Christmas Santa Bokeh, originally uploaded by Melvin Tan.

Earlier this week, I discovered Zack Arias and his photography through a Charlie McDonald’s blog. I have to admit that even though I know quite a bit about photography since picking it up in 2007, I have never thought I could learn so in one day just going through Zack’s blog and workshops. The few sample workshop videos posted on YouTube was enough to make Zack my new mentor in photography. Without hesitation, I purchased Zack Arias’ OneLight DVD and within 15 minutes into the video, I had relearned things I had forgotten. Simple things like using exposure and aperture to control light differently than I was used to. For the first time in 5 years, I actually feel connected to the camera and understand why it manipulates the light the way it does.

This photo of Santa Claus in front of a bokeh Christmas Tree was my first attempt at applying Zack Arias’ techniques of using one light source. I had a vision of how I wanted to the photo to look like under off-camera lighting and I was able to achieve the results I was going for. I am sure there will be many more photos to come as I dig deeper into Zack’s workshop DVD.

My Little Pony, originally uploaded by Melvin Tan.

Christmas present for one of the kids.

Christmas Tree, originally uploaded by Melvin Tan.

What to do when it is -40*C outside? Turn on the fireplace, setup the Christmas tree, prepare a mug of hot chocolate, and take photos. Merry Christmas!

Christmas decorations were pulled out way too early.