We don’t hesitate to brag about the great views at La Joya Dulce. Wayne spent some time Saturday scouting a location for portraits. He didn’t have to go far. Just a few steps from our house is a small aspen grove with a sunset view of Elk Mountain. Wayne was experimenting with new-to-him photo techniques, but his model was unusually patient, and never complained about standing in the snow wearing only a thin dress:

Ms. Patient was lit from the left by an off-camera strobe to balance the light from the sunset.

After shooting the scene above, Wayne thought he was done for the day, and took his camera, tripod and flash back to the house. But when he returned to escort Ms. Patient back inside he saw the beautiful sunset light from the reverse angle. He hustled back to the house to retrieve the camera and tripod.

It is a photographic cliché that your best shot may be behind you. No strobe this time.

Both shots were stitched together from multiple exposures in order to generate a shallow focus effect. This technique was popularized by a talented photographer, Ryan Brenizer. There are lots of internet and YouTube tutorials explaining how to do this (search for “Brenizer method’).

Wayne shoots photos for fun. He is not a wedding photographer, and does not want to compete with professional photographers. (If you knew how long Ms. Patient had to stand still, you would not want Wayne to photograph your wedding.) But if you and your wedding photographer want to stop by the ranch to scout locations or take engagement photos, we’d love to accommodate you.