CreativeLIVE Arias: Day Zero

Posted by: Nervous Wreck
Approved by: No One


This is going to be a quick and dirty blog. No editing, no filtering, just raw, straight out of my head writing (Mel’s going to kill me).

For those who didn’t catch the post a few days back, I’m in Seattle and will be appearing in a live webcast for the next three days. Frankly, I’m nervous. Really nervous. But more on that in a bit. First let’s do the CreativeLIVE rundown.

I talked a lot about Zack in my last post (the instructor for the weekend) and in this one I’d like to introduce you to CreativeLIVE, our hosts. CreativeLIVE is built on the pay-it-forward principle. The idea is that those that really need education usually can’t afford it and that information should not be held hostage. They broadcast, for free, over the web, a weekend seminar that would run most people into the thousands to attend in person. In this model all you have to do is set aside the time to dedicate to the broadcast and you can see it all for F-R-E-E.

If you miss something, or wish to have the information to go back over at a later date, (and trust me, you’ll want to, they go over a LOT) you can order the entire three days for something like $99 if you purchase it before the live broadcast concludes. Pretty sweet deal, huh?

What about after the broadcast? Do they jack the price way up? Yeah, by $50. (I know, that’s not really jacking it up at all is it?) Mel and I have purchased three courses, Zack’s first CreativeLIVE appearance, Tamara Lackey’s, and Bambi Cantrell’s even though we sat through all of the live feed. There’s just so much information that you can’t possibly remember it all. So do yourself a favor and purchase it now while it’s even cheaper.

We go live at 10 a.m. west coast time. Check it out.

Hobgoblins
It’s late and I really need to get to bed and rest up for tomorrow, but I’m also a little restless. You see, this entire trip, from start to finish, is a huge step for me. If Dr. Phil were here he’d be patting me on the back. (This is where you can tune out if you get bored with wishy washy emotion type things, cause from here on out it’s coming straight from the heart).

For those few kind souls that used to read my blog about writing, you know that I’ve long battled my own self destruction. You see, I have a real fear of success.

Sounds stupid, right? Who fears succeeding? Well, if you look into it at all, a lot of people do. You might even be one of them. Every time you don’t try, you’re letting your fear of success win. Personally, I’ve conquered a lot of fears to be where I am right now, both in my development as a photographer and artist, and even in forcing myself to come to Seattle. The old me would have never made the video, never entered a contest at all. Why? Because not trying might mean you won’t succeed, but it also means you won’t fail. You can live your entire life talking about, “If only.” “If only I would have tried I would have succeeded.” You know you know someone like that. Always talking about what could have been. And you know what? No one can deny that you could have succeeded because it will forever be an unknown.

That’s exactly who I’ve been most of my life. Mr. Coulda-been.

I play it safe and frankly, this trip is not safe. This is so far outside my comfort zone, you have no idea. I’m the kind of guy that comes off as smug because I keep my mouth shut, but in reality I’m just terrified of being found out. I, like every other artist in the world, fear that I’ll be found out as being nothing more than a hack. It’s the sick game we play with ourselves.

And that’s the little hobgoblin that will be sitting on my shoulder this weekend. I’ve contained him thus far and I can only hope that the courage I borrow from Mel and our son holds out.

The hobgoblin is whispering in my ear again. He says that I’ve been too honest, that it’s in my own best interest to delete everything but the CreativeLIVE bit. “It’s safe,” he says. “Just play it safe.”

Some shots from around Seattle today:

I've been captivated by Vivian Maier's work as of late. A woman with such amazing talent that no one ever knew about. I wonder what hobgoblins she wrestled with to keep such amazing work hidden. These self portraits are my digital homage to her.

Stay tuned. I’m planning on blogging each day. They’ll be raw, but there’s a time crunch here and I don’t have my proofreader sitting in the other room waiting to look things over. She’s busy watching after our son. Miss you guys.

Love, Faith, + Laughter - Lodi Wedding Photography

Posted by Melody
Edited by David (I'm hopeless without him ;o)

Amanda + Chandler
Posted by Melody

Faith. Humor. Simplicity. Love. All serve to describe Amanda + Chandler’s wedding.

