Sorry folks. I meant to blog everyday through out the week-long workshop with Joe McNally at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop but I just couldn’t muster any energy to do so after the third day. The workshop was uplifting & inspiring but also very intense, highly pressurized & tiring. We hauled over U$100,000 worth of gear and lights to a new location each day. Yup, EVERYDAY! Within 30-40 minutes, we had to figure out our light setups & concept. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until the end of the day when I could barely move my legs. The intensity of the workshop squeezed so much creativity out of each of us. Having seen my work on day one, I couldn’t believe the shots I was achieving on last two days of the workshop. This is a testimony of Joe’s teaching skills, the encouraging teammates I’ve got and the fantastic support system the SFPW have in place. We were given a risk-free environment to experiment, soar, crash, burn & pick ourselves up again. This has certainly inspired me to be a better teacher in my coming workshops.

Day 4 brings us to the New Mexico Penitentiary. There are a few blocks of building that had been shut down and turned into movie sets. The jail block. Look familiar? It was used in The Longest Yard.

Bryan, one my teammate, was a willing model while I tried to figure out my setup. Not too shabby for a test shot.

Elinchrom on a grid from left. CTO on a snooted SB800 & diffused with Klennex from right.

Similar setup. This time I use CTO on a SB800 via EzyBox HotShoe for a more controlled and diffused look on Asia, our model.

Strong sunlight streamed through a window to give Brook a nice hair light. SB800 shot through a trigrip diffuser on right.

A single SB800 with CTO on EzyBox HotShoe.

Day 5. Our class had a business breakfast with Joe talking about the state of the photography industry. It was a sobering morning to hear first hand the harsh reality that photographers faced. A visit to Monroe Gallery in the Santa Fe Plaza quickly lifted our spirits. The gallery has an ongoing exhibition “A Thousand Words: Masters of Photojournalism”. Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “Drum Major” made me laughed & Ed Clark’s picture of an African American Navy CPO playing “Going Home” to mourn the passing of the late President Roosevelt had me chocking. Then there is Robert Capa’s famous D-Day picture on Omaha Beach, Nick Ut’s picture the napalm girl in Vietnam & Joe Rosenthal’s picture of the raising of the American flag on Iwo Jima. These were iconic images that I had only seen online and in magazines. Seeing them in silver gelatin prints gave me goosebumps. At the Monroe Gallery, you can get them in limited edition silver gelatin prints and autographed by the photographer. I would love to have some of these pictures in my office.

Joe tried to take a group photo at the gallery. His expression here is priceless!

On Friday afternoon, Joe turned into this NY magazine editor from hell He gave us 3 hours to complete magazine cover shoot for Arts in America. While Joe introduced Jade & Adam and gave us his art direction, I was busy sizing up my lighting solution. This time within the four walls of the workshop studio. I work best under pressure so I was loving the moment. Together with Steven & Bryan, we teamed up for the shoot. We chose a beauty dish to be our main light and 4 SB800s to support the picture.

Team Rolling Stone.

Team Rolling Stone again!

Love this Vanity Fair shoot done by Heinz, James & Jill. It is so retro!

Who lets the dog out?

Evidently, I wasn’t paying attention to Joe’s art direction/brief. They were supposed to an avant garde jewelry designer couple. Well, the jewelry is kinda lost here don’t you think? But I bet this cover wouldn’t hurt the sales figure

Let’s take a step back and see how it was executed. Always build with one light at a time. Here, just a single light on beauty dish.

Well, not quite one light a time. We put in 4 additional lights immediately…well, after 5 days with Joe, we’ve got more strobing mojo Honestly, I was pressed for time so I just winged in 4 additional units of SB800. One on the floor in front of the Jade & Adam bouncing off a golden reflector. Another on camera left. Third one right behind Jade & Adam to give some hair light. The fourth camera right to give some side light on Adam.

We all walked away from this workshop with high confidence. Joe didn’t setup the lights for us. We sweated for it and we made it. When I started on Monday, I had no idea that I could be walking away with this level of portfolio. Thanks, Joe.