsistent exposures, that truly unfortunate multiple exposure shot, and the guitar+brick wall shots, can anyone else tell me another major mistake that was made with this roll of film? The first correct answer gets a OneLight DVD because I have to pay a penance for shooting these pictures. I’m looking for a specific answer. @Michael Sebastian & @Cary Norton – I imagine you fellas should know it.

Cheers,
Zack

Sitting in the coffee shop today with Meg and Dan. Dan and I are doing some research on agencies. Meg is compiling tax forms. I think Dan and I are having more fun than Meg.

Everyone is talking about the Old Spice commercials and how they are currently a tour de force in advertising and culture at the moment.

I love the first commercial the most because it takes a bizarre and disgusting twist on a fairly conservative brand and makes it awesome. I would buy my eyeglasses from that company. I love “the flip”. I always have. Anything that involves juxtaposition. Contrast. Competing forces. Mash-ups. Oil and water. Well, except for BP. That oil and water isn’t anything to get excited about yet someone has taken a massive disaster, mixed in over the top humor, has raised awareness and cold hard cash for a good cause. That’s why I love BP Global PR.

It just takes an idea. A spark. But more importantly it takes execution on that idea. Got an idea? Are you taking action on it? I have tons of ideas. I lack the execution of them. I don’t know which one to start on. I need to take my own advice to others and just pick one and run with it. Ideas don’t change anything. Ideas are worthless without action.

I sure do love the Internet.

Cheers,
Zack

That guy above is hip hop legend 8 Ball. I had the opportunity to photograph him about three years ago. We shot in the studio and then headed out on location in his completely tricked out Hummer. * Ball came up in Memphis with MJG. You may not have heard of 8 Ball. If you like any sort of hip hop coming from the south then you most definitely have heard his influence. Everyone from T.I. to Luda to Andre 3000 all talk about how they were influenced by 8 Ball and MGJ early on in their career.

I was, of all things, folding socks this morning thinking about anything but folding socks. There are some who look at me and say, “Wow. Zack has made it.” From my view point I will say I’ve “made it” when I don’t have to fold socks ever again in my life. That got me thinking about 8 Ball and I thought I would share this interesting personal story…

As I was steaming Ball’s 6XL shirts for this shoot I was asking him about his career. I asked one question and he told me something that has stuck with me ever since.

I asked… “When did you know your career was to the point that this was now your job? Like, you made it.”

Ball stopped rolling his “smoke” and sat back and told me about growing up as a kid in a poor neighborhood in Memphis. He lived with his mom and grandmother in a shotgun shack. He slept in the den. One of his daily chores was going around the house and collecting the mouse traps in the house, take them outside, and get rid of the dead mice. Then he had to reset those traps and put them back around the house. He told me that he knew he had “made it” when he could throw away the whole mouse trap and reset a new one. He was making enough money in hip hop that he could just buy a new bag of traps every week instead of using the old ones.

8 Ball bought his mom a house. He’s doing well. He’s influenced an army of rappers. He knows he made it when he didn’t have to use a used mouse trap.

It doesn’t take a whole lot to make it does it? He made it but still had to set those traps. He still had a long way to go before he could just buy his mom a new house. It’s such a great story. For those of you who just discount hip hop as “crap” you ought to listen beyond the ho’s and rims and hear the stories of people who came out of nothing and into something. There are a lot of stories of redemption that come out of hip hop. Not exactly your Sunday school stories of redemption but redemption all the same. Go watch Hustle & Flow. It’s one of my top three favorite movies of all time. It’s about a small time pimp coming up in hip hop in Memphis. 8 Ball, of course, is on the soundtrack.

Here’s another one…

Cheers,
Zack

Nothing much to say. Just sharing some recent work.

Hair by Max Sanchez from DragonFly
Makeup by Jennifer Bennett & Lani Martz
Talent from SSP

Cheers,
Zack

I’m going to share a story about shooting crappy pictures then share a recent comment from one of y’all regarding our last critique that’s worthy of taking some time and thinking about what we do.

At the turn of the century I was photographer for Apartments.com. The image above is one I shot for them in 2001. It was shot with the then amazing Olympus C-3030. You should have seen the camera we upgraded from. My iPhone takes better pictures.

Ramblings after the jump…

I could typically shoot three apartment complexes a day. I would show up, introduce myself to the property manager (PM), explain what the Internet was (contracts were usually sold on the national level so local PM’s didn’t always know what we did.), and then take off through the complex to shoot one or two model apartments, the exercise room, the pool, the front entrance, miscellaneous property photos, the club house, etc, etc, etc. In addition to stills I would have to shoot virtual tour panoramics as well. An average apartment complex would take an hour or two to photograph and I would shoot, on average, 150 to 200 images per property.