We arrived on location at Oak Park, surrounded by wizened and majestic oaks, and made our way over to the amphitheatre where the ceremony would be held. There we were greeted by Chandler with a huge smile and the nearly giddy admission that he was very excited. I spent some time taking portraits of the groom and his groomsmen, while David ran off to take detail shots. Soon, Amanda arrived and ducked into a white tent. Telling Chandler that we would be seeing him again soon, I made my way to the bride’s tent. Inside, bridesmaids were putting on makeup and fluttering about as Amanda’s mom assisted her into her gown. Soon, the pastor arrived and prayed with the girls. And then it was time.

As Chandler awaited his bride, he was visibly overcome with emotion, already shedding some tears. But as Amanda came into view, his face was filled with such joy. More tears were shed throughout a ceremony that was a clear reflection of not only their devotion to each other, but also to their faith in God. From the prayers of her father and the pastor, a song written and performed by a groomsman, and a sharing of communion as a first act of marriage, their love for God was as apparent as their shared romantic love.

And still, there was much humor and fun, more often than not in some way attributable to Chandler and his antics. His vows were a rhyming poem. He swung Amanda around in a full circle while giving her their first kiss. He broke out some unplanned dance moves during his first dance with Amanda. He had fun on his wedding day, and made sure others did, too.

This was a simple affair, where the lovely natural surroundings provided as much of the décor as the sunflowers on the tables, and guests feasted on chocolate-dipped strawberries rather than filet mignon. It was not a wedding where the couple went into tens of thousands of dollars of debt to say “I do.” However, it was a wedding filled with much love, faith, and laughter – all three of which are clearly a large part of Chandler + Amanda’s relationship – and which seem to be the perfect start to a lasting and loving marriage.

And,here is where Chandler decided to literally sweep Amanda off her feet, spinning her around as he embraced her for their first kiss.

In typical Chandler fashion, he changed things up midway through their first dance to throw in a little bit of swing.

Next Up: David anticipating Creative Live and Zack Arias here on our main page? A dramatic portrait session out of Hilmar over at M&D Seniors? Check back soon to find out! This should be a busy week for blogs!

Hey there! Before you leave our page, follow us! :o) That way you'll know when we have posted new images. And gosh darn, it just plumb makes us feel special! We all like to feel special, right? :o)

Jill + Al - Pleasanton Wedding at the Palm Event Center

Posted by Melody
Edited by David (I'm hopeless without him ;o)

On April 15, the day dawned brilliantly and as full of sunshine as Jill’s disposition. When we arrived at Jill’s parents to start with some getting ready and detail shots, I was not surprised to see Megan, one of our former brides – we already knew that she was going to be a bridesmaid in the wedding. But I was pleasantly surprised to also see two others who had been bridesmaids along with Jill in Megan’s wedding, Miroslava and Madeline. Later when the gals were talking in the limo on the ride to the Palm Event Center in Pleasanton, it was clear that there were going to be several more familiar faces as the day went on. One of the ladies even quipped at one point that it must feel a little like a reunion.

It did. But even more, it felt like we were capturing the feeling of coming home: the kind and loving affection shared between Jill + Al; the interactions with family and friends (and with this couple, it seems that friends are family); and the sweet consideration paid to their loved ones – they were so excited to spend time with their friends and family that they even returned early from their bridal session! And this devotion they lavish upon each other and those they care for is so abundantly returned by all around them. It is clear in the rapt attention the bridesmaids paid to Jill as she was getting ready, in the thoughtful toasts offered by their friends and family, in the countless hugs exchanged… 

And this is but one of the countless reasons why I love shooting weddings: in a sense, I get to share in the emotion present at such special events – to witness the moments of joy, the hopes for a future of tremendous happiness, and the warmth and love and memories shared by all present. In this case, the wedding of Jill + Al felt like coming home. And, shooting with David by my side, this wedding also served to remind me of how fortunate I am to get to work with my own loving husband, so that even going to work is still like coming home.

Here is a series of shots from Jill and Al's First Look. They had opted for seeing each other before the wedding so that they could minimize time away from the guests after the ceremony.

I love the expressions on Jill's face throughout the ceremony.

