Our IN-CAMERA: Light workshop is complete and we had an amazing time! The workshop was sold out and everyone came into the day ready to learn and shoot until we all dropped! It was such a fun time and we got to know some really awesome new friends and hang out with old friends that we have known for a long time. :) The workshop was held at our studio in downtown Nashville where we did some class instruction time, and then we headed out around the city to shoot! All the students got some incredible photos (some of which are posted at the bottom) and we were so proud of everyone!! Check out the images below!

Here we are in the studio talking about different lighting styles!

Then we headed out to set up our Westcott lighting gear and do a demonstration live with our models Lyndsey and Elli.

Here I am shooting the first set-up!

And the resulting image with ZERO photoshop!

We had two groups of five and Jody took her group over and set up this lighting set up and had the students shooting on it.

One of our resulting images!

This was the last set up of the day. We finally got some blue sky and the students wanted to shoot some images with it!

Here are some shots from a few of our students. It is amazing that they were able to take shots this good within one day of learning these techniques! Every student got to do their own set up and meter the lights and compose some shots, so it is really hands-on!

This image is from Evin Photography

This shot is from the awesome Mike Cowart!

This image is from Camryn Holt!

This shot is from the super cool MD Laidlaw!

Thanks everyone for coming out and making this workshop a great success!! As many of you may now know, we are heading to Jacksonville Beach, Florida for another series of workshops on December 6th and 7th, so if you are interested in signing up, go to the top of our blog and click on “Photographers” and sign up! There are still some seats left, but they will go fast!!

Ready. Set. GO!

It’s official!   We will be hosting back to back workshops in the lovely Jacksonville Beach, Florida on December 6th and 7th!  This is going to be a fun-in-the-sun Florida style workshop with us and we are definitely hitting the beach for some rock star sunset shots!!   A special thanks goes to Dana Goodson of Dana Goodson Photography for being our point person in Florida, and a shout out goes to Gary Denman of Naturally Photography for allowing us to use his studio space for the teaching portions (located seconds from the beach!).

Sign up now for this workshop by clicking HERE!

Check out our IN-CAMERA promo video!

We will be doing our IN-CAMERA shooting & Post workshop on the 6th and our Light workshop on the 7th.

Overview of the Gray Photography IN-CAMERA Workshop Series

- Want to learn how we are able to achieve the look of all our images without the aid of PhotoShop?
- Want to learn how we are able to edit an entire wedding in 2.5 hour solely using Lightroom?
- Want to learn how we are able to create and control light and get phenomenal images in any lighting situation and then apply that knowledge to your own style?

Our IN-CAMERA series of workshops actually show you how to shoot images that amaze right in the camera. This series of workshops will be held in Jacksonville Beach, Florida and feature class time, hands-on shooting with professional models, post-production and/or image critiques and much more. These workshops are fun, informative, and a great time to hang out with and meet other photographers who want what you want – great images without having to spend hours behind a computer screen editing!

IN-CAMERA: Shooting & Post

This one-day intensive workshop will focus on shooting your images correctly in-camera from shutter click to print.  Tired of having to fix all of your images on the computer?  Tired of adjusting your images one by one and spending so much time editing?  We will teach you how to get amazing images right inside the camera – images you would be proud to show a client right there!  Includes class time and group shoot.
This workshop will cover: Getting correct color, exposure, natural light – where to find it and how to control it, and a full demonstration of our complete post-production work flow in Adobe Lightroom.
Requirements: Basic knowledge of your DSLR with at least one fixed aperture lens (non-fixed aperture lenses are welcome!)
Bring it if you got it:  Laptop with Adobe Lightroom 2 installed to follow along through our workflow

IN-CAMERA: Light

This workshop is for the photographer who is ready to take their in-camera images to the next level. If you want to learn how to shoot in any lighting situation and create light instead of looking for it, if you want to enhance your images in a way that few do, then this is the workshop for you. This class will focus on advanced off-camera lighting using high-powered studio strobes to create a unique look for your work. This one day workshop includes class time and group shoot.
This workshop will cover: Off-camera speedlight control, manual studio strobes, how and when to use off-camera lighting, lighting ratios, lighting styles and which ones to use and when and much, much more!
Requirements: Overall knowledge of your DLSR, full understanding of controlling your camera on manual via adjusting ISO, shutter speed & aperture, at least one fixed aperture lens
Bring it if you got it: Pocket wizard, laptop for an anonymous critique at the end of the day

This class is limited to only 8 students, so sign up now to ensure a seat!!

