Mar 2007
2007 WPPI Recap Video
Here is my recap video
from the trip to Vegas this week. Had an awesome time
as you will soon tell!
Cheers,
Zack
Cheers,
Zack
|
I lost a lot of money in Vegas...
29/03/07 07:10 PM |
Tortured Artist
| Permalink
Chris and Lynn
Jaska,
Jason Groupp, and
TJ Cameron
organized a night
shoot on the strip with several models. I did not
take a camera to Vegas because I simply wanted to
travel light and hang out with people and network
more than I wanted to shoot anything. I did take a
video camera but that was it.
Everything was fine until Colin Michael handed me his Canon 5d to shoot a few frames with. I declined but he insisted. A canon camera body could really not be any more different than a Nikon body that I'm used to shooting with. I've been Nikon for years and years. Never been lured to the Canons at all. I finally got a bit used to the controls and I shot this image.
The 5d really felt like I was back to 35mm street photography because of it's full frame sensor. I fell in love with that camera and more so once he sent me the file today. The image above was shot at ISO 800 at 1.8 @ 40th of a second and pushed 1.4 stops in Bridge. I'm hooked. I think you all will be seeing me make the switch this year. It is going to take a lot of getting used to because of the ergonomics of the camera, or lack thereof. Nikon owns Canon on the controls but the image quality matched with the full frame has me hook line and sinker.
So thanks a lot Colin. A street dealer in the truest form. "Come on kid, the first few frames are free." BTW, Colin made the switch from Nikon to Canon as well. Jeez, I did lose a lot of money in Vegas.
Cheers,
Zack
Everything was fine until Colin Michael handed me his Canon 5d to shoot a few frames with. I declined but he insisted. A canon camera body could really not be any more different than a Nikon body that I'm used to shooting with. I've been Nikon for years and years. Never been lured to the Canons at all. I finally got a bit used to the controls and I shot this image.
The 5d really felt like I was back to 35mm street photography because of it's full frame sensor. I fell in love with that camera and more so once he sent me the file today. The image above was shot at ISO 800 at 1.8 @ 40th of a second and pushed 1.4 stops in Bridge. I'm hooked. I think you all will be seeing me make the switch this year. It is going to take a lot of getting used to because of the ergonomics of the camera, or lack thereof. Nikon owns Canon on the controls but the image quality matched with the full frame has me hook line and sinker.
So thanks a lot Colin. A street dealer in the truest form. "Come on kid, the first few frames are free." BTW, Colin made the switch from Nikon to Canon as well. Jeez, I did lose a lot of money in Vegas.
Cheers,
Zack
What happens in Vegas...
27/03/07 06:47 AM |
Tortured Artist
| Permalink
... get's posted on the
Internet.
We have just finished 30 hours of networking and debauchery at the WPPI convention in Las Vegas.
I can't even begin to start the shout out's too all the folks I have finally gotten to meet while out here. The PWP party was a smashing success. Congrats to Karen and Kiki for pulling that off!
I was up for 26 hours straight yesterday. Took a 5 hour nap and hit it again today. I'm now at the airport about to take the red eye back to the ATL. It was great seeing SO many Atlanta photographers out here. Better yet though was meeting so many of you from all over the world.
Must. Get. Sleep. Too bad I have jobs lined up all week.
Cheers,
Zack
We have just finished 30 hours of networking and debauchery at the WPPI convention in Las Vegas.
I can't even begin to start the shout out's too all the folks I have finally gotten to meet while out here. The PWP party was a smashing success. Congrats to Karen and Kiki for pulling that off!
I was up for 26 hours straight yesterday. Took a 5 hour nap and hit it again today. I'm now at the airport about to take the red eye back to the ATL. It was great seeing SO many Atlanta photographers out here. Better yet though was meeting so many of you from all over the world.
Must. Get. Sleep. Too bad I have jobs lined up all week.
Cheers,
Zack
Double The Fun!