Once I was done shooting I would sit with the PM and have them choose their favorite photos. It was not unusual to be sent back out on the property or to the model to reshoot something. Usually I was asked to make a bathroom the size of a size 6 shoebox look like it was the Taj Mahal . I would shoot the tennis court that had not seen a tennis match in 10 years and then be asked if we could Photoshop the cracks out of the surface and add some nets. I wish I had a dime for every time I was asked if we could Photoshop water into the pool. Truth in advertising people. Truth in advertising. Not that any of that mattered to folks who would name an apartment complex “Mountain View” when there wasn’t a view of a mountain for at least 600 miles.

Prior to shooting Apartments.com I was shooting this stuff for JC Penney… (sorry for the bad scans)

4×5 fo’ life!

How did I go from working in a large commercial photography studio to shooting apartments? I had a degree in photography, I had been an assistant for two or three years by this point, and I was then moving into a management/shooter position for JC Penney’s corporate studio shooting table top product, booking models, handling the best gear in the world, and interacting with amazing photographers each and every day. I moved from that life to racing around the Southwest shooting exercise rooms and horribly decorated 2 bedroom 1 bath apartments. JC Penney hit some really tough financial times and a big fat target was painted on the studio I was working in. We were all told to be on the lookout for other work because it could be closing any day. I got a call around that time about a photography position at Apartments.com. The Internet was at the tail end of being the wild frontier. The pay was good, the benefits were amazing, and the job allowed me to work from home and have time to get my freelance career started while still having a salary to rely on. What could be better? Other than the fact that I was now a photographer for Apartments.com. I was embarrassed to tell any of my photographer friends about my job. I never ever mentioned it on the forums I was active on. Pride would not allow me to breath a word of it. It wasn’t “photography”. I could train a monkey to do the job.

So I thought.

You know what?  I learned a lot about photography with that job. I shot 300 to 600 images a day and then had to sit and have them reviewed by the client on site. I would have to prep the selects and upload them each night so my workflow had to be efficient. Near the end of my time with Apartments.com I could breeze into a complex, knock out the photos in 45 minutes, and wow the PM’s with angles of their complex they had never seen. Even though I was never showing that work to anyone… I still took pride in what I did. Even though I felt I wasn’t doing anything with “photography”. I learned a lot about talking to clients, working with images, educating a client about photography and getting them involved in the process. I learned about being consistent and delivering on tight deadlines. I learned so much about photography with that job but I didn’t realize it at that time.  To keep from going crazy during this time in my career I spent a lot of time shooting personal work and continued to build my portfolio and get my freelance work up to the point where I could leave the Internet job. This was the time in my life when I was buying gear, going into debt, living more on forums than in my life, etc, etc. That horrible word “profitability” also started getting tossed around the home office in Chicago and the internet started to get incredibly Khaki around 2001. I had to start learning to read spread sheets. No more keggers in the kitchen.

I was really inspired by guys like Dirk Halstead, David Leeson, and Brian Storm back in those days. There was this new frontier called “new media” and these guys were at the forefront of it and they were lumped into one of two categories by the photography industry. They were either visionaries or they were bat shit crazy. I think in someways they vacillated between the two on any given day. I think they were bat shit crazy enough to be visionaries and time has proven that they were right on the money. Back when I was getting to know these guys there was another dude who had just become the youngest staff photographer for the New York Times. His name was, and still is, Vincent Laforet. Never heard of him right?

Now that I’ve dropped enough names to break my foot… what was I doing with my life?

Shooting effing apartments… but damn it all… I was trying to get my career and my craft beyond algae filled pools and mauve and teal clubhouse virtual tours. I jumped into the new media pool and started working on a project in Austin, TX about a group of homeless folks who flew signs to make ends meet. You see them on every corner. Someone holding a sign asking for some help and God blessing you as you ignore them while you pray for the light to turn green. I was shooting stills…

And shooting video…

I thought I have a lot to learn about audio and video now? I had even more to learn then. Like, check out this clip from that project of Worthless Kenny.

I’ve gone down this trip on memory lane because of a comment from reader ChrisDavid42. His comment took me back to this weird time in my life when I had more knowledge in my head than I had experience with a camera in my hands.

In the critique, I was looking at a gallery of images and I made a comment that went along the lines of, “Yes, it is a photograph but it isn’t photography.” I knew it would strike a chord somewhere with someone. Sometimes I say this sort of crap to make us all think or start a discussion. I also say crap like this to try and set a bar higher than where any of us reach with our own work. Myself included. Well, that statement did spark some conversation and this comment… (emphasis added)

This comment is meant as a contribution to the ongoing discussion, and not as criticism or dis-agreement with anyone.

