Thanks!

Cheers,
Zack

Happy New Year Y’all!

It’s been two days since I’ve stepped foot outside thanks to the four inches of snow the recent southern blizzard has dropped on us this week. The plan was to have my new blog and site up and running this week but being all of us are iced in, that isn’t happening.

I will take this opportunity however to let you know that this domain, zarias.com, is going to be moving under the zackarias.com domain. I’m bringing everything together under one domain now. Portfolio, blog, workshop, etc. This domain will stay up for awhile and then become a redirect. All of this content will be in the new blog.

I’m also pleased and/or upset to announce that I’m dumping Media Temple as the host. I’ve had it with them and their lack of care or inability to keep my sites malware free. I’ve done my research and the mass of complaints about WordPress malware issues point back to blogs hosted on Media Temple. They denied it for the longest time and would not lift a finger to help clean my sites. Now they seem to help customers out with cleaning their sites but they won’t or can’t stop the infections. I know it’s on their side because I have friends with parked test domains on Media Temple and those sites, that no one knows anything about, are getting infected as well. I have a client only domain parked on Media Temple that has been infected as well. I’ve done all I know how to do to keep this site clean but I deal with at least one infection a week.

I’m not going to say who I am moving to right now because I’m going to get 100 comments on why or why not to go with that host. I will tell you that it isn’t one of the “big ten” that hit most of those whack web host review sites. I’m going for a smaller server company that isn’t on the h@ck3r5 radar like the large hosts.

So, this site will be down for a bit and then moving domain names all together. That will happen as soon as Atlanta thaws and I can meet up with our local web designer to get the new site uploaded, this blog transfered over, etc. Should be in less than a week!

I hope you are doing well in the new year. See you in Miami or Tampa this month at the OneLight?

Cheers,
Zack

The OneLight Field Guide is finally out! It only took 11 months and that many redesigns but it was worth it. Looking at the state of the guide now compared to where it started I’m glad that it’s late. It’s better than the first few editions.

The guide showcases more than 50 images ranging from bands to models to brides. Mostly bands and models. For the first half of the guide I explain the gear and the settings used to create the image. For the second half I showcase images using the same gear and approximate settings. You’ll find tips and tricks throughout the guide that go beyond the scope of apertures, shutter speeds, and modifiers. I walk you through single light sources and then introduce you to multiple lights and how to deal with that. It’s made for folks who would like to keep a cookbook of scenarios on hand while out shooting.

Everything is straightforward and easy to grasp. It is made to complement the OneLight DVD and/or workshop so it isn’t supposed to be a step by step by step guide on how to use flash. That’s covered at length in the DVD and workshop. If you are comfortable with the basic principles of off camera lighting, but you have not been to a OneLight workshop or have not seen the OneLight DVD, then you will still enjoy this guide.

I developed this guide for people who came to the 2010 OneLight workshops. Enough folks heard about it and asked if I would release it for sale. I went back and forth on that for awhile and was not going to do it because I felt the cost of doing so wasn’t worth it. Then I started reworking it through MagCloud and I was able to get the cost of the guide under $30. If you were a participant at a OneLight this year then you should have gotten an email from Meg already. If you did not, check the email address that you signed up for the workshop with or check your spam filter. You have to reply to her through that email address to get this shipped to you at no charge. For those that have replied, your order has been placed and will be shipped to the address you provided.

I know what many of you are going to ask… Why in print? Why not a PDF download for $5 or something? I’ve gone back and forth about that a number of times and I will most likely revisit my thoughts on this at some point… but for now… it is in print and print only.

We shoot with digital cameras. We look at our images on a computer. We read blogs. We look at more digital photos than we can count. For this project, and the next, I wanted it to be in print. Something you can hold on to that doesn’t also check email. To be very honest with you, it would be MUCH easier to just release this as a PDF. It would also be more profitable to sell. It costs me more and makes me less to make it available in print but it has more value in print so I’m going with that right now.

Plus… This is a dry run for a new project that has been kicking around in my head for over a year. I’ve been wanting to launch a photography magazine for awhile now and this is the “first issue” of that magazine. Now, the magazine in my head looks completely different than this field guide. The field guide is just a taste. A scratch on the surface of what I’m planning. DEDPXL is the name and it will be a semi-annual to quarterly magazine launching in January. It will be print on demand like this guide and it will be an organic publication that starts with people I know who have a lot to offer.

