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.

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.

This months edition of Workshop at the Ranch is just that … a Workshop at the Ranch … the Double JJ Ranch in western Michigan to be specific. The theme of my teaching for the week was for trekkers to step out of the box … try something new … don’t make a snap shot but make a picture. I wanted them to expand their abilities and experience new techniques which included the application of off camera flash. Not only did the trekkers expand their photographic horizons but so did I with a continuation of my pushing the limits of my use of light with the Nikon SB800 Speedlights.

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.

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!

See you next time at Workshop at the Ranch ………………. Adios, Dave