Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. Many of the Workshop at the Ranch articles revolve around the use of light. Much of my work tends to make use of light from Nikon Speedlights and larger strobe systems made by Elinchrom. This month’s workshop is going to cater to the light that is available to all of us. Natural daylight is a wonderful light source that when controlled by the photographer can produce beautiful results. The key is to recognize the light within the scene and then compose your scene to best use the light to guide your viewer into the moment.

Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. Many of the Workshop at the Ranch articles revolve around the use of light. Much of my work tends to make use of light from Nikon Speedlights and larger strobe systems made by Elinchrom. This month’s workshop is going to cater to the light that is available to all of us. Natural daylight is a wonderful light source that when controlled by the photographer can produce beautiful results. The key is to recognize the light within the scene and then compose your scene to best use the light to guide your viewer into the moment.

I had the opportunity to join famed thoroughbred horseracing photographer and good friend Skip Dickstein for a few days this August at Saratoga Race Course. Although I spent a fair amount of time photographing the event race action I thought I would show some of my favorite images that were made off track and away from the competition. With the idea of controlling the natural light to guide my viewer into my pictures, let’s have a look at Saratoga Light ….

Image #1       Cross Walker … Waking up early is part of the horseracing experience, but beginning the workday at sunrise certainly has its advantages. Skip and I are just arriving at the race course grounds when we both recognized the beautiful golden light and a horse about to enter the crosswalk on route to the track. While Skip slowed the car to a crawl I grabbed my D3x with 200-400mm lens and rolled down the passenger side window. I shot 3 frames while the car slowly rolled along. It is not only the light that attracts the viewer, but how one uses the light within the scene. The dark trees along the parkway block the rising sun and create a diagonal line of light that leads the viewers eye to the horse. The electric poles and power lines also help hold the viewers eye to my subject. Add in the quiet moment of the slow walking horse with the lead hoof raised in a delicate position along with stopped traffic and the scene is complete. Nikon D3x, ISO640, 1/640 at f4, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom lens, WB 10,000K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #2       Backside Barn … Once on the Saratoga grounds pictures became very evident and light was the key. The backstretch of the Saratoga competition race course is protected by massive trees that hold back direct sunshine but allow ambient light to filter in. Most photographers are looking towards the sunlit horses coming around the first turn and into the light, but I saw this scene forming and began to pursue it. I walked into a location where I could see the sunlight as it cascaded over the trees and directly onto the barn. This use of light with in the composition helps lead my viewers eye directly to the barn and the three horses preparing for their workout. I made 10 images as horses moved onto the track and chose this one as there are multiple horses with two of the riders wearing colorful blue and red. Nikon D3x, ISO400, 1/160 at f 5.6, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom lens, Gitzo Carbon Fiber Monopod, WB 8330K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #3       Open Gates at Saratoga … Backlight can be beautiful especially when combined with a warm White Balance like 10,000 Kelvin. This is the Oklahoma training track next door to the main Saratoga race course. No grandstands or tall trees to block the sun which worked well for a series of beautiful backlit imagery. This golden light does not direct as much as it attracts the viewers eye. Nikon D3x, ISO400, 1/1000 at f6.3, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom lens, WB 10,000K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #4       Gated Portrait … Learning to control the natural light is often times about using obstacles to block the light and thus create a shaft of light that reveals your subject. Young race horses go through a series of steps to “get aquatinted” with the start gate. On this morning there were several young colts and fillies being escorted into the start gate for the first time. The exercise riders would bring them into position and then the gate handlers would slowly guide the horse into the gate. The rider would hold still in the saddle while the horse grew accustom with the confines of the start gate. This training time made for some interestingly sunlit portraits of the riders framed amongst the green start gate steel. Nikon D3x, ISO400, 1/500 at f5.0, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom lens, WB 7140K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #5       Fringed Chaps … The same principle applies with this image. Let the light do the work of attracting your audience. As each rider would wait his turn behind the start gate I began looking for shafts of light that would illuminate something of interest. The open gate allowed a shaft of sunlight onto this riders fringed chaps. The sun directs the viewers eye to the chaps. These kinds of images are usually slow to develop and require some patience on behalf of the photographer. Sometimes the sunlight never hits where I need it, but sometimes it is a bonanza of pictures well worth the wait. Nikon D3x, ISO400, 1/500 at f5.0, Nikon 200-400mm G VR Zoom lens, WB 7690K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #6       Champion’s Walk … The private barn area in Saratoga for the 2009 Kentucky Derby winner, Mine That Bird, was 99% in dark shadow. I set my camera exposure manually (as usual) and exposed for the sunlit corner of the barn. I was not concerned with making pictures in the shadowed 99% of the champions walk, but only the 1% that was in the sun. To further draw attention to this Derby winner I used a 2 stop Graduated Neutral Density Filter over the top 1/3 of the frame to reduce the exposure of the flowers. Without the GNDF the flowers were a bit too bright and distracting. By controlling the light (reducing it with the GNDF) Mine That Bird remains the #1 subject in the picture. Nikon D3x, ISO400, 1/500 at f8.0, Nikon 24-70mm lens with a FORMAT HD ND 0.6 soft Graduated Neutral Density Filter (this is a 2 stop GNDF with a soft graduation), WB 6250K, Lexar 16G Flash Card. (NOTE: I switched from a Cokin GNDF to the FORMAT brand. The FORMAT brand is a 4in. x 4in. size glass filter with a metal edge that is easy to hold or mount into a bracket.)