It will be independent as f#*%. Meaning, we will not be accepting advertising or sponsorships for this magazine. You can not buy advertising space. You just can’t. There won’t be gear reviews so don’t send your stuff. It will be a showcase of emerging work, insights into the running of a business and the photo industry as a whole, how to’s on the technical, and a sounding board for a number of voices in the industry… both positive and negative. Business & Craft.

I will not be taking submissions for articles right now. It is a “don’t call us, we’ll call you” kind of a thing and my list is already full for 2 or 3 issues. (Not that I’ve gotten in touch with all of you on that list.) There will be a call for certain things here and there. You’ll see. I think it’s going to be pretty awesome and there isn’t anything quite like it on the shelves today.

Lastly, I’m not doing this as a new business venture. It’s a personal project. I can’t wait to get it off the ground. Since I can’t find a hobby, I’m going to start a photography magazine.

Until then, have a look at the OneLight Field Guide. I hope you enjoy it. It is available on MagCloud for $28 + shipping.

Cheers,
Zack

We all live in a big a$$ yellow bus. We are on the road with our OneLight Family Tour!

We are currently in Asheville, NC. As soon as we wrap up the OneLight here tonight we drive all night to DC. With the exception of Pittsburgh we are having mixers in each city and we would love for you to come out and catch some live music, win gift cards from B&H, OneLight DVDs, and network within your local photographic community. The mixers are free and open to the public. Here is where we will be…

7/1 :: Washington DC

7/6 :: Cincinnati, OH

7/8 :: Indianapolis, IN

7/11 :: Chicago, IL

7/13 :: Saint Louis, MO

7/15 :: Nashville, TN

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for all of the details as to places and times in these cities. Hope to meet you soon!

Cheers,
Zack

I really did start my studio on the streets. As seen in the photo above.

Update – Thank you one and all for those who worked so hard behind the scenes and those thousands and thousands of you who tuned into the live event! More to come!

As we get closer to this weekend’s creativeLIVE studio class I wanted to go ahead and share the rough time frame and course material for the weekend.

There are a lot of things I want to cover in this class and I know I’m going to run out of time at some point. That’s why we have spread this out over a weekend. As far as subjects we will be photographing go we are going to be working with emerging models, musicians, and regular folks off the street.

Keep a few things in mind… This is live Internet we are dealing with so all sorts of things can go astray but rest assured there is a full pro crew behind the scenes ready for anything the internet can throw at them. The times listed below are approximate aside from start times. Keep an eye on my Twitter account as the weekend goes on. We will be updating events there. IE : “Going to start shooting the band in 30 minutes.” “Almost done with lunch. Going live in 10.” “Talking about grip right now.” You get the idea. I have a basic outline in my head of what I want to do but I’ll be working in a new space and may change things here and there as I go but always teaching why I’m changing things and what’s going through my head as I try something different.

All start times are PDT (or -8 GMT)

Friday June 11th – 1:30pm – 4:30pm’ish / 5:30pm’ish
• My personal philosophy of having a studio space
• Considerations for getting a space of your own or turning a space you have into a studio space.
• The basics of exposure when using flash in studio. We will be using hotshoe flashes and strobes.
• Working with multiple lights and working with different lighting ratios
• Using a light meter and how to figure it out on the fly without a meter
• Overview of the modifiers we will be using over the weekend. Those include…
••• Straight flash
••• Umbrellas
••• Softboxes
••• Octabanks
••• Beauty dish
••• Ring flash
••• Grids
••• Flags/Silks/Reflectors
••• DIY modifiers
• Q&A

Saturday June 12th :: 10am – 1pm’ish
• The many uses of white seamless. I’ll be walking you through the entire process of shooting on a white seamless and getting the most out of one simple background
• Post production on the white seamless
• Q&A
• (lunch break somewhere between 1pm and 2pm.)
• Building a set. It will already be in place. I’ll just talk about the basic modular set pieces that went into making it.
• Grip equipment. How to put stuff together and do stuff with that stuff.
• Slowly moving away from the seamless and onto other background choices. IE: Fabric/Walls/Sets
• Working with subjects. Interaction and Posing. (I’ve had a lot of questions about this so I’m spending a lot of time on it.)
• Musicians. Duo and Trio. Group shots plus individuals. White seamless and other backgrounds + a simple set.
• Q&A
• In order to conclude in time to rebroadcast over night we can only teach for 10 hours a day. So the latest this day will run is 8pm. Don’t know if it will go that long or not.