Today was a great day
for me. I managed to book two jobs during the same
time of day and get both of them completed! Today we
had Becka ( BouCou Jewelry
) coming in to have a
new set of her handmade custom jewelry
photographed. I love working with Becka because
she is A) completely awesome and B) her jewelry is
one of a kind. Every piece is different and never
the same YET she still has a personal style
running through all of it. So once we got the
lighting set with Becka, Erik took over and
handled the job while I got ready to shoot new
headshots for my dear friend and creative
colleague Kelle Ortiz.
It was a great day because I have been working to get to this point. To have the space, the clients, and the right person in place that multiple jobs can be taking place at once. It's a beautiful thing.
Here are some images from the day....
This is a good industry standard headshot.
Once I feel we have captured the needed images for your standard headshot, I like to go shoot pictures for me and my client. These images won't ever become the headshot that gets sent out but it is more of what I will want to show of my work and my headshot clients walk away with something beyond the standard headshot.
Meanwhile... back at the farm...
Erik is shooting jewlery.
And it looks a little something like this...
Thanks Becka and Kelle for filling up the day with lots of laughs and great images. And thanks Erik for putting up with such a difficult job. I know it's tough on ya buddy.
Cheers,
Zack
It was a great day because I have been working to get to this point. To have the space, the clients, and the right person in place that multiple jobs can be taking place at once. It's a beautiful thing.
Here are some images from the day....
This is a good industry standard headshot.
Once I feel we have captured the needed images for your standard headshot, I like to go shoot pictures for me and my client. These images won't ever become the headshot that gets sent out but it is more of what I will want to show of my work and my headshot clients walk away with something beyond the standard headshot.
Meanwhile... back at the farm...
Erik is shooting jewlery.
And it looks a little something like this...
Thanks Becka and Kelle for filling up the day with lots of laughs and great images. And thanks Erik for putting up with such a difficult job. I know it's tough on ya buddy.
Cheers,
Zack
OneLight - Salt Lake City
The Salt Lake City OneLight workshop was a huge
success despite some travel drama. BIG thanks
to
Davina Fear
for hosting the workshop, doing all the groundwork,
and giving me a warm place to rest my head. And big
thanks to all of you who came out for it! Thanks to
everyone for taking the risky trip to the roof! It
was worth it wasn't it?
Thanks to Shanda and Randy for being our fantastic subjects for the shoot.
One of my favorite demonstrations I do at a workshop is walking into an environment that looks like this....
Then, without changing a thing in the environment we are shooting, we can make a photo like this with ZERO PhotoChopping....
OH! ETA - Thank you Shannon from Lucky Red Hen photography for your wonderful gift to me. I had forgotten how great of a band the Replacements were. And the book you gave me was so good that I read it twice on the way home yesterday! Shannon found out that I was a big fan of The Decemberists. The lead singer for that band, Colin Meloy, wrote the book for the 33 1/3 series. Reading his book took me back to the very early formative years of mine that were very similar to his experience. It made me remember so many things about my life. Thanks.
Cheers,
Zack
Thanks to Shanda and Randy for being our fantastic subjects for the shoot.
One of my favorite demonstrations I do at a workshop is walking into an environment that looks like this....
Then, without changing a thing in the environment we are shooting, we can make a photo like this with ZERO PhotoChopping....
OH! ETA - Thank you Shannon from Lucky Red Hen photography for your wonderful gift to me. I had forgotten how great of a band the Replacements were. And the book you gave me was so good that I read it twice on the way home yesterday! Shannon found out that I was a big fan of The Decemberists. The lead singer for that band, Colin Meloy, wrote the book for the 33 1/3 series. Reading his book took me back to the very early formative years of mine that were very similar to his experience. It made me remember so many things about my life. Thanks.
Cheers,
Zack
Lightsphere Mod Part 1
I like shooting with hotshoe flashes. I also like using grids. Grids don't work quite as well on hotshoe flashes like they do with strobes that have parabolic reflectors. Thanks to Julie A. for this awesome idea for a mod to Gary Fong's Lightsphere. Here is part one of the modification. I'll test it later this weekend.
