Cowboy Photographic Workshop 2010

August 14, 2010, I participated as a teacher for the Erickson Cattle Company Photography Workshop in Ackerson Meadow near Yosemite National Park.  I love to share my knowledge with others plus get an opportunity to make a couple images at the same time.  A good part of my career was motivating, coaching, helping, and problem solving with photographers, so a workshop is a good match for me.  I have known the Erickson family cowboys since the late sixties, which is just a drop in the bucket when you consider their family has been moving cattle every summer to graze in the Yosemite National Park area for over 120 years.

Cowboys start at sunrise; Dan Erickson is moving cows along a fence line so photographers can get a good image.  We are going to have two dates this year for the Erickson Cattle Company Photography workshops July 16th – 17th and August 13th – 14th.  This workshop is a great opportunity for photographers of all levels to photograph real working cowboys in their natural environment so that you’ll be sure to make images that will enhance your portfolio.  I’ll be there for hands-on photo coaching to help with all technical questions as well as any creative guidance, and I’ll provide one-on-one editing after our shoot.  If you are interested, email me at al@golubphoto.com for more information.

Safety is always a consideration.  We organize shooting positions so we don’t interfere with other photographers.  After the early morning shooting, a chuck wagon style lunch is served.  We work with photographers to edit their work and plan the upcoming sessions.

During the day, cowboys do their normal duties.  These activities are close enough for photographers to photograph.  The cowboys do everything from roping and herding cattle to running horses and saddling them.  The scenery is beautiful and the cowboys are the real thing.  If you would like to see more of my cowboy images click here to view them on PhotoShelter.

California National Guard training with Cal Fire

April 16, 2011: Recently I became a Cal Fire Volunteer and was fortunate to be invited to photograph a joint Cal Fire, Army, and Air Guard training at the Cal Fire Academy near Ione, California. I want to give a big thanks to Wes Schultz, a photographer, retired firefighter, and fellow Cal Fire Volunteer, for helping to make this opportunity possible. The training centered around Guard helicopters practicing water drops for the upcoming fire season under Cal Fire direction. The most exciting part of the day for me was my first flight in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. I got to ride in the gunner’s seat on the right side. Wow, what fun! First, we chased a CH-47 Chinook around. The following image is of the Chinook making a drop with Lake Pardee in the background. If you would like to see more photographs just click here to go to my Photoshelter gallery.

Being able to hover near this UH-60 Black Hawk while they dip the bucket in the lake made an interesting image.  The wave effect and the rainbow were cool.  During the fire season you just don’t get this close.  Safety comes first during active missions so even if you have a helicopter you need to steer clear of the drop zone.

While we were hovering to make our images, I photographed this army sergeant watching the activities.  He was sitting in the big seat in the back so Wes and I could use the gunner’s seat to photograph from.

I’m also excitedly awaiting the next issue of Grizzly News Magazine, a monthly publication of the California National Guard, which will publish some of these images.  I’ll be sure to share the final product as soon as it comes out.

La Grange Rodeo

A couple weeks ago I traveled down to La Grange to photograph the 64th Annual Rodeo.  I was on my way to a banquet in Oakland that night but I had a couple of hours to shoot.  These are a few of my favorite images from the day, and if you would like to see more images, check out my full take here on my PhotoShelter Archive.