This last weekend we traveled out to Jasper, AL (in the Birmingham, AL vicinity) and shot the fall wedding of Haley & Michael Graydon at Huckleberry Farms!  The wedding turned out to be absolutely perfect, but let me tell you… everyone was a bit worried at first…

For those of you located in this southern region you know that we have all been hit with a lot of unusual rainfall lately.  Michael and Haley planned to have their ceremony outside and then proceed to the barn for their reception. The only problem – it had been raining non-stop ALL week and the weather for Saturday had thunderstorms in the forecast.  Everyone was hoping and praying for it to stop and as we woke up Saturday morning we peeked out of our hotel window to be dismayed with dark gray clouds and rain pouring down. We quickly turned on the weather channel to see if it was supposed to clear up at all later in the day, but no luck.

Loaded up with our gear and umbrellas we headed out to the farm to see how we could make do with the rain.  Soon the girls stared arriving and we all set out to the owner’s house for the girls to get ready… Haley got in her dress, we headed upstairs to begin her photos… stepped out the door… and low and behold – the rain had stopped!  We kid you not. The rain stopped as Hailey dressed and held off until the wedding was completely over!  We were all completely blown away and so awed once again how God cares about the “little” things that are important to us, even though insignificant in the long run or grand scheme of things.

The weather turned out absolutely beautiful and we even got a little sun peeking through here and there!  What a day!

Haley & Michael’s wedding was a fall themed wedding and there were so many cool details to shoot from pumpkins, to customized candy apples and you’ll just have to see  for yourselves.  Huckleberry Farms was such a picturesque place to shoot at and had so many different areas on the land that we could go to.  The outside pavilion is perfect for outdoor ceremonies and their barn was a great place to have the reception.  Enjoy the images!

Off to the reception!!!!

One of the most awesome things (especially as photographers) for this wedding was the amazing fall details that were everywhere!  All the amazing elements really set the tone of the event, and major props go out to the wonderful women below who put this all together.  Some of the vendors who turned this barn into an absolutely classy fall wedding:

Birmingham Event Designer:  Kelley Kirkland, 205.296.0761
Birmingham Wedding Florist (fresh flowers bouquets, arrangements & design): Kim and Sunnie Leigh of  Kathy Leigh Floral Designs
Birmingham Custom Silk Flower Arrangements:  Shelayne of SilkINDesign
Wedding Coordinator: Marshia Bruce
Cake: Amanda’s Cakes & Candies, 205.280.0119

Thank-you Haley & Michael, and thank-you Parents. You guys have amazing families and friends and we are glad that we were able to be a part of this memorable day!

**To be notified when Haley & Michael’s image are online and available for viewing and purchasing, sign up for their online gallery here.

As you may know, we are endorsed by one of the top lighting companies, Westcott, and this last Thursday we had the opportunity to meet John Williams the Southeastern United States rep for Westcott at our studio.  Along with him came Peter Liebmann the National Strategic Account Manager for SanDisk (FYI SanDisk is the only company we use for our compact flash cards).  We had a nice time chatting with John & Peter,  and Peter even snapped a picture of us with John with his iPhone. Can you believe we had no cameras with us?  iPhone to the rescue!

Thanks John & Peter for taking time to get together with us!

Speaking of Westcott, the site for their Top Endorsed Pros is up!  Again, we are thrilled to be a part of this and to be recognized with so many other great photographers.  To view our page and to check out some amazing work from the other guys visit this link or click on the image below.

If you are coming to our blog for the first time in hopes to see images of Haley & Michael’s wedding this past weekend, stay tuned, but for now here is a little sneak peek!

This is a post that is about paying homage to those that have given us inspiration, the pursuit of who we are as artists in the wedding photography world and a personal journey of what art and creativity means to someone who grew up in a world who had none of the above.

First, let me tell you a bit about my (Zach’s) life and how I became a photographer.

I grew up in a small town…

Really small town…

180 miles north of the Twin Cities…

Keewatin, MN…

Average income – $31,000

Average home cost – $55,1000

Population 1,164… (since I left, 1,163)

I spent 22 years of my life in Keewatin where there were no stoplights, just a gas station, 6 bars and a liquor store. The only reason those towns on the Iron Range (as it is called) even exist is because in the early 20th century and still today, the earth there has been mined for its rich content of iron. There is no real economy in that area except the mines, so if you are not lucky enough to work in one, you are destined for a great career in either a hard manual labor job, or working at the local McDonald’s. I wish it were an exaggeration to say that it was the most depressing place to grow up on the face of the earth, but it really is true that there seems to be no hope, no escape and no real life there at all.

The only two things that I loved growing up was my church that I spent 3 to 4 days a week at, and playing music which I was able to do there. I had no real education growing up (I got my GED when I was 21) and had no real dreams or aspirations to do anything at all. My father left us when I was 3 so it was just my mom, who usually worked multiple jobs, and my three siblings always struggling to make ends meet. Things like a college education seemed so far out of reach for us in that dark, cold place and the idea of possibility of doing something you truly loved or even becoming a small business owner wasn’t even a thought.

