Remember the pictures from the Tuesday I regarded as “glorious failures”? The class & Joe thought they were great. So that made my day. I was looking for honest comments. I am here to learn, not to be buttered up. The affirmation from Joe and my classmates means a lot to me. Thank you guys! Love you all!

Day 3 – We spent 3 hours going through images from Tuesday’s shoot and Joe led a very thorough and non-judgmental manner. It motivates us to go further and continue our journey. “The most important thing is that you take this journey (of experimenting with different lights),” Joe reminded us. The critique helped us to take notes of some of the common issues behind lighting and how we could tackle them. That made a huge difference in our shoot today.

We went to a defunct power plant near Albuquerque. Boy, we had a BLAST! Big strobes, small speedlights, gels, long throw reflectors. We mixed them all together.

This is Don. He was the Moses that leads photographers to the Land of Good Lighting in Joe’s latest book, The Hot Shoe Diaries. Main light with full cut of CTO, SB800 via EzyBox Hot Shoe. SB800 with blue gel, flagged, fired from the right to give the meter dials a sheen of blue.

I love Don. He is a very kind man with an amazing face. It’s very difficult to make him look bad in a photograph

In the second shot, I used an Elinchorm, 1100W, blue gel on a long throw reflector, fired from about 60 feet away. I was hoping to create a sheen of blue and bring out clear separation of lines between the rolls of chairs. However, from this angle the picture looks muted even at full power.

So I decided to walk around the scene on a wider lens to explore other opportunities. Swapped the 70-200 with the 24-70. Viola. From this angle, the scene looks very interesting. This is my scene and I will bring in the talent and work here.

In comes Sarah with Don’s hat. Thanks Don! It was very kind of you to loan us your hats! Again SB800 via Ezybox Hot Shoe from left. This time 2 full cut of CTO because I wanna mimic a very warm light. Hey, not too bad for a test shot.

Problem! The strobe creates a flare and the picture loses contrast and luster. What should I do?

Solution: Angle myself so that Sarah is positioned between the strobe and the lens. Viola. Look how that creates a very crisp outline of Sarah’s body.

Another version. Hat on. Done. Check the watch. Hey, I have 2 minutes to spare!

I need to say this. Joe McNally is a GREAT photographer but he is a great person too. He hauls gear with us, just like everyone else. There is not a slightest hint of superiority complex in this guy. His childlike wonder on location energizes everyone. I mean, this is a photographer who has shot all sorts of big productions but when he gets behind a camera, he gets animated. With all the big shoots and assignments, Joe doesn’t need to teach. He teaches because he loves passing on his knowledge and experiences. Like everyone else in our class, we are so honoured to be able to spend a week with him.

A lot of you guys are envious to see me at this workshop. Well, don’t be. I am blogging daily so that you guys can see how much I grow at Joe’s workshop. As I said on Monday, this is a gift that we give ourselves. I have been saving and planning for this for a long time. What are your dreams, folks? Pursue it. Make it happen. Be at Joe’s next workshop at Santa Fe Photographic Workshop.