Image #7       Throwing the Red Blanket … What if there is no sunshine? What if the sky is overcast and there are no shafts of golden light? What then? Well, I suggest you look for situations that have light and shadow and then deepen the shadow with a Graduated Neutral Density Filter (GNDF). I used a 3 stop GNDF diagonally over the lower left hand corner of the frame to “create” more of a shaft of light where the groom is throwing the red blanket over the horse. I composed the scene with the dark trees on the right and the dark barn area on the lower left to help create the illusion of a “pocket” of light on my subject. The dark left side of the barn was already shaded by the trees. I just added more shade with my GNDF. The available light is still flat, but by controlling the shade I have guided the viewer to my subject with available light. Nikon D3x, ISO640, 1/160 at f5.0, Nikon 24-70mm lens with FORMAT HD ND 0.9 soft 3 stop GNDF, WB 5880K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #8       Clare Court Ride … The overcast skies continued and I just kept making the most of it. This is Clare Court, a series of barns with its own training track. The shaded overhang of trees provided the opportunity to “create Light.” Yes, you heard me, create light just as I did with the previous image. This time I used the GNDF diagonally over the upper right hand corner and reduced the exposure on the white rail and deepened the exposure in the shaded area of the track. Now my rider appears to be riding through a brighter area thanks to the darkening of the rest of the scene with the GNDF. Nikon D3x, ISO640, 1/500 at f3.5, Nikon 24-70mm lens with FORMAT HD ND 0.9 soft 3 stop GNDF, WB 5560K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #9       Clare Court Bridge … Once again, here is Clare Court except this time I am photographing through the trees that caused the shade in the previous picture. I used a slow shutter speed of 1/4 of a second and panned with the rider as he rode through the densely wooded overhang of trees. The combination of a slow shutter speed and steady pan causes the thick tree cover to blur. I make sure I am following the rider with a steady pan that keeps my subject centered in the lower 1/3 of the frame. I used a 2 stop GNDF to hold the exposure down on the blurring trees and bright slits of sky. My rider made several passes during training which allowed me to try several shutter speeds. The 1/4 of a second produced the best pan blur yet kept areas of the horse sharp and easy to identify. Nikon D3x, ISO50, 1/4 second at f7.1, Nikon 24-70mm lens with FORMAT HD ND 0.6 soft 2 stop GNDF, WB 5560K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

Image #10       Post Time Silhouette … Well, after hours of making pictures it was finally post time and the races were about to begin. Horse racing in general provides so many interesting pictures that occur away from the actual competition that sometimes I could happily spend all day on the fringe of the event. I used a 2 stop GNDF over the top 1/2 of the frame to reduce the exposure of the sky yet keep the American flag brightly illuminated. My subject now falls into silhouette and I rely only on the bright reflection on the brass trumpet to attract my audience. Nikon D3x, ISO160, 1/100 at f14, Nikon 70-200mm VR Zoom lens with FORMAT HD ND 0.6 soft 2 stop GNDF, WB 3850K, Lexar 16G Flash Card.

I hope you have enjoyed this workshop on controlling the natural light in an effort to help guide your viewers to your subject. Whether you see a beautiful shaft of golden sunshine illuminating your subject, or you use a GNDF to reduce the light in one area of the picture so as to create light elsewhere, learn to recognize light with in the scene. Once you learn to recognize light, then you can begin to control it and use it to make interesting pictures.

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