First, my opinion about art vs. commercialism:
Art has always existed at a cross-roads between commerce and human expression. Artists who wish to benefit from their art will always be subject to the aesthetic of those who are willing to commission, or pay, for that work. On the other side of the coin are the artists who reject all control in pursuit of a “pure unadulterated expression of their vision.” I recently read of a photographer from eastern Europe who was discovered in his sixties or seventies. He spent much of his life in poverty and two decades in a mental hospital. I don’t want to be that guy.

I believe a key element of art is the interaction between artist, medium, and subject. Though at times this may not be conveyed successfully to the viewer, an arguably necessary component of “successful” art, the joy of the creation of art, in my mind, is as important as the result.

Zack consistently pushes his listeners and readers to strive for excellence and individual vision in their work, and I agree. And, I have been encouraged by his message. However, I must respond to a couple comments, including the comment about getting a side job rather than producing mediocre work, or as in one of Zack’s repeated quotes “competing with Wal-mart.”

I also take issue with Zack’s comment that an image can be a photograph, but not photography. I agree completely with the sentiment that there is way too much mediocrity in the industry and in the media. I cringe at most of the photos our local paper runs, especially after years of reading Zack’s blog and Strobist and knowing that 5 more minutes of effort could have improved those pictures. And yet, that tolerance for mediocrity is the what will allow me to build a small portrait business and get the experience that you can’t get from blogs, or shooting your kids and neighbors, and pay for the equipment that I can’t pay for out of my household budget.

As a photographer, I find incredible joy from making images of people. I find joy from growing in my craft technically, or, to say it differently, interacting with my camera and equipment. I find great joy from interacting with people and creating a photo with them, not of them. My goal is to someday have the skill that allows my images to show the world “my experience” or “what I see in my subjects.” However, I am still producing mediocre images, because of where I am at technically in my photographic journey. But, my skills are improving, and I am seeing more and more improvement in my images.

I have recently had the opportunity to do two evenings of “event portraits.” Setting up in a corner at a community event and doing a hundred mini-portrait sessions over the course of two hours. The blogs and videos very much informed that experience, but having to shoot successfully under pressure is something that you can only learn from experience.

And I loved every minute of it, every compromise, every success, every time that I had to sacrifice composition to a technical detail, every time I was able to show them a picture that was better than they expected; even the failures when I couldn’t overcome technical difficulties, or connect with my subjects. Every second of that was PHOTOGRAPHY.

Even if it doesn’t translate yet on my website, it was photography. Even if I spend two years competing with Walmart for customers. It was photography because it was a labor of love for the craft; even if the viewer cannot see it. Someday it will be GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY and the viewer will see it. And that is my problem with Zack’s criticism, you can’t always ascertain the process from the product. however, I think we could agree it is a communication failure, the failure on the photographers part to successfully communicate his/her vision.

Perhaps where I take issue is that I perceived an insult to the process, and I see the process as inseparable from the product. (Honestly, what is really tweaking me is that I really identify with the first person you critiqued. One of the first things you read from her e-mail was that she had been doing this for one year. I look at what I was doing after a year and think “wow. I didn’t have the guts to put together a website after a year.”)

Zack commented in earlier critiques that kid sports photography may be boring, but he will buy it because it is his kid. I totally get what he means here, it is like watching a movie where somebody’s dad dies in the first scene, you are emotionally connected to the movie whether it is poorly scripted and produced or not. Same thing with the pictures, you buy them even if they make you cringe. However, I think that the answer is not to berate the photographers for making lifeless images, the answer is to stop buying the images. Vote with your wallet, pay a more envisioned photographer to make images of your kid in his softball uniform. Keep encouraging and educating photographers and the overall level of the industry will rise.

In summary, thanks for taking the time to read my rant. Your critiques are successful because they are thought provoking. I love listening to them. I listened to your critique on Tuesday and have been arguing the ideas in my head all week. I absolutely loved your talk at Photocamp Utah; it inspired me. I will continue to cull my best images for my portfolio, and I will continue to shoot whatever people will pay me to shoot (or let me shoot for free), and i will likely display some of that in my portfolio, if that is what my customers want and are paying me for.

enough said.

Wow. Chris’ comment stopped me in my tracks and took me back to the hundreds of apartments I’ve photographed. It took me back to all the crap ass photos I’ve taken (and, um, well, still take). I thought about this music video I just put together last week. My first. It isn’t a masterpiece but it’s mine. I’m tied to it. Attached in a way that is hard to let go and I often forget about that with photography. Is my level of video work on par with the highest end of the industry? No way. I struggle with it. I fight with it. And to me, it’s still film making. It’s doing something inside of me. If it is mediocre then I need someone from higher up the food chain to call it out and call me up… And that is the goal when I do a critique. Ok. You nailed the exposure. You made a portrait that is on level with Wal-Mart. You have made it to that level but that level is a low one. You must now rise. The bar is higher than that.