Sunday June 13th :: 10am
• Quick recap of previous day and previous information about exposure. Not going to spend a lot of time on this but just a quick recap for those just joining.
• If I don’t cover the grip equipment on Saturday I’ll most likely do that Sunday morning.
• Art Direction! I will be pulling people from the live audience and giving them assignments to see what problems they run into and guide them through the process.
• More shooting. Different modifiers. Improv.
• Q&A
• (lunch break somewhere between 1pm and 2pm.)
• Working with a four piece band.  Individuals and group shot.
• More shooting. Whatever we decide to do making sure I’ve used all the modifiers from the list above.
• Q&A

————————

I will be online live with Chase Jarvis tomorrow, June 9th, from 1:30pm till 3pm for a live Q&A leading up to the weekend. If I haven’t covered something in the notes above then hit me here in the comment section or tune in here tomorrow and ask while we are online.

You can sign up for the class here and see all the swag we have to give away during the weekend! We have stuff from B&H, x•rite, Pocket Wizard, Westcott, and Sekonic in addition to several copies of the OneLight DVD. Big thanks to B&H, The MAC Group, and Westcott for really bringing the goods. No t-shirts or ball caps in this prize closet. Also a big thank you goes to Affix Music for providing us with some licensed and cleared tunes to listen to while we work this weekend.

Questions about the class or something you might want to see covered? Drop them in the comments.

Cheers,
Zack

We are a week away from the creativeLIVE studio class!

I typically do not like promoting my stuff over and over and over but I am honestly and truly excited about this class and I love the fact that this is being set up so you can see it live… for free.

We are still working on the final schedule for next Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Look for that to be posted on the blog sometime this weekend. I’m in the middle of a Photo 101 right now and Meg is having ear surgery as I type, so we have just a few things on our plate but save the date for next weekend. It’s going to be awesome.

Sign up for the class here.

If you can’t attend the class live you can pre-purchase the class for download for an amazing $79. It will be $129 after the class. A blog reader here felt that was a bit like a used car salesman pitch and I get that. In fact I get it so much I made the video above! But I will tell you this… I am putting everything I have into this and I promise it will be worth it. Even at $129 it’s going to be over delivered and under priced. This isn’t going to be a fluff and no stuff kind of workshop. We will be working with small flashes, studio strobes, several kinds of modifiers, and we will be working with individuals and groups. We are also going to have a lot of time set aside for Q&A during the live session. Not just five minutes here and there.

Cheers,
Zack

See all of the winners and some honorable mentions after the jump…

Ok…

As with all contests this was tough. I was suddenly feeling like I needed to double the size of the class because there were no less than twelve of you could have easily won this a seat in the contest. We went back and forth, watched some videos several times. Half of us would vote one way and half the other. Coins were flipped. Such is the way of contests!

So… Congrats to the winners. We need to hear from you today and confirm with us that you can be in Seattle June 11 – 13th. If you are one of the winners please email Dan – dan @ usedfilm . com

Thanks to everyone for your entries! Here some honorable mentions you have to see!!!

As we lead up to the CreativeLIVE studio class next month in Seattle, we are looking for six of you to join us live in the audience… for free! Now, don’t get your hopes up thinking that means airfare and accommodations but that does mean you can to be in attendance during the class. We are wanting the studio audience to be the proxy for the online audience. You may be asked to watch a twitter feed during Q&A. You may be asked to be a subject for an impromptu portrait. We promise not to put you into any compromising situations.

We have six spots to fill and this is how you could snag one of those spots…

• Shoot a 60 second video of yourself. Introduce us to who you are, where you’re from, what kind of photography interests you and then ask a question that you would like to see answered during this class.

• Upload it to the web and send that link, via twitter, to @zarias with a hashtag of #creativeLIVE.

• We will watch all of the videos and select six of you to be part of the audience. We will make that selection by May 31st.

• Understand that you will be taped and broadcast all around the Internets.

• You will need to be available from Friday evening June 11th until Sunday evening June 13th.

You can shoot these clips with whatever kind of camera you want! Be creative and keep it short and sweet!

I have not been this excited about something in quite some time. Whether you are in the live audience or you are watching online I promise you that I’m going to pour everything I have into it! It’s going to be a lot of fun.

We are still taking questions that you would like to see answered in the class. Keep them coming in the comment section!

