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"Cowboy Up at the Double JJ Ranch"Workshop at the Ranch Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch.
Teaching has become a very important part of my business and
my life. I have been involved with the teaching process for
well over 25 years. I find it fun, rewarding and a great way
to meet people. Seems like whenever I teach a workshop I too
learn something and often times make some pictures of my own.
My involvement with the American PHOTO Mentor Series, or TREK
as returning workshop alumni call it, has been wonderful. Great
travel, fantastic photo opportunities, super people ("trekkers")
and a motivating learning environment that makes my job as teacher
("mentor") a real joy. The Mentor Series spans the
globe and offers photographic opportunities and education from
beginner to ........ well professional. Yes, each trek I have
been involved with has included at least one trekker who is
an accomplished professional photographer.
The American PHOTO Mentor Series Trek to Michigan's
famous Double JJ Ranch was much more than a photographic learning
experience. It was a rare opportunity to be invited into a family.
All those involved with our stay at the Double JJ ranging from
the cooks to the wranglers to the head of the outfit and co-owner
Walt made this trek one of the fondest memories of my career.
I want to extend my gratitude to all those at the Double JJ
Ranch for making us feel welcome and a part of their family.
Walt, Donnie, Monica, Big "K", Skip, Jason and Katie
and everyone we met ........ all of you were fantastic!
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Image
#1 Branded ... I like to find a scene setter that at a
glance communicates where I am. Big "K" was
one of the wranglers who helped guide our group each day.
His gloves bared the brand of the Double JJ Ranch and
with the help of one SB800 Speedlight and my LumiQuest
Snoot "pinched" at the end I was able to turn
an overcast morning into a warm sunrise feeling. Nikon
D2Xs, ISO100, 1/320 at f4, Nikon 17-55mm Lens, WB 7700K,
One Nikon SB800 i-TTL setting of curse with a warming
gel and Lumi Quest Snoot "pinched" using a paper
clip to narrow the shaft of light, Remote mode and triggered
with Nikon SU800 Commander with a power output +0.7, Lexar
8G Flash Card. It is the small shaft of warm light produced
by the SB800 with "pinched" snoot that gives
this image some feeling, some mood and that crack of dawn
feeling.
Image
#2 Monica ... All the staff, wranglers and hired hands
at the Double JJ were more than accommodating. In fact,
I think they flat out enjoyed having a break from the
daily chores and assisting myself and fellow mentor
Lori Stoll for some location lighting portrait sessions.
Our class was held at the barn at 2:00 pm, a difficult
time of day to make a beautiful portrait with the sun
high over head. The solution, and point of the class,
was to use off camera flash to make a stylized portrait
of our lovely "cowgirl of the west" and famed
country singer, Monica. This is what I call the moody
blue formula (see Workshop at the Ranch February 2006.)
For the previous image of the JJ glove I used a warm
WB of 7700K that warmed the color of the entire picture
and then used the warming gel ( a full CTO gel ) that
comes standard with each Nikon SB800 to add a shaft
of warmer light to highlight the JJ brand. In this image
of Monica I set the camera White Balance at 3200K which
blued or "cooled" the corral background. My
exposure for the corral was ISO100, 1/2500 at f5.6.
This is about 1 and 1/2 stops under exposed which when
photographed with the cool WB of 3200K makes for a very
"moody blue" background. Monica is standing
in the barn entrance and is silhouetted against the
moody blue background. I used two Nikon SB800 Speedlights
(rubber banded together to form a Tandem unit...see
Workshop at the Ranch September 2006) each with a warming
gel and zoomed to 105mm to spotlight her face and upper
torso. The warming gel counter balances the cool blue
3200K WB and gives Monica a gentle touch of sunset light
and a very stylized look. Nikon D2Xs, ISO100, 1/2500
at f5.6, Nikon 17-55mm Lens, WB 3200K, Two Remote Nikon
SB800 Speedlights with warming gels and zoomed to 105mm
with a power output of +2.3, Nikon SU800 Commander to
trigger the Remote SB800s, Lexar 8G Flash Card. This
is a very stylized look that works well for this very
stylish young lady. I tilted the camera to help give
a relaxed feeling to the subject. Often times the success
of a picture can be traced to the cooperation of the
subject. Monica spent the better part of 2 hours with
our group and endured nearly one hundred flashes just
so our trekkers could learn a very unique lighting concept.
Way to cowgirl up Monica!
Image
#3 Running Free ... Horses running free is a beautiful sight
and a joy to photograph. The JJ wranglers bring the herd
of horses from one pasture into another pasture around sundown.
Our group's location was aboard a couple of large hay wagons
and in direct line of sight for a perfect head on picture
of the running horses. Animals don't always go were you
want them to go and so it was that the heard split to where
some came strait towards us and some scurried around the
back. I chose a slow shutter speed of 1/13 and panned with
the "outlaws" who broke away from the rest and
ran behind us. One of my favorite pictures of the week.