While they were anxious to get back to the festivities, they did allow us to capture a handful of sweet bridal portraits.

David and I are both drawn to little ones. They are a highlight of weddings for us. Here, an intrepid adventurer wanders the dance floor.

Have I mentioned how much we like the gentle and sweet way that Jill + Al look at each other ;o)

Next Up: A lovely outdoor wedding filled with love, faith, and laughter.

If you're not already following this blog we encourage you to do so. It'll help you get to know us a little better, and might also help generate ideas for your own shoot. I mean, you are going to have a session with us, aren't you? ;o)

Zack Arias: An introduction

Posted by David
Approved by Melody

For those that missed my momentary twittered shout of joy, I won a contest! I’ll be heading up north to Seattle, Washington where I’ll be one of five in-house students for the CreativeLive event with Zack Arias that will be webcast to the entire world.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Webcast? Pft. I can webcast to the entire world.” Well CreativeLive events reach tens of thousands of viewers and their reach grows with each seminar. So for me, it’s sort of a big deal.

When I sat down to write this blog I wanted to talk about my fears, and why this is so important to me. Then I realized that in order for you to really appreciate why it’s so important, you kind of need some back story. So let’s do this creative writing style and start from the start.

The Emperor Wears No Clothes:
So who is Zack Arias? Just the preeminent guru of lighting! Okay, so maybe that’s debatable when you’ve got so many lighting courses out there, but he has been pretty important when it comes to the existence of Melody and David Photography.

He is a champion of the art that is slowly being leached out of photography, a father, a husband, a lover of music and of good beer. He knows what film is and how to shoot it, was classically trained but adapted with digital. He also has a guru beard, so that’s gotta count for something, right? (Photo at left is from a web search. It's the most often seen image of Zack and I've never seen a photo credit for it, so I can only assume it was a self portrait done for promotional reasons since he used it in his guest blog for Scott Kelby. I hope he doesn't mind my using it.)

Zack is a guy who went to school for photography, busted his butt, got a good job doing boring work shooting for catalogs, spent a lot of borrowed money trying to go big and then went bust. Life went to crap, he got a boring job outside of photography and decided to forgo his dreams. (Don’t worry, I’m not outing him; he’s very open about this.) Then, by happenstance, a friend got him back into photography.

With a borrowed camera and truck load of determination, he built himself up with a cash-on-hand business, taking baby step by baby step until he got to the point where people started flying him to places like Dubai and paying him good money to do three-day workshops.

You shoot in parks? So did he. Parking garages? The man practically invented the concept. Nikon? Yup. Canon? Yup. A real business on a real budget with four kids to feed. He was so dedicated to the new concept of frugality that his original workshops were all about how you could get by with just one light. You have heard of the One Light Workshop, haven’t you?




Melody found him very early on in our adventure into photography. We started trying to figure out how we could round up the cash to visit my Noni back in Atlanta so that we could sneak out to one of his One Light Workshops. Unfortunately, we were on the same budget that he was on when he started out. It wasn’t going to happen. But we continued to follow his blog, watched his critiques, and mused about someday making it to Georgia.

Along Came a Spider:
In the meantime, as Mel and I went from $50 sessions to $100 ones and signed wedding contracts that probably cost us more money than they made, Chase Jarvis brought Zack a proposal. Take your concept of free information and go BIG with it. (If you don’t know Chase, look him up. He’s an important character in the storyline but due to the fact that the majority of the population in this country hates reading, I can’t go into his story here as well.)

A three-day workshop, going over everything Zack knew about starting a studio, broadcast live to the entire world via the web all for the price of . . . FREE fifty FREE. Despite having a keen business sense, he signed on anyway. ;o)

I remember that at the time of the first seminar, Melody and I were busy with something. I think I was in the middle of cleaning out a warehouse space that would eventually become our studio, and we had a shoot or something that weekend. As such, we took shifts watching the broadcast. Between the two of us, we watched the entire three day seminar more than once. Mel watched during the day, then I stayed up through the night to watch the rebroadcast for the other side of the world. When we were asked to go out and do something, we said, “Sorry, attending a seminar this weekend.”