Cheers,
Zack

PS – Big thanks to Syl Arena for making a cameo! If you are in Atlanta, come by this Friday (5/20/10) for a mixer with Syl at my studio. 7:30pm till. 533 W. Howard Ave Decatur. Syl is in town for his Speedliting tour this weekend. Check it out.

We are one month away from our weekend studio class that I will be teaching for CreativeLive. The class will be broadcast out of Seattle June 11th – 13th. If you are unfamiliar with CreativeLive let me give you the bullet points…

• They bring live teaching to you for free. Yes. Free. If you can tune in while the class is going live then you can kick back and watch it for free.

• This is a highly interactive process. People are monitoring the CreativeLive chat room and twitter feed during the class and fielding your questions to the instructor during the class. If you have a question you can ask it. I’ll be scheduling blocks of times during the weekend I’m teaching just to sit down and get through as many questions as I can in addition to the ones that will be fielded during the instruction time. I love the Internets. Don’t you?

• If you are unable to sit through an entire class, series, or the like then you can purchase that class anytime afterwards. The downloads pay for the bandwidth and production to bring it live. It’s a fantastic model for education that really doesn’t have an equal in our industry right now and I’m honored to have been asked to come on board as this thing launches.

• You can “enroll” for a class or just show up on their site the day of the class and watch it. The enroll feature is the best since you’ll get that reminder email before your class goes live.

• For those of you beyond the continental United States who don’t want to wake up at 3am to watch a free class the good folks at CreativeLive have come up with a solution for you. They will replay that day’s class overnight! Are you kidding me? That’s very awesome of them.

Check out some of the videos from Vincent Laforet’s HDDSLR class. Hours upon hours of discussion and teaching over the course of three days and you can download the whole dang thing for $129. I paid $400 to go to one of his workshops here in Atlanta and that was for one day and I can’t play it back. I downloaded this one right away. If you are wondering what the “edited videos coming in X days” means; if you download the video now you are getting the straight RAW feed that was the same as the live course. The edited versions do not cut the content. CreativeLive just goes in and cleans up the video and might make a change in cuts from one camera to another. The edited video has a bit more polish but all of the content as the live feed.

So…

I’m doing a studio class over a weekend in June. It will start with an intro on Friday night and then run through Sunday. The final schedule is still being drafted but what I need right now from all of you is this…

What would you like to see in a studio class?

I’ve got 2.5 days to pack in as much as I can so hit me in the comments of specific or broad topics you want to see happen live. I have a basic outline of things I know I’m going to cover but I want to make sure I’m hitting points you all would like to see.

Lastly, we have six seats to fill with people during the class. We have a little idea for a contest for folks to win a seat to be there. I’ll announce that in a few days. Do remember that this is going down in Seattle. You don’t have to live there but travel will be on your dime.

Questions?

Cheers,
Zack

I’m not the type to talk much about my workshops but a number of folks have expressed interest in the three day Photo 101 as to what that actually look likes if you were to attend one. Someone from this weekend’s workshop asked why I didn’t blog about my workshops. I said I didn’t want to seem like I’m trying to sell them all the time so I just keep quiet about it. They said they would appreciate seeing something about the workshops and a blog post would have been nice to read before coming to one. So…

First, what is the Photo 101? It is an intense three day workshop I’ve been developing for a year that is aimed at the hobbyist / amateur photographer that wants to take photography from a hobby or interest and move it into a job. It’s limited to 10 students per workshop.

Friday :: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm :: The first day of the workshop is lecture, lecture, lecture. Everything about aperture, shutter speed, metering modes, working with available light, and optimum camera settings for different photographic applications like portraits vs. events. Just before lunch I break the students up into pairs and have them photograph each other. We then critique those images at the end of the day. These images are shot at the beginning so I can judge the level of everyone involved before the class gets into the meat of applying the lecture material. We also spend a good deal of time talking about lens selection. Choosing the right lens for the picture you want to make is one of the most important things you do as a photographer.  If you don’t know your lenses and know what they do you are shooting blind.

The goal of all of this information is two fold. One is to understand the foundation of photography as it applies to shooting photos for clients and two; the importance of knowing the fundamentals and rules to get started with as you walk on to a shoot. Yes we want to be super creative photographers that push boundaries but if you start out never knowing those boundaries then you never have a rock solid starting point to build from. Starting out you have to be able to nail the fundamentals. They have to be second nature to you. You want things like reciprocal exposures, camera features and settings, and foundational lighting principles to be hardwired into your brain stem along with heart beats and breathing patterns. If you don’t have the foundation you are going to have a hell of a time trying to build something of value on… nothing. Well, that’s my philosophy about it.

