For all of you photographers out there who are reading this, its pretty transparent that Gabe and I a huge fans of being the very best light monkey that you can when it comes to off camera lighting.  Not that you have to use it all the time, but there are situations where you really need some better light to achieve what you’d like to do with your image.  Especially being a photographer in the Pacific Northwest.  You just have to be prepared for anything. 

That said, I’m super proud to share that Zack Arias is opening up two dates for the first time ever in Portland for his sold out Onelight Workshop.  Gabe and I will be hosting the workshop for the second time (last year we hosted the Seattle workshop). 

Zack just has a way to mix in amazing light with perfect composition to make mind blowing portraits.  He also has an inspiring life story that will get you pumped up on photography.  And as an added bonus.. you get to hang out with Gabe and I at the workshop and mixer… !  Check out some of Zack’s Workshop Images here.  

The lowdown:
Dates! - There will be a mixer from 7:30-10:30 on Tuesday August 12th somewhere in NW Portland for everyone to get to know each other.  Every local photographer is invited to come and have a good time, and perhaps network a bit.  That also provides a good time for the workshop attendees to get to know each other and break the ice.  The first workshop will be all day Wednesday August 13th and the next will be the following day Thursday August 14th.  Feel free to email me if I can help with local provisions, but questions on registration and whatnot probably ought to go to Megan (the Onelight registration guru).  
Workshop site
How to register
Zack’s site

Here are some images taken with a delicious Canon 580 or Vivitar 285 to transform them into what they are. 

The image of Tais below was taken by my friend and fellow wedding photographer in B.C. James Moes at a recent one-to-one ‘booneshop’.

Add in a touch of romance to your images with some gorgeous side lighting. 

Here are some images from last year’s One Light Workshop in Seattle.

That’s Zack up there, he wears this cool Fievel hat.

I’m stoked to share these images with you on our blog!  Jen Troy and I had a great time enjoying the sun on the Portland Waterfront and taking these photos.  Our route was basically one of the the bridge to bridge walks snapping shots along the way.  Their wedding will be later this summer on a really neat piece of land where Jen grew up.  We’ve been working together a bit to coordinate which seeds to plant and flowers to grow now in order to have a splendid ceremony site and reception area full of color and life, a unique opportunity most couple don’t get. 

Yes!  Troy and Jen are super athletic.  So besides busting out the
inlines, Troy demo’d one of his sweet Jackie Chan moves.  He can bust
flips out’a nowhere.

Wow. First thing first, I need to give a shout out to Moms!!! Any parent that has raised a child (or more than one!) gets a giant gold star in my book. We’re now home with Roman and the new life change of having two children has begun. I’m excited that our boys are two years apart so that they can be friends (or even business partners) someday. As for now, having a two year old and newborn is a lot of work! I’ve been spending a lot of time with Baron as Ashley recovers from giving birth and it’s been a lot of fun, he learned hide and seek today and loves to climb me as his prize for finding me. We also discovered Otter Pops which, growing up in Arizona, were a childhood favorite.

Ashley and I found ourselves relaxing on the couch as the boys slept this evening. I watched a little Hells Kitchen and she watched a little dancing with the stars while I skimmed headlines, twitter friend feeds and accepted a few facebook friends from my iphone. After all that it was neat that we came across a documentary on PBS (KCTS 9) that I was familiar with. A few months back I had the priviledge of working with Handcrank Films on the poster for their film On A Wing and A Prayer: An American Muslim Learns to Fly. I had fun out at the Bellingham International Airport driving a golf cart full of gear around the tarmac looking for the right location and hangar. Private aircraft always reminds of our Grandpa who was a pilot. My brothers and I have very fond memories of taking trips with him in his Cessna. In fact, it was my grandpa who took a junior higher island hopping throughout the San Juans and taught me the basics of photography with his vintage 1970’s nikon gear. We flew into a few small airstrips, canoed, picnic’d and had fun learning about photography and spending time together just the two of us. It’s largely because of that trip and many other similar opportunities with him that we are doing what we do now as photographers and loving it!!

As for the poster I just photographed the people and can take no credit on the montage or artistic design of the poster, but it’s still cool to see our work being used and it really was an inspiring film. Apparently it’s playing on PBS stations across the country for the next few months so look it up and dive into this Bellingham story.

Movie Trailer