Workshop at the Ranch – January 2012 – The NEW Dave Black Photography Website
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch, and my new website design. My Workshop at the Ranch instructional articles are now entering their 10th year…..throw the confetti. Back in 2003 there were few photographers with websites and even fewer instructional articles being written on the web. Workshop at the Ranch started very modestly, but as requests from readers poured in I recognized that there was a hunger for learning. It didn’t take long before I began elaborating in-depth on each topic and image I wrote about. As my articles become more detailed the popularity and readership grew rapidly. Today’s Workshop at the Ranch monthly individual readership/Unique Visitors exceeds 75,000 and it has soared to well over 100,000 during months that feature creative lighting instruction or coverage of a major sports event.
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. It is my pleasure and a real privilege to announce that I have joined the ranks of photographers at Kelby Training. Making instructional Online Training Videos for Scott Kelby is a huge step for me, and one that Scott thinks to be a perfect extension for my teaching. Too say it simply, “I’m so amped-up about this I can hardly sit still” which was clearly evident at Photoshop World in Las Vegas last month. 
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. This will be the final tutorial in an 8 month long series on Lightpainting. If you haven’t read the first 7 monthly articles beginning in February 2011 let me encourage you to do so. There you will find many more Lightpaintings with step-by-step basic explanations and camera data of how I approach this creative lighting technique with a variety of subjects. 
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. For those that have been following this entire series, welcome back. For those who are just joining in, let me suggest that you review that past several WATR articles and become familiar with the principles of Lightpainting before moving forward with this month’s article where we continue to Explore and Experiment with Lightpainting. 
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. We are continuing this month with Part 6 of our Lightpainting series by learning some Special Techniques that I have used. These techniques came about by simply experimenting during the Lightpainting process in an effort to create the picture I wanted. My advice is that you should always be open towards experimenting while making your Lightpaintings. Before incorporating any Special Techniques into your Lightpainting regimen, make sure that your basics are well established. All the fundamental steps we have been learning in this series continue to apply to the Lightpaintings featured in this article. If your not familiar with Lightpainting, or need a some review, I suggest you read the past 5 articles beginning with the February 2011 Workshop at the Ranch. 
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. We are continuing this month with Part 5 of our Lightpainting series by learning how to Lightpaint Outdoor Subjects. I recommend that your Lightpainting basics be well established before taking on the challenge of Lightpainting these sometimes larger than life subjects. All the steps we have been learning in this series continue to apply to Lightpainting outdoor subjects. With outdoor subjects we will be making use of the available ambient light in the sky as our background while Lightpainting the subject and foreground. This concept can be a real challenge so I suggest starting small before attempting a large-scale landscape. 
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. We are continuing this month with Part 4 of our Lightpainting series with the Human Subject. I recommend that your Lightpainting basics be well established before taking on the challenge of Lightpainting the human subject. All the steps we have been learning in this series continue to apply. A key ingredient to a successful Lightpainting of the human subject is the subject’s ability to hold still for the long exposure time. Any movement by your subject while being Lighpainted will result in a blurred image. To accomplish this, make sure that your subject is comfortable so it is easier for them to remain motionless for the duration of the long exposure. 
Hi and welcome to this edition of Workshop at the Ranch. We are continuing this month with Part 3 of our Lightpainting series, and are about to explore perhaps the most useful of Lightpainting imagery, the TableTop Subject. The tabletop size subject is exactly what it sounds like, a subject that fits on a table. It’s larger than a macro subject, but usually smaller than a live human subject. I find myself using a 24-70mm for many of my tabletop size subjects. The tabletop size subject is commonly associated with product photography. Many catalog images of shoes, camping, or automotive products, household items, etc. comes to mind as suitable tabletop size subjects. I, however, like to assemble a small theme setting. 