Saturday :: 9:30 am – 7:00 pm :: This is the day of shooting, shooting, shooting. We started applying information from the previous day’s lecture to working with actual “off the street” clients. We started with simple headshots. Nothing revolutionary here but the goal is you should be able to fall out of bed and nail a headshot. We starteded with window light only, moved to window light plus reflectors, and then moved outdoors to use scrims and reflectors. We spent the first half of the day working with 5 clients to nail a headshot in and around our studio with the emphasis being you don’t have to have a “studio”.  Any old window light will do.

Since your first foray into professional photography most likely will include portraits that is what we concentrate on. Note that very little has been done to the photos in this post. Maybe a hair of color correction, a slight tweak of contrast, a bit of crop, and an occasional B&W conversion. Light is our photoshop.

After lunch it was time to start with the headshot and then find out where and how to break the rules and why you would want to do that and when you most definitely do NOT want to break the rules. For the rest of the afternoon and into the evening we worked with three models and two “clients” who were fellow photographers but easily opened up in front of the camera. Our amazing sexy location for this? My yard. We all descended on my yard for the afternoon to create portraits. The exercise was learning to shoot in any location. Please note that I do not have a manicured English garden for a backyard. I still have a dead old Christmas tree thrown in the bushes because the city never picked it up. One of those back yards.

For the first part of the day we had very clearly defined constraints we were trying to work under and then it was time to throw some of those constraints out the window and remind ourselves that our job is supposed to be fun. We can nail the safe or the expected or the needed shot but how can we go beyond that? Can we shoot an out of focus portrait? The answer is yes we can. I love this shot by Jessica Cook.

Here are some more from the yard… Find a simple background and get all up in it…

Light the eyes. Light the eyes. Light the eyes!

This is Meg’s recording studio in the backyard. We call her Loretta.

I love this image that Lisa created in the front yard of Esther laying in the grass.

Hawke Danger gets in on the action…

I don’t get to shoot a whole lot at workshops because that isn’t the goal. The goal is to have students shoot as much as possible. I don’t care for those gang bang shoots where fourteen million shutters are clicking 8 inches apart from each other. I would rather folks get a more hands on approach to building images with me roaming around giving feedback and answering questions.  I will piggy back off of you though from time to time. Here is one I squeaked out as Terry was setting up her own shot.

I really love these next two…

I love ‘em all really. It was really, really, really hard to edit for this blog post. I just did it by gut reaction to photos and there are about 15 others that I’m not posting because the Internets would blow up with this many pictures in one blog post.

After a full day of shooting we headed down to the beer garden at the Marlay House for dinner, beer, conversation, and more beer. It was a gorgeous evening of beer and photography and beer.

Sunday :: 10:00 am – 1:00 am Monday morning :: Yes. We go until we go on the last day. We started the third day off with editing the work that was shot on Saturday and going through post production and archiving and file management and all of that fun stuff. We went next door for lunch and then had two models come in for a few hours in the afternoon. I split the group of photographers into two groups and gave them assignments. THEN… get this. I taped their screens for part of the shooting time so they couldn’t chimp. They couldn’t see if they got the exposure right. They couldn’t see what the photo was turning out like. They had to, get this… think it through and you know what? When you don’t see what you are shooting it is possible to still create great work! Like this…

After the shooting session we got into business and marketing and working ideas as you get started in this industry. We ate dinner, we kicked back a few beers, and we critiqued the images from the afternoon. It was a long, long, long day. You can expect 35 or more hours of workshop time in a three day period.

I’m really proud of this group. I mean, I’m proud of all the photo 101′s so far but as I get this class tweaked and focused I’m really glad to see the kind of work folks can produce after a relatively short amount of instruction time. You should see their images from the first assignment on day one!  ;)

We have some spots left for November and we *may* be announcing one in June but the folks on the waiting list have first dibs on that. It has not been listed yet. Details will be on the OneLight Workshop site if we open that date.  Note that for now these Photo 101 workshops will only be in Atlanta and will always run Friday – Sunday.

So here you go Jessica! A blog post about the Photo 101!

Cheers,
Zack