One day, by the grace of God, a youth pastor took me to lunch at the local Hardee’s fast food joint, and asked me a life changing question. He said “Zach, what are you doing here and why don’t you leave and go do something else?” I had never in my life thought that I could leave and do something else until that day! But in that moment, I knew in my heart that I had to go, to see what else God had for me and maybe, just maybe, do something different with my life.

I left within 3 months and have never been the same. I was fortunate to intern for 2 years at a church in Rockford, IL (hence my 815 area code phone number) and then after that, was asked by the worship leader of the internship (who cut a record deal in Nashville) to come and play music with her for a living and tour the states. It was a dream come true and opened my eyes to music like I had never seen it before – as art. I was so honored to play with some amazing musicians who took me under their wings and said, “This is great music on this record and that, listen to it, play like them, and you will do fine.” So I did. And I loved every minute of it! Finally, in my mid-twenties, I began to get exposed to culture and music that I had never known before and after a few years of touring and playing, I finally came into my own as a player and artist in the music world. I knew what I liked and was finally inspired.

So why do I say all of this on a photography blog that is about weddings and fun and marriage? Because that is the exact same way that  I came into the photography world. I had never picked up a camera until my late 20′s, never went to photography school, never had a teacher who taught me how to paint, or write a poem or do anything that you would call “art.” So when my wonderful wife and I decided to give photography a go and see if we could do it for a living, I began to look everywhere I could for inspiration, for ideas, for angles and colors and light. “How is an image like that done” I would ask myself after checking out a blog, or seeing a magazine article, or watching a movie. What kind of camera and lights do different artists use” What do you say to subjects to get them to look like this or pose like that? I had no idea who I was as a photographer, only that I wanted to do it. My wife and I were very blessed early on to find, work with, and befriend some amazing photographers who were willing to share with us the how-tos in so many different aspects of art and the process. THEY helped us become who we are as artists and their inspiration has helped shape us and what we want to do with our lives.

I am going to share some images with you that were all taken by me within the first 10 months of the beginning of our photography career. These shots were done when I didn’t know much about who I was as an artist and was fast trying to figure that out. I am also going to share with you who inspired me to shoot these photos and what type of impact those photographers have had on me over the years.

We hope you enjoy this journey through our past, and we also hope that as some of you amazing, talented artists read this blog, that you would remember that everyone does not come from the same place, and all of us need mentors and someone to encourage our gifts and talents, and not squelch them out. We need more people like the ones below to help the next generation of artists continue to create something special for the people who we are so blessed to work with -  our clients, friends and families.

Here is my first image.

This shot comes from the inspiration of a photographer that most other photographers know quite well. Jeremy Cowart. Jeremy was cool enough to let me come and assist him on a number of hi-profile shoots back before we had even begun shooting pro. When I saw what Jeremy was able to do with light, I was absolutely amazed. We would rig all this elaborate lighting and he would shoot this amazing stuff right in the camera that was awesome. So I thought, “what if we did this at a wedding, and brought some of that type of lighting style on-location the day of?” A lot of where we went in the beginning was due to that inspiration. If you are unfamiliar with Jeremy’s work, you can view it HERE.

Shot number two.

This image many of you may know from our old blog header. This shot was taken when we had been shooting pro for about 9 months. The main inspiration for this type of shot is definitely Parker J Pfister. I saw this video of Parker back when we first started out and the video was of him shooting a wedding back in 2004. In the video, he shoots this great, 3 hour, day of the wedding session with the bride and groom and takes them all over the place in Chicago. In one of his set-ups, he takes this shot:

When I saw how he took one element of the grooms neck line and then put the bride in the background AND shot it at f/22, that was really eye opening for me. It made me think more outside the box than ever before and made me want to take photos that were powerful and creative. Obviously the lighting on our shot is more Jeremy Cowart Inspired, but the composition style is very Parker Pfister. What I really loved was how he let you in to the wedding day on that video so you could see how he worked and how he created his images. You can view Parker’s work HERE.Thanks Parker for letting us use your shot!

Shot number three.

This final image is heavily inspired by a great friend of mine, Evan Baines. Evan was there from very early on and has been a real driving force behind my  images specifically. We used to send shots back and forth after shoots and critique them and Evan would push me to try different styles, not shoot everything cookie cutter, get out of the box with lighting and really made me think of things that I had never thought of, or read about before. He was really encouraging to me and has definitely been one of the biggest influence on my photography technique and style in more ways than I can mention in one post. You can view Evan’s amazing work HERE.

