Zack and Joe - The Workshop

Not everyday you get to see two masters in one location, let alone having the opportunity to witness them both poking fun at each other. It was a very casual workshop with lots of interaction between Zack, Joe and us the audience.



The table of possibly Joe’s equipment in preparation for his “many lights” demonstration.



That’s Joe busy on his Mac.. with Drew …. probably checking his Twitter updates. OK. I was a bit restless while waiting for the workshop to start, so I took a quick shot. :)

So anyways, it was held at Taylor’s lakeside campus, in one of their lecture halls. It was a bit intimidating as I walked into the lecture hall. It was university all over again!! But this time, instead of sitting at the back of the lecture hall, Jason and I decided to go all the way up front, where all the action will be.



Louis took to the stage and introduced the workshop in general and of course, Zack who commanded the morning session.



As mentioned, it was a very relaxed session.

After some presentation slides, Zack moved on to a little demonstration with the lovely Evon.





Zack demonstrated with several modifiers to give a glimpse into the different light effects they have on the model.







After a delightful demonstration, we broke for lunch.



… and when we returned late from lunch.. here’s Joe..

Nah.. kidding..



.. Joe started his session by poking fun at Zack.. who was poking fun at Joe during his morning session.





As mentioned, we were seated right in front. This was how close we were. Shot using full frame with 50mm lens. Excuse the noise.. was shooting at ISO6400 and boosted exposure. hahaha. The lights were all turned off and the only source of light was reflected from the projector screen.



Joe also demonstrated photography using multiple lights.



.. and how he use to shoot off camera flash by himself.



That’s Drew, Joe’s right hand man.. or Joe’s shadow.



.. and finally Joe broke into a spontaneous song …

haha.. nah.. he was emphasising a point :)



Both Zack and Joe finally took questions from the floor to wrap things up.



It was a wonderful day spent with two of the most amazing photographers. Thanks to CreativeAsia and Louis for bringing them here.

Zack Arias and Joe McNally

Both Zack Arias and Joe McNally are both world class photographers in their own field.

Zack is an excellent photographer who is based in Atlanta. He specialises in the music industry and currently editorial work and advertising. His style and approach is a blend of simplicity, boldness, classic and true. His greatest talent and ability is to mix with the various walks of life as well as the ability to relax nervous subjects.



Photo from Zack’s.



He is also a great advocate of “master your equipment first”. Basically, what he means is, instead of buying new cameras, lenses and other accessories, make sure you fully understand and master your current equipment first, or your skills have surpassed your equipment before thinking about that brand spanking new camera/lens which was just announced. :)

Anyways, here’s a little video clip of Zack with Fuji’s xPro in India.

Joe is the veteran of the two. Having 30+ years of experience under his belt, Joe works with various organisations including National Geographic, Life Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Time, Fortune and Business Week. His is also the author for The Moment it Clicks, Hotshoe Diaries and Sketching Light. Joe’s well known series is the Faces of Ground Zero – Portraits of the Heroes of September 11th. Its a collection of portrait photos taken shortly after 911.



photo from Joe’s.



photo from Joe’s

American Photo magazine described Joe as “perhaps the most versatile photojournalist” and is listed as one of the most important people in photography. He is recognised and has been awarded numerous awards by World Press Photo, Pictures of the Year International, Photo District News, American Photo and many more.

Here’s a youtube video of Joe with the new Nikon D4.

Myself, Joe, Drew and Jason.

It was a great opportunity to have met Zack and Joe, and to learn from them.

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