So as much as I stand by my comments in the critique and will continue to push buttons I also have to say that Chris’ comment opened my eyes. You made me stop and think Chris and I thank you for that. You made me remember the strange struggling times when you are fighting for your first jobs. I mean, I’m not so old hat around here that I forget but sometimes I do.

Yes the picture may be somewhat boring… but it is still photography.

My favorite part of Chris’ comment is this…

And I loved every minute of it, every compromise, every success, every time that I had to sacrifice composition to a technical detail, every time I was able to show them a picture that was better than they expected; even the failures when I couldn’t overcome technical difficulties, or connect with my subjects. Every second of that was PHOTOGRAPHY.

Pretty amazing quote huh? I want to print that and hang it on the wall.

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Zack

We had another one of our GOYA shootouts today! This time we have visitors to the studio. David Jackson and Trevor Nackers joined us today on the shootout. Here’s the set up.

We decide to do these things at a moment’s notice. Today’s challenge was that each of us would head out with a 12″ square mirror and we had to incorporate that mirror into a photograph. We had just under two hours to complete the challenge and we could post one single image to the blog. You decide who did the best job. Meaning, you vote on the photo you like the best. The winner gets something. We never know what.

Today’s crew consists of Dan Depew, Robin Shetler, David Jackson, Trevor Nackers, and myself. Sherri left the studio with full intentions of participating but she decided to play the LAME “it’s my birthday and I have better things to do.” card. Whatever. Loser. (Actually, she won the last shootout.) What is GOYA? It’s a term we use around here meaning “Get Off Your Ass.” … and go shoot.

Here are our images.

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To refresh your memory, here are the slices and who they correspond with…

Cheers,
Zack

Want a sneak peak into the life of a successfull commercial photographer?

I made this for a few reasons. I’ll go into that later.

Want some more?

HQ QT version of the video here.

Cheers,
Zack Arias. Sucksessfull Commercial Photographer

PS – In addition to thanking the academy I would also like to recognize Jeremy Cowart, Chase Jarvis, and Joe Effing McNally.

Here is the official video of the shootout I did with fellow dorks photographers David Hobby and Joey L.

What we all want to know is… Who won?

Cheers,
Zack

I’ve had such a great time here in Dubai that Delta decided to blow a circuit card in an engine so we could stay just another day or two.

Thanks to fellow GPP teacher, Chris Hurtt, for hooking us up with an aerial view of Dubai a few days ago. I was able to get this photo of the Burj Khalifa. It is the tallest building in the world stretching about half a mile in the sky. When you are on the ground you can tell that the thing is huge but to really grasp the scale you have to see it from the air. This image was shot at 1,500 feet. All of those buildings around it are your typical city sky scrapers. 40, 50, 60 story buildings. I think the Burj is 160 something stories.

Ok, now I have to get on the horn with Delta to see if we are going home today or tomorrow. I should be making this post from home.

Cheers,
Zack

Meg, Hawke, Dan, Sherri, and I have had an amazing week here in Dubai being part of the teaching crew at Gulf Photo Plus. This is my second year teaching at GPP. Last year, being the new guy, I had to take the group photo of all the amazing photographers that teach at this event. This year Mohamed Somji, the organizer of GPP, decided it would be fun to have a shootout between David Hobby, Joey Lawrence, and myself.

The rules were simple. We would be given a subject to photograph in the main auditorium in front of a live crowd. We would have twenty minutes each to shoot tethered & edit a photo while our images were projected on a large screen. We all would have the same subject to photograph and we were not allowed to see what the other was doing. Hobby went first. I was second and Joey brought it up from behind. We were also told there might be a surprise or two.

The surprise was A) we would have two subjects instead of one and B) Joe McNally would have a microphone and be giving live commentary as we were setting up a shot and shooting. Two people? David and I asked the same question… “Do they both have to be in the photo at the same time?”

No pressure.

So the photo above is what I came up with. It was a great teaching exercise if anything and we all had a fun time with it. Yes… there were video cameras and it will be online as soon as we have links to it. David and Joey will post their photos at some point I’m sure. Joey… well he threw us all a curve ball. Lastly… an official winner was never named so… IMHO the best shot was

Six days of non-stop teaching and the stress of having to perform to a packed auditorium has me worn out. I have two days of personal shooting to do now. Can’t wait to share more images from this trip. I have had such an amazing time here in Dubai. I love this city. Usedfilm Dubai? I don’t hate the sound of that.

Cheers,
Zack

Cheers,
Zack