So what about being totally original and creating your own art in this industry and that whole discussion that often comes up in the photography world? Check out some quotes from some amazing painters and shooters below!

“It is OK to climb the wall of art on the ‘copycat ladder’ as long as your goal is to one day come into your own as an artist.” - Wolfgang

“To be totally honest, I don’t know if I work that hard at being original. I wish I could say otherwise, but I’m just gonna keep it real. I’m quite open about how editorial/fashion photography influences my work , but I will admit I don’t look to other wedding photographers for ideas. I like to work through the process of making each wedding a mini editorial shoot and challenge myself to make fashionable, lifestyle photography appear at every wedding. Sure, I see other photographers whose work appears quite similar to something I’ve done in the past, but it was never mine to begin with. I’ve never invented a pose. I’ve never invented an interaction. Everything I’ve done has been done, literally, for eons. Boys and girls have been leaning, kissing, arching, laughing, bending, knotting, being fierce from the beginning of time and to think I own any signature pose would be completely foolish. Furthermore, I find myself challenged to push my limits if I’ve done something too often the same way. This is what keeps me alive. And different.” – Jasmine Star

Because these different artists that we mentioned were so open with their work and styles of shooting, we were able to become who we are today as photographers. We are so grateful to all the great shooters, many of which were not mentioned here, that have inspired and helped us with our business. Thank you!

The reason that we wrote such a long post about our journey through coming into our own in photography and art, is because we hope and pray that others will take the time to share, to teach and to give to those that need help. Like that youth pastor did for me so long ago. We hope that those mentioned in this blog are flattered that we looked up to them and that you are encouraged to bless others like they did. There simply is not enough time in our lives to waste it on anything but giving, helping and encouraging and we hope that this blog has persuaded you to do likewise! :)

Leave a comment and let us know who has inspired you! A teacher? A pastor? A parent? And a bit about how that changed you.

We know we say this a ton, but let us know what we can do for you and for your business, and we would love to make ourselves available to you!!

For those of you who follow us here (yay!) there are other places to be involved in our lives as well!  See the below and become our friends if you already aren’t.  Introduce yourself to us on Facebook and we will follow you on Twitter right back!

Facebook Fan Page – Click on image below or HERE to become a fan!

el Personal Facebook – Click image below or HERE to become a fan!

la Twitter – Click image below or HERE to follow us on Twitter

We had the privilege of shooting some images of  Dan for his album cover last week, and while we were on the shoot we went ahead and took some images of the him and his wife Amy too!

We had a fun time with them in town and got to play and write some music, drink lots of coffee, make dinner together and just have an all around great time with them!

These two are soooo cute together and we just love hanging out with them!

Check out the shots!

You guys are awesome and we miss you!!

We just wrapped up our 3rd IN-CAMERA: Shooting & Post Production workshop for the year and it was a huge success! We had 13 photographers for the sold out workshop who came out and we had everyone from seasoned veterans to those that were just starting their photography businesses… And…

We are soooooooooooooo excited to share our new promo video with you!  Just picture us hopping up and down with all-teeth grins and you’ll get an idea of how excited we are about this.

The amazing, superbly fantastic Nashville Wedding Videography duo, Eugene & Heather of 2Duce2 came out to our Shooting & Post workshop this past Sunday to shoot some b-roll footage. This will be the new promo spot for future Shooting & Post workshops AND will be the intro to….. dun, dun, dun… Our Instructional DVD that is in production!  Exciting times.

We get contacted often by photographers around the country that keep asking us if we can bring our workshops to them. We have been asked to come out to LA, Hawaii and PA to name a few. So we are in the works to do some of those locations, but thought, “Hey, why not make a DVD so that anyone who wants to learn to shoot IN-CAMERA can do it no matter where they live!” We are going to be making our workshops available on DVD and the plan is to have our Shooting & Post workshop available by Spring. We will not be excepting pre-orders until pre-production is finished, so wait for the next announcement before emailing us about it. :)

Here is the promo spot video from the workshop and some stills from the day including a few images from the lovely Evin (sorry Heather that we don’t have any of you… no worries though, you are better looking ;o).

Enjoy!

The above behind-the-scenes images are courtesy of Evin Photography.

We had such an amazing time with everyone and we were so blessed to be able to meet everyone who came out!  A HUGE thanks to our amazing models Elly and Lindsey who did such an amazing job and definitely made our jobs easier that day!

Looking forward to seeing those of you who have signed up for our IN-CAMERA: Light workshop on Sunday!  The workshop is full so for those who still want to attend one – stay tuned for our next round and if you are signed up for our photographer newsletter you will have first dibs on registering.