Welcome To Black Mtn Dude Ranch!

I spend lots of time traveling around the mountains. Over the years, I have used many different methods to do so. Sometimes my mode of travel is dictated by the time of year, such as skiing in the winter and not in summer, and sometimes I change my mode based on whimsy and what I feel like doing that day, like riding my mountain bike or just running. All these different methods are great ways to travel to and through beautiful places, but one other mode of travel stands alone as the best ...

PART 4: LET THERE BE LIGHT Light is the most essential ingredient for taking photos. The word photography actually derives from the Greek ‘painting with light”. Light comes into your camera through the aperture passes through various elements where it gets focussed on the recording media. If enough of it falls on it over the time the shutter is open, an image results. No light, no photograph. Understanding light ranges from very simple premises to the very complicated, often involving ...

Part 1 - "Squeeze Don't Push!"  There’s an apocryphal story I like about a photographer who was invited round to a dinner party. During the evening the hostess remarked on the quality of his work, “I just love your pictures, you must have a great camera” she enthused. The photographer politely thanked her. At the end of the evening after a fabulous meal as everyone was leaving the photographer took the hostess aside. “Thank you for a wonderful meal” he remarked, ‘you must have a great ...

With the recent passing of Bailey, I have been reminded of how important our dogs are to us at Black Mountain Ranch. They are almost always there with us, be it all day out on rides, or walking irrigation ditches, shovel in hand. Let's see... Bailey, Molly, George, Betty, Poppy, Daisy, Howdy, Cinch, Pistol, Sammy, Vala, Murray, Deacon, Daphne, Shoeshine, Coda, Riley, Mickey, Oakley, Roxy... Ummmm. Come on old staff, who am I missing? I know for sure that I am. It really is the ...

  So there isn't really a new RanchFit workout fitness craze. But maybe there should be. I started thinking about this recently as a good friend of mine told me about how they spent the summer getting fit by going to a class that met a couple times a week inside a local gym. She said that the workouts all involve fast paced repetitions of lifting and moving heavy and awkward objects, with the motivational assistance of other members and loud music. I thought at first that it must ...