Cheers,
Zack
Destination Nigeria
16/03/07 08:54 AM |
Sausage Links
| Permalink
Marc Climie, who I shoot weddings for, is in Nigeria for 10 days covering a wedding there. He's having an adventure to say the least. Follow along on his blog. The image above is one of my favorites of his so far. He's going to a small village today to start the coverage of the 3 day wedding event. He won't have any Internet access but will update when he gets back to Lagos.
Cheers,
Zack
For My Friend Jim In The 312
16/03/07 12:11 AM |
Tortured Artist
| Permalink
Smallest OneLight Ever...
I had a very small
OneLight workshop today in honor of our friend Jane
being in town from her native home of Western
Australia. Julie was invited to come up for this
workshop because she has been so helpful in trying
to get a OneLight to southern Florida and the
dates just never can meet up with her schedule.
Christina came in again and was a trooper of a subject for us. She is always such a dream to work with.
Man... are we all ever sad to see Jane go. Her next stop is Boston.
Cheers,
Zack
Christina came in again and was a trooper of a subject for us. She is always such a dream to work with.
Man... are we all ever sad to see Jane go. Her next stop is Boston.
Cheers,
Zack
Jane On A Plane
I am a regular poster on a photography forum called PWP. It is an AMAZING group of photographers. I can not tell you how many life long friends I have made from that one single place. In fact, it was a group of PWeePs that started the OneLight Workshop.
One problem with online relationships is that you can quickly make eFriends with folks who live on the other side of globe so it is difficult to meet them in person. Jane Gibbons-Eyre is just such a person. Thanks to folks like Craig Molway and other generous PWeePs, enough money was raised for the "Jane On A Plane" fund. Jane is currently on a 3 or 4 week tour of the United States meeting every single person she can meet from the boards. This is a huge task considering that Jane lives in Perth Australia!
Jane is currently in Atlanta and I had the honor of showing her around town today. She didn't want the polished tourist edition of the ATL. She wanted the nit and grit of real life on the streets of Atlanta so that is exactly what I showed her. We spent the afternoon meandering the streets of Atlanta from Auburn and Edgewood Avenue to Peachtree to Five Points. It was an amazing day of walking, talking, getting acosted, and taking photos all along the way. We met some really amazing people and got to hear some very interesting stories and heard a beautiful song.
Here are some more photos from the day....
Here is Jane talking to some gentlemen who were playing chess in the park...
This is the first person we met. His name is James.
Jane loved the look of the old barber shop. We stopped in and heard some great stories.
Finally, this gentleman could effing sing. It's not right that he's on the streets with the talent he's been given.
Jane is getting her very own OneLight workshop tomorrow. It's going to be an awesome day. She has won us all over with her beauty, charm, and quick wit. Now we are trying to find a way to get her husband and their 4 boys over here to the states. We want to collect the whole set.
Cheers,
Zack
OneLight Education Fund
08/03/07 04:26 PM |
Sausage Links
| Permalink
I am pleased to announce that I have become an approved B&H affiliate! I have become an affiliate to start a OneLight Workshop education fund. My goal is to take the workshop to high schools and small colleges who can not afford to bring a speaker in for their photo programs.
I will have links from my sites to B&H. If you click through from my banner I will make a small commission from your purchase. 100% of this commission will be placed into the OneLight education fund that will be used to take the OneLight to schools. More info to come.
Cheers,
Zack
Pittsburgh Has Been Awesome!
OneLight... Pittsburgh
style! Let your imaginations run
wild...
Thank you one and all for making the Pittsburgh OneLight such an amazing event. All of you have been so welcoming and wonderful. This one is going down in my personal history book for sure. It is 2am. I'm beat. So I leave you with a few photos from today....
More about this workshop later..... G'night.
