Zack Arias and the One Light Workshop

I have a new cell phone. And the alarm choices are horrific at best. The least painful of them all sounds like a pelican being choked by a snake. Have I heard a pelican being choked by a snake? Well, no. But I’m quite sure my alarm sounds like its audio twin.

At 5:25am on Tuesday morning, the pelican choked wildly. I rolled out of bed and into the shower. Shortly thereafter, my good friend Trista and I made our way to San Diego for Zack Arias’ seminar, the One Light Workshop. I was quite excited to meet Zack because he’s so incredibly talented and his style is unique…and he’s completely down-to-earth. Upon seeing him, he struck me as the quintessential photojournalist of my imagination—an aged newsie cap worn backward, an indie rock t-shirt, and a five-inch beard. He’s the kind of guy that can travel the world with a backpack, a camera, and a detached flash.

When we arrived at Sara France’s home, Zack greeted me warmly and made me feel extraordinarily welcomed during our initial introduction. And just when I thought he couldn’t get better, his slight accent made him near perfection. I mean, how can you not like a guy who pronounces “umbrella” as uhmmbrella, and says things like, This here picture is so sharp I can shave!

The entire day was spent learning more about photography, off-camera flash usage, and thinking outside of the box. The seminar was amazing and I’d recommend it to anyone interested. And even if you’re not interested, you should go just to meet Zack. He’s genuine, professional, slightly self-deprecating, and just a plain good person…all the things that’d make you wanna be his friend.

Here are a few shots from the workshop…




Because there was only one light source, the class only had two opportunities to work with it. The rest of the time was spent watching Zack work his magic. I shot a lot using only available light and was amazed at how fabulous the Canon 5D and the 85mm, 1.8 lens sucked in the ambient light. This shot was taken at 9pm on a nearly black street. While Zack was working with flash, this is the image I produced...but I had to hold my breath and not move the slightest! (1.8, 1600, 1/20)

At the end of the night, the class broke into groups and had to figure everything out on our own in setting up a lighting situation. Our group was fortunate to work with Shannon again (a budding musical artist in Los Angeles), but I have to admit it was really hard making my pictures look as cool as Zack's!! :)


At around midnight or so, we decided to take a group picture...unbeknownst to us, Sara has a timer on her lawn sprinklers...set to midnight or so. Here's a series pictures taken from Melissa Jill's blog...
BEFORE

DURING (isn't Pepper Nix's face just hilarious?!?)

AFTER