Nikon D2Xs, ISO100, 1/13 at f22, Nikon 70-200mm VR Zoom
Lens (VR set on Active), WB7700K, Lexar 8G Flash Card. No
additional lighting gear was used for this image. The natural
warmth of the rapidly setting sun gave a beautiful warm
toned color to the overall ambient light.
Image
#4 Home By Sunset ... The free running horses were truly
beautiful but this sunset run of the wranglers through the
shallow water's of the lake really was spectacular. The
riders made several passes through the shoreline shallow
water approximately 15-40 feet from shore and our shooting
location. I used two remote tandem SB800s with warming gels,
held off camera in my left hand as this pass of the riders
came within 15 feet. I set my exposure to slightly underexposed
sky in an effort to bring out more saturated color. Then
I allowed my two SB800s to illuminate my horseman and reveal
him from dark silhouette (note the second rider is not illuminated)
........... say, this sounds similar to the JJ glove picture
and the portrait of Monica ... Correct! I purposely underexposed
the scene and then light up my subject with my Speedlights
off camera. Nikon D2Xs, ISO200, 1/8 at f16, Rear Curtain
Sync, Nikon 17-55mm Lens, two remote tandem SB800s with
warming gels and power output of +3, Nikon SU800 Commander,
Lexar 8G Flash Card...... and yes, I got wet but that is
no problem when it comes to making pictures.
Image
#5 Making the Turn ... No ranch experience is complete
without a rodeo. Our group of photographers were privileged
to have close access to all the action. Once again I and
many of the trekkers made good use of off camera flash
systems. By nightfall the exposure reading in the rodeo
arena was ISO1600, 1/500 at 2.8. I decided to put the
SB800 Speedlight system to the test and light up a few
events. During barrel racing the athlete and horse come
within about 50 feet of the fence. I placed four SB800
Speedlights on the ground under the fence and aimed them
at the barrel. I located myself about 60 feet down the
fence line from the 4 SB800s and directly in line with
the path of the rider. The 60 feet of fence line between
my location and the Speedlights was full of people who
blocked the wireless transmission from my SU800 Commander
and the 4 remote SB800s. I used an MC-28 cord to connect
my D2Xs hotshoe to the SU800 Commander and simply extended
my SU800 off camera through the fence. Now the SU800 Commander
was in direct line of sight of the 4 SB800 Speedlights.
Now I could reduce my ISO to 400, under expose my background
by almost 2 stops and freeze all the action using the
Speedlights. The color was also improved as I could use
a WB of 5000K (daylight WB) because the Speedlights were
illuminating my subject. Nikon D2Xs, ISO400, 1/320 at
f2.8, Nikon 17-55mm Lens, WB 5000K, four remote SB800s
zoomed to 105mm with a power output of +3, Nikon SU800
Commander connected to the hotshoe of my camera via a
Nikon MC-28 cord, Lexar 8G Flash Card. I was pleased with
how far the SB800s could throw light and how far the SU800
Commander could send a signal to trigger the Speedlights.
Take note that the same basics of off camera lighting
applied ... underexpose the background and reveal my subject
from silhouette using off camera remote SB800 Speedlights
... the same as the JJ Glove, same as Monica and same
as the Wranglers riding through the water.
Image
#6 End of the Day ... Our gracious host, top wrangler
and co-owner of the Double JJ Ranch volunteered to pose
for this final picture. Walt struck the classic cowboy
pose at the barn for a 30 second Lightpainting (see Workshop
at the Ranch December 2004, May 2006 and November 2006.)
Perfect! Walt was solid as a rock and naturally had "the
look." With the sun down for the night and Venus
rising over the barn the entire group of trekkers began
the class by Lightpainting saddles in one corral and then
advanced to the barn for a large scale Lightpainting experience.
Surprisingly enough the similar lighting formula applies
... With an ISO of 200 the 30 seconds of exposure time
and f5.6 aperture was just enough to see the sky (the
underexposed background.) This left the barn in dark silhouette.
I used two Brinkmann Q Beam portable spot lights, each
with 2 Million candles of power and revealed the barn
and Walt from the dark silhouette. Nikon D2Xs, ISO200,
30 seconds at f5.6, Nikon 17-55mm Lens, WB 8000K, Gitzo
Carbon Fiber Tripod and Gitzo Ball Head with Kirk "L"
Bracket, two Binkmann Q Beam Spot Lights with 2 Million
Candles of power, Lexar 8G Flash Card. By aiming the Brinkmann's
through the corral fence on the right I was able to cast
some long deep shadows across the barn wall. This added
some mood. The dashes of light across the foreground,
tack hanging on the wall and Double JJ Ranch was just
enough light to add drama and mystery. What a great way
to wrap up our western trek at the Double JJ Ranch. 