Cheers,
Zack
Thank you one and all for making the Pittsburgh OneLight such an amazing event. All of you have been so welcoming and wonderful. This one is going down in my personal history book for sure. It is 2am. I'm beat. So I leave you with a few photos from today....
More about this workshop later..... G'night.
Cheers,
Zack
My 1978 Bachelor Pad!
06/03/07 05:43 PM | Permalink
First off... I've never had a formal welcome like this! How awesome is that? From running copies at Kinkos to getting my workshop up on the Marquis! To God be this glory!
I have arrived safe and sound in Pittsburgh and I have just returned from the OneLight mixer and I'm checked in to the Sewickley Country Inn. Robin made sure I had THE best room at the Inn and let me tell you, it is one of the coolest hotel rooms I've ever had! Check it out....
This is going to be such a great workshop!
Cheers,
Zack
Catching Up
06/03/07 10:05 AM |
Tortured Artist
| Permalink
Greetings from Gate C15
in Atlanta.
It has been an intense 3 or 4 months for me. There have been times when I thought this entire adventure that I am on would just come crashing down on my head. I've been a one man shop for over 3 years and my business has grown to the point that I can no longer carry the weight of it all on my own. I'm very please to announce that I now have a full time studio manager working with me. His name is Erik Dixon. Erik was my first intern and he proved to have the hustle and ambition to get the job done. I realized back in November of last year that I could not keep all of this going without help and Erik was the first person I thought of. He has proved to be invaluable since moving to Atlanta from Tulsa last month. It is an amazing feeling knowing that I'm heading out of town for 3 days and work continues in the studio.
I'm on my way to conduct a OneLight Workshop in Pittsburgh. It is going to be cold so my challenge will be keeping the OneLight running smooth indoors for the vast majority of the time. I did it in Denver so it should not be a problem. We are holding the workshop in Sewicky at a beautiful Inn there. Big thanks to Robin for doing all the leg work to make this workshop happen. It just sold out last night so it is keeping up with the trend that every OneLight fills to capacity.
Now that Erik is getting up to speed I have been able to take care of a lot of loose strings hanging around. One of them was getting the final votes counted for the 2006 music photo of the year contest. I'm proud to announce that Dear Enemy has walked away with it again this year. I received 3,659 votes for 72 artists in the contest gallery. I have got to get the voting system automated for next year's contest. I'm going to have to learn me some of that PHP or NBA or LSD or something.
What else? Oh yes.... I have to rave and rave about my new camera bag and travel set up. I am going to be doing a lot of traveling this year and I have never had a truly organized and simple way to travel with all of my gear. I have recently bought three bags. The two I am MOST excited about are the Airport Security camera bag and the Airport Check In laptop bag. Both of these are made by ThinkTank Photo. I first learned about these bags and Expo Plus in NYC last year. My number one goal at Expo was to find a new bag.
I looked at every single offering on the trade show floor and Think Tank was by far, hands down, the most thought out and well built bag any one had to offer. The $359 price tag for the Airport Security was higher than other bags but I tell you this.... It is worth every single penny. The founders of the company are working photographers and are extremely helpful when you call them up. I can not recommend their line of products enough.
The other bag I have gotten recently is a Samsonite Golf bag. It is similar to this one. I paid $99 for it at a local golf store. It came with the large padded case for golf clubs, a shoe bag, and a small duffle bag. My light stands, umbrellas, and softboxes strap securely inside the bag leaving plenty of room for clothes and other items I don't need to carry on. The beauty of putting your larger gear in a golf case is 1) airlines usually don't charge for oversized baggage if it is a golf club case and 2) you can get a great bag for $100 compared to the $300 and $400 cases made for the photo industry.
This is my first trip with my new bags and it has made my life 100% better. I uses to travel with 4 bags. 2 carry on (shoulder bags) and 2 check in. I'm now down to 3 bags. 2 carry on that fit together and roll behind me, and then one checked bag that carries my stands, modifiers, and clothes. All of it rolls smoothly from parking to check in. It is a beautiful thing I tell ya. Worth every single penny. Eerik and I shot a "What's In Your Bag" video this week for Simple Photo Life. I'll finish the editing on it when I get back from Pittsburgh.
