Zack Arias: The Art of the Editorial Review

Zack Arias is the everyman of photo world. He tells it like it is, and doesn’t paint it pretty or act like everything he touches turns to gold. And that is why people love him so. He reveals the same struggles we all feel, and never comes across as an untouchable rockstar photographer.In this almost 80 min video we follow Zack through 3 assignments. One for a beer company, one for a cafe, and the other for a motorcycle custom shop. As a bonus, we also get food photographer Andy Lee showing us how he approaches food work.Each section has an intro from Zack explaining what’s about to happen. Throughout the video Zack switches between Phase One and Fuji cameras, depending on the needs of the shot, sometimes employing both. The first editorial is for 3 Taverns Craft Brewery, where Zack walks us through his process on site. As Bernard, his assistant, sets up the lights, we see Zack go through various parts of the location and explaining why he’s potentially chosen it for a shot. He also talks about why he uses assistants. With everything thing in place we see the subject brought in and the shots being taken, as well as the final result there and then. At the end we see a quick look at additional detail shots, which are really creative. For the whole of the shoot we hear Zack verbalizing his inner monolog, which really opens up the process.The second editorial is for Cakes & Ales. Here we see the setup and then the shots of various staff members in different locations. What’s really valuable here is that we see Zack get a large variety of looks from a small space. He also uses setups with both natural light and strobe, which is a must for any jobbing photographer. Again we hear all of the thought process, including how he feels, and how he’s rolling when the plans change slightly. To finish this section, we see Andy Lee in action shooting food for the menus. Andy is very precise in what he hopes to achieve and explains in detail exactly what the results will be, and shows us how to get it. I quite enjoyed it and spend some time wandering Amazon after it!The final section is more of a detailed BTS rather than the full monolog of the previous two. It’s an appropriate choice, and avoids the information becoming too repetitious. We still get to see everything that’s happening, as well as the photos from the shoot.I'm doing a lot of this work as my photography becomes more business based, so it’s really great to see inside the head of someone else going through the process. Watching this has added creative arrows to my bow without doubt. The lighting part to me is second nature now, and if you’ve seen the One Light videos already, it will to you too. This is about learning to use the space and getting a range of images to suit the client. Often the brief is loose, and this video helps to get shots to fill it, without missing out.When most videos seem to be rehashing the basics, this is a step further on for photographers and highly recommended for those looking to step into editorial photography.The Art of The Editorial is available from DEDPXL.