If I’m not mistaken, during that seminar he talked briefly about how if you want to do something, you set it up and do it; you don’t wait for it to come along.
A month later we had our first shoot in the studio with my hand-crafted fifteen foot high cyc-wall on rollers. I’d found a handful of amateur models, paired them up with makeup artists, and we had a huge boudoir portfolio building session over two days. It was a lot of hard work and sleepless nights, but we did it.

The above shots were from our first two sessions in the studio and were based on the concepts taught in Zack's first CreativeLive course. We used rented lighting and a whole lot of muffled curse words. Now we actually own our own lighting and don't owe anything on it.

That shoot would not have happened without Zack’s inspiration. Throughout our journey, his insight and own tribulations have helped us along. So yeah, while I’ve seen a lot of instructors, gotten to meet McNally and Hobby when I was a “VAL” in San Jose -- Joe even hand-delivered orange juice to us VALS (Squeeeeee!!) and Mel was half-coerced into going up front as a demo model (Eeeeek, from Melody -- but Joe, if you’re reading this, we’re still waiting on that portrait) none of that really compares to getting to hang out for three days with the guy who was instrumental in shaping so much of our photography and how we look at running a business.

The Golden Ticket:
So how’d I win? I submitted a crap video that I’ll now share with you.


I told you it was a crap video. How I won is pretty much beyond me. I like the theory that our friend Tina proposed: it came from the heart. That leads to what I really wanted to talk about, my fears heading into this trip. But like I said, few people reading this were English majors, so I’ll save that for another post.

Next Up: A Pleasanton hills wedding of Jill and Al, then we’ll get back to facing fears and taking every opportunity presented. We'll also talk a little about CreativeLive for those of you who are still wondering how a free service generates revenue.

House Keeping: Please excuse the changes in the blog and site you'll be seeing over the coming days. If you know of Zack at all, you know that he does website critiques and I'm terrified that part of the 3 days is going to be spent tearing to shreds all the online portfolios of the attendees. Hence, it has prompted me to do some serious overhauling before I get there. Hopefully, our website won't be publicly flogged, but if it is I'll have at least been able to sneak on a few extra pairs of underwear and maybe a couple Christmas sweaters before I get there. ;o)

Aaron Draper Critique

Posted by David
Approved by Melody

Wow, we actually have a second installment of our image critique! When I started it I was thinking that I’d probably have to critique a lot of our shots since, after all, who really cares about my opinion. (You can tell I’m an artist; I have unending faith in myself).

Even more astonishing is who critique #2 is for: Aaron Draper. Aaron’s list of accomplishments, aside from being suckered into mentoring me, is long and impressive and his work inspiring. I don’t want to give him a big head, so I’ll stop there. You can check out his work here, here, and here (yes, he asked me to link to all of those).

Full Disclosure: The amazingly placed light in this photograph is being held by none other than yours truly. I got the distinct pleasure of assisting Aaron on this beautiful wedding up in the Pleasanton hills.

Aaron has been waiting oh so (im)patiently for this critique, so let’s jump right into it. What I love about the shot is Aaron’s flair for the dramatic. The placement and relationship of the camera, subject, and sun, are pivotal to this shot working. Light, lines and even the clouds all seem to flow into the main subject of the composition. I also love how the groom is pulling the bride in tight and how genuine his expression is. Let’s not forget about how well depth is working in this shot. We have foreground with the grass, middle ground with the couple and the background with the hills off in the distance. It also works at a slight diagonal that moves across the composition.

As I’m reminded every time Aaron takes a look at one of my photos, there is always room for improvement. My first concern has to do with composition/posing. Framed out just a little wider or panned to the right would have brought all of the bride’s dress into the composition. Clipping it off on one side yet leaving breathing room on the left leaves the piece feeling disjointed. Given the circumstances after the fact, I’d opt to crop this as an 8x10 and pull the left edge of the frame in tighter to the groom. This would have the effect of leading the viewer to believe that there was no other option than to clip the dress.