That's a fairly decent up to date catching up on the blog here. I would appreciate your prayers and I continue to navigate some large transitions this year. It's going to be a great year of growth and learning and I can't thank Erik enough for taking the plunge and leaving family and friends behind to come help me work this field I have to work.
Cheers,
Zack
It has been an intense 3 or 4 months for me. There have been times when I thought this entire adventure that I am on would just come crashing down on my head. I've been a one man shop for over 3 years and my business has grown to the point that I can no longer carry the weight of it all on my own. I'm very please to announce that I now have a full time studio manager working with me. His name is Erik Dixon. Erik was my first intern and he proved to have the hustle and ambition to get the job done. I realized back in November of last year that I could not keep all of this going without help and Erik was the first person I thought of. He has proved to be invaluable since moving to Atlanta from Tulsa last month. It is an amazing feeling knowing that I'm heading out of town for 3 days and work continues in the studio.
I'm on my way to conduct a OneLight Workshop in Pittsburgh. It is going to be cold so my challenge will be keeping the OneLight running smooth indoors for the vast majority of the time. I did it in Denver so it should not be a problem. We are holding the workshop in Sewicky at a beautiful Inn there. Big thanks to Robin for doing all the leg work to make this workshop happen. It just sold out last night so it is keeping up with the trend that every OneLight fills to capacity.
Now that Erik is getting up to speed I have been able to take care of a lot of loose strings hanging around. One of them was getting the final votes counted for the 2006 music photo of the year contest. I'm proud to announce that Dear Enemy has walked away with it again this year. I received 3,659 votes for 72 artists in the contest gallery. I have got to get the voting system automated for next year's contest. I'm going to have to learn me some of that PHP or NBA or LSD or something.
What else? Oh yes.... I have to rave and rave about my new camera bag and travel set up. I am going to be doing a lot of traveling this year and I have never had a truly organized and simple way to travel with all of my gear. I have recently bought three bags. The two I am MOST excited about are the Airport Security camera bag and the Airport Check In laptop bag. Both of these are made by ThinkTank Photo. I first learned about these bags and Expo Plus in NYC last year. My number one goal at Expo was to find a new bag.
I looked at every single offering on the trade show floor and Think Tank was by far, hands down, the most thought out and well built bag any one had to offer. The $359 price tag for the Airport Security was higher than other bags but I tell you this.... It is worth every single penny. The founders of the company are working photographers and are extremely helpful when you call them up. I can not recommend their line of products enough.
The other bag I have gotten recently is a Samsonite Golf bag. It is similar to this one. I paid $99 for it at a local golf store. It came with the large padded case for golf clubs, a shoe bag, and a small duffle bag. My light stands, umbrellas, and softboxes strap securely inside the bag leaving plenty of room for clothes and other items I don't need to carry on. The beauty of putting your larger gear in a golf case is 1) airlines usually don't charge for oversized baggage if it is a golf club case and 2) you can get a great bag for $100 compared to the $300 and $400 cases made for the photo industry.
This is my first trip with my new bags and it has made my life 100% better. I uses to travel with 4 bags. 2 carry on (shoulder bags) and 2 check in. I'm now down to 3 bags. 2 carry on that fit together and roll behind me, and then one checked bag that carries my stands, modifiers, and clothes. All of it rolls smoothly from parking to check in. It is a beautiful thing I tell ya. Worth every single penny. Eerik and I shot a "What's In Your Bag" video this week for Simple Photo Life. I'll finish the editing on it when I get back from Pittsburgh.
That's a fairly decent up to date catching up on the blog here. I would appreciate your prayers and I continue to navigate some large transitions this year. It's going to be a great year of growth and learning and I can't thank Erik enough for taking the plunge and leaving family and friends behind to come help me work this field I have to work.
Cheers,
Zack