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"San Diego TREK"Workshop at the Ranch
The American PHOTO Mentor Series is one of
my favorites workshops to teach. We consistently have great
places to photograph and great access to our subjects. I want
to extend my thanks to Michelle Cast who makes all our arrangements
for the treks. She works tirelessly for our group and makes
sure all is ready each day so we can maximize getting wonderful
images. Thanks also to Erika Johnson who has joined the Mentor
Series with Michelle at American PHOTO. And a HUGE thanks to
Tony Corbell who was a fantastic mentor and helped all of us
feel at home in his city of San Diego.
Past Workshop at the Ranch Issues
May, 2010
April, 2010
March, 2010
February, 2009
December, 2009
November, 2009
October, 2009
September, 2009
August, 2009
July, 2009
June, 2009
May, 2009
April, 2009
March, 2009
February, 2009
January, 2009
November, 2008
October, 2008
September, 2008
August, 2008
July, 2008 |
Image
#1 Canyon Lands ... This
is my first image of the San Diego Mentor Series Trek,
Canyon Lands, Utah taken during my flight from Denver
to San Diego. For those of you who have not read past
editions of the Workshop at the Ranch, (they are all archived
for your enjoyment,) I have on several occasions promoted
the idea to photographers of booking a window seat on
flights they take and making some pictures out the window.
The planet below your aircraft is a marvel of the universe
and makes great imagery. So, stop reading Sky Mall and
look out the window, and when you see something that makes
you say to yourself, "wow", then take a picture.
Nikon D3, ISO250, 1/320 at f11, WB Auto A5, Picture Control
VIVID with Contrast and Saturation +3, Lexar 8G Flash
Card.
Image
#2 Intelligent Design
Series #82 Plant Life ... After Tony and I gave the
class our introductions, presentations and advise we
set out for Balboa Park to photograph Spanish architecture
and beautiful flowers. This was a good starting point
for our Trekkers to get to know both Tony and myself,
get accustomed to our teaching styles, and for my group,
learn about off camera flash. The botanical garden house
in Balboa Park was a perfect studio like environment
for many of us to use our small strobes held off camera
to illuminate the flowers. Nikon D3, ISO400, 1/125 at
f6.3, 3D Tracking with 51 points, Nikon 24-70mm Lens,
WB 3570K, Picture Control VIVID with Contrast and Saturation
+3 and Hue -3, One Remote Nikon SB800 Speedlight with
Warming Gel and LumiQuest Snoot that I "Pinched"
to a smaller opening with a paper clasp, Power Output
+1.3, Nikon SU800 Commander to fire the Remote SB800
Speedlight, Lexar 8G Flash Card. I under exposed the
general scene by about 1 1/3 stops. I used a cool WB
of 3570K to add some cool blue to the overall image.
Then I used the warming gel (full CTO Warming gel that
comes standard with each Nikon SB800 Speedlight) on
the flash and placed a LumiQuest Snoot with my own paper
clasp to "Pinch" the snoots opening down to
narrow hole. This "Pinched" snoot reduced
the throw of light down to a thin shaft of warm light
to just enough to illuminate the one flower and leave
the others in the cool blue underexposed scene. 
Image
#3 San Diego Skies ... Thanks
to Tony's expertise of the San Diego area our group of
Mentor Series Trekkers had a fantastic location to photograph
the San Diego skyline at sunset. As the sun began to set
we all realized that the clouds in the sky were going
to become spectacular and so a wide lens choice helped
include the impressive sky above the downtown area, but
it got even better. A US Navy ship was coming into the
scene at just the perfect moment of golden sunset light.
Our picture was now complete. Nikon D3, ISO320, 1/125
at f8, 3D Tracking with 51 Points, Nikon 24-70mm Lens,
WB 7140K, Picture Control VIVID with Contrast +2, Saturation
+3, and Hue -3, Hand Held No Tripod, Lexar 8G Flash Card.
Sunset city, colorful clouds and now a ship, WOW!, Tony
thinks of everything. 
Image
#4 Giraffe Profile ... No
trip to San Diego is complete without a visit to the Wild
Animal Park. Our Trekkers enjoyed the comforts and superior
photographing mode of travel during our tour of the park,
...the open truck with bench seating. With trucks and Trekkers
ready we were off on a photographic adventure that produced
some amazing pictures. Our truck tour brought us VERY close
to the parks inhabitants. This Giraffe portrait using my
SB800 Speedlight was one of my favorites of the day. Similar
in technique to image #2 of the flower, I under exposed
the overall scene to where my subject, the Giraffe, was
nearly in silhouette against the sky. I then revealed my
subject with warm light produced by my SB800 Speedlight
with warming gel. Nikon D3, ISO Auto (500), 1/1600 at f7.1,
Nikon 24-70mm Lens, 3D Tracking with 51 Points, WB 3200K,
Picture Control Standard, One Remote SB800 Speedlight with
warming gel and power output -0.7, SU800 Commander, Lexar
8G Flash Card. This cool blue background and warm lit subject
is a favorite style of mine. There are several Workshop
at the Ranch articles that explain in detail this stylized
lighting technique.
Image
#6 Sunset Aerial ... My Trek
ended the way it began, with a picture from my window seat.
As is customary with my travel plans I booked a window seat
for the flight back to Denver. What a great weekend of learning
and picture making. But, there's always time for one more
shot. Nikon D3, ISO320, 1/2000 at f5 (very turbulent air),
3D Tracking with 51 points, Nikon 24-70mm Lens, WB 10,000,
Picture Control VIVID, Lexar 8G Flash Card. 