My second concern has to do with the bride’s pose. While I’m not a stickler for digits and appendages being visible at all times, I do think that draping the left hand across the length of the leg would have been a nice touch, especially since it would put her ring finger on display just like the groom’s. I’d also like to see her a little more at ease. Right now she appears serene, and maybe even a little stiff, as if holding a pose. It does not fit with the air of passion around the groom. In my mind’s eye, I see her head tilted towards the light a little more, pulling the corner of her eye away from his nose and illuminating the tangency, chin tilted up slightly so that her head leans back towards the groom allowing a little light to drop in under her right cheek, her right arm less rigid allowing her to recline into the groom, and lips parted slightly, caught in a momentary sigh.

The thing to remember is that this is a wedding shot. What I’ve outlined is difficult to get out of trained models, let alone a bride and groom that you just met for the first time three hours ago, and with a wedding planner tapping the face of her watch. You’re also trying to get as many different “looks” as possible in your allotted time, which means that you don’t really have time to over analyze things. You capture the frame, go with your gut reaction as to whether or not you “got it” and then move on to the next scene. Taking all of that into account, the photograph is beautiful.

In closing I’ll just say that hindsight is always 20/20. I’m pretty sure that Aaron has already figured all of this out on his own and that he’s simply testing me. But he provides an example to us all, that no matter how great we become at something, it’s always beneficial to open ourselves up to improvement. That being said, I need to get a portfolio put together so that I can ask both Aaron and Zack Arias to rip it to shreds.

Rainy Engagement: Sacramento Wedding Photography

Posted by David
Edited by Melody (I'm hopeless without her)

This shoot reminded us all about how sometimes our own schedules don't coincide with life's. We were first slated to shoot Simone and Michael way back on Super Bowl Sunday. The plan was to meet up in Sacramento on the steps of the capital building and take pictures until someone kicked us off of the premises.*

As I recall, that day was a beautiful one. Bright blue skies, beautiful clouds, and the only hitch had nothing to do with the "big" game, but with a little old lady. My grandmother been taken into the hospital the week before. She'd been released, and then went back in on Saturday. I was told the prognosis wasn't good. There has been one other time in my life when someone I cared about went into the hospital. I was too busy to go in that time, and by the time I saw my grandfather he was unable to respond. It was the last time I saw him, and I vowed I'd never let that happen again.

We added a stop at the hospital to the long list of to do's for the day, and scrambled to load our son into the car and get on the road. When we got to the hospital, my poor Grams was asleep. That's when Melody suggested we reschedule the shoot. Simone and Michael were completely understanding. We went out and had lunch, came back and scared the holy bejesus out of our son when we walked in on her getting a Darth Vader treatment. A steaming oxygen mask covered her face and a vibrating wrap meant to break up the pneumonia shook her around her midsection. Our boy was terrified. He never really warmed up that day, but we came back again and again over the coming weeks, and as my Grams got better and he got less clingy.

Simone and Michael exercised the same patience with a rescheduled shoot date as we had with Aiden. As it turned out, Mother Nature's wild streak this winter sent us rain or dark skies on the next two scheduled shoots. I suggested that we just do it in the rain and after the second rain out, and Simone said, "Let's do it."

And what do you know, that day they forecasted the heaviest part of a downpour right in the middle of the session time. Our plan was to stick to overhangs and anything even remotely dry. Once again our plans were undone, but this time in a good way: the rains stopped. It was cold as all get out, and windy, but there was no rain. (I still owe Mother Nature a couple of trees for that one).

So now, many a month down the road from that original session date, we are pleased to finally share with you this Sacramento engagement session featuring our very patient couple:

Usually I try to choose the strongest frame from a set, but I thought that all three of these caught such unique expressions that they needed to be shared together.

*For those of you not in photography, or even those just starting out, the state of California, as progressive as it is, does not appreciate photographers trying to make a living, well, at least not in public that is. We've been kicked off of the beach before, too (A big thank you to the rangers of Santa Cruz County; so glad you missed the drug dealers we saw the night before, but had plenty of time to send us on our way). 

Next Up: We'll be posting an a beautiful senior from Galt High over on our senior blog tomorrow, then check back here to see an adorable 6-month-old who we photographed in studio. 

If you're not already following this blog we encourage you to do so. It'll help you get to know us a little better, and might also help generate ideas for your own shoot. I mean, you are going to have a session with us, aren't you? ;o)