Workshop at the Ranch – July 2004 – Location Portrait Lighting using Nikon’s NEW SB-800 Speedlights
Hi and welcome to the July issue of Workshop at the Ranch. How to do Lighting is the most frequently asked question that I receive. I thought it would be a good idea to illustrate Location Portrait Lighting using Nikon’s NEW SB-800 Speedlights with there remarkable Advanced Wireless Lighting system. My daughter Haley plays on her high school tennis team and offered to help with the shoot. So…………….Let’s learn……………
Hi and welcome to the June edition of Workshop at the Ranch. This month’s article deals with one of my favorite things to do………..photography! Yes, I love to take pictures. I don’t need a paycheck or an editor, or an assignment to enjoy capturing wonderful moments. I just like to photograph images for the pleasure of it. I begin my Derby adventure each year by teaching for Skip Dickstein at the Collegiate Sports Journalism Seminar at Churchill Downs. This workshop encompasses three divisions, Broadcast, Print and Photojournalism. Twenty college photography students from a variety of schools across the USA attend the photography division of the workshop each year while Broadcast and Print Media students attend the other divisions. Photography students learn Lighting, Remotes, Portraiture, Action, Stories, Business, portfolio reviews and more. The workshop is sponsored by Nikon and everyone gets a feel for a big time sports event with the annual Opening Day at Churchill Downs. One of the perks of the workshop for the staff is…..we get to shoot pictures too! Here are a few of the images I set out to look for, capture, and…well….just plain enjoy. 
Welcome to the May issue of Workshop at the Ranch. I was asked by Matt Ginella at Golf World / Golf Digest Magazine to do documentary coverage of the Masters. So impressed with Matt and his ideas and the event itself that I have decided to continue the Masters coverage from On The Road with some new equipment and ideas that might be helpful to those of you who cover sports events. Let’s take another look at Masters images… 
Hello, and welcome to the April edition of Workshop at the Ranch. So often in sports photography we concentrate so hard on documenting the action and one athlete that we forget all about the venue. The”scene setter”as it is commonly called is often used for an opener or 2 page spread. It gives the viewer a sense of place to lead them into the article. Here are some scene setters over the years….. 
Hi, and welcome again to the March issue of Workshop at the Ranch. Last month we looked at the endless possibilities of Arena Sport Strobe Lighting. I enjoyed many emails about the images and diagrams. Sounds like many of you are getting creative with the strobes you have. Well, I thought we might look at another style of lighting, the on camera flash. Speedlights used with digital cameras has produced less than 100% accurately lit images………………TILL NOW. Nikons NEW SB800 Speedlight is fantastic. 
Hi and welcome to the February edition of Workshop at the Ranch. The vast majority of emails I received during 2003 revolved around ARENA LIGHTING with SPORT STROBES. I have included some rough diagrams illustrating approximate strobe locations. I use the Elinchrom 1000r Sport Strobe that is distributed by Bogan. There are a variety of Sport Strobes on the market, but I like the Elinchrom’s as the are lightweight, powerful, and most important, they have a very FAST FLASH DURATION. My 1000r units are older, but I believe Bogan distributes newer versions of Elinchrom sport strobes in the 600 and 1200 Sport Strobes. I also use Pocket Wizzard Multi Max Transceivers distributed by Mamiya (I have not used hard wire for a number of years.) The Multi Max’s are wireless and reliable. You might want to scroll back to the February2003 Workshop at the Ranch as it also deals exclusively with Arena Lighting and Strobes with more images and diagrams. 
Hi and welcome to the December issue of Workshop at the Ranch. This month’s edition will be devoted to a NEW product that I am very excited about. Nikon’s D2H Digital Camera is FANTASTIC! Although the images that accompany this article are small, I would like you all to know that each of them and some 20 additional images have been enlarged and printed at 24in X 16in on an Epson Stylus PRO 7600 printer with gallery quality Premium Luster Paper for my own analysis. While the computer gives me some information, I believe the print will reveal more details, color, and quality. Also note that I, as do many photographers, use Genuine Fractals when enlarging images for both publishing and print making. 
Welcome to this months edition of Workshop at the Ranch. October’s issue will be the start of addressing many questions and concerns many of you have presented to me over the last 9 months. ” HOW DO I MAKE A LIVING AT PHOTOGRAPHY? ” This question is brought up time and time again. A large topic and one not easily explained in one lesson. So let us begin with the most BASIC of all basics when it comes to business………………… 
Hi, and welcome to Workshop at the Ranch. This edition will be a continuation of last month which talked about SUPPLY and DEMAND and how to make it in the industry. I pointed out how if the photographer can SUPPLY clients with pictures that are in DEMAND there is a business opportunity for that photographer. And that if that photographer captures the MOMENT of the game then they have something that is in SHORT SUPPLY and HIGH DEMAND, the best of both worlds. So, how does one capture the key player, the key play, the MOMENT? 