My life for 30 years as a wedding photographer meant I had very few Saturdays off……….but I could be found in some very unusual places Sunday through Friday. My travels were always about the photograph. Sometimes about a particular rodeo or maybe a National Park. Always grounded, always intuitive, and most definitely always fun.
Juanita’s Ride (aka Ranchero Cowgirl) 
I lived in Sheridan Wyoming for a time with my young son. I was doing some photography work for Horse and Rider magazine, and also for Cowboy Brand Western Wear. I had some cowgirl photoshoots lined up and needed some props, including western attire. I learned of a local cowgirl, rumored to have the finest collection of vintage cowgirl attire and accessories. My hopes of borrowing some of her beautiful things (for an upcoming shoot) were dashed when I realized she collected mostly things that were her size, which was very small. After considerable persuasion, she did allow me to photograph her in some of her favorites. The snappy cowgirl shirt she wore in this photo was previously owned by Dale Evans, wife of Roy Rogers. I did have to agree to her terms which meant not letting her lovely face show.
She also owned the Ranchero which was navy blue. I made the photo with black and white film, and then hand tinted the color onto a black and white print. I tried several colors for the vehicle, but teal was by far the best. I always matched her hat band to the color of the car.
Once I went digital, I drum scanned the print so I would have a digital file for printing on contemporary papers, canvas or metal.
Eye of the Horse 
I had a little photography studio for a few years, at Bell Tower Courtyard in St. George. I had a gal come work for me named Kristie. She loved horses as well, so we got on well. She also worked at FedEx and met a man who had a local Arabian farm. He bred and trained them and shipped Arabian stud semen all over the world.
She arranged an invite to visit his ranch to photograph his horses. It was there that I first had the idea of a close-up of a horse eye. I always felt a kindred spirit with horses, and they seemed drawn to me as well. It was perfectly natural for me to be right up in their face, scratching behind the ears or nuzzling their nose. I never had a camera in that close, I knew better from earlier attempts to ride with a camera. I learned to ease in, scratching with one hand and shooting right close to their face with the other hand. Friends first, made the difference.
Since that time, Kristie and I went on many adventures to photograph the horses, not just the Arabians, but all over the county. She would bring the carrots and apples, and we would make friends. I would get to capture their spirit, at least for a moment.
Cowboy Church
I was never a great skier, but I did try for many years. I would meet my friends at some amazing ski resorts. They all preferred to fly, but I liked my feet on the ground to be able to experience all that was. After one such trip to Whitefish, I found myself a little lost on the backroads of Montana. I always tried, time and weather permitting, to go home a different route than I had come. I kept pulling over to have another look at the map, not sure I was where I thought I should be. “Maybe just one more bend in the road” I kept saying. Well then in the middle of nowhere, I round the bend and see this old, rundown, weathered church. I knew that was exactly where I was supposed to be at that moment.
I shot with film, both B&W and color. I hand tinted the trim on a black and white print and exhibited it for a time. While back in school, working on the degree to come, I was experimenting with CS4. I had unlocked a filter called thunderstorm, and it added the rain and rainbow to my image. It was cool as it was, but it spoke to a much larger audience with the storm.
I originally titled the photo Montana Churchouse. A few years later I was exhibiting in Cody Wyoming, and little cowboy stopped to look at it. He said, “Hey mom, come look at the cowboy church.”
I recently learned that the church has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is called St. Joseph’s Catholic Church of D’Aste in Charlo Montana.
Bullrider’s Prayer 
I was shooting behind the chutes at Greeley Stampede in July 2001. Just as the bullriding was about to get underway, a group of bullriders knelt in prayer about 8 feet in front of my lens. I became a little emotional and my eyes teared up, unable to focus my Hasselblad. I just had to shoot, and pray that it would all work. I had never witnessed a group of riders huddle to pray, and it was a beautiful sight. It was fairly common for a solo contestant to pray before their event, but the group was not something I had seen previously. I didn’t know who the men in this group were, but was about to find out. I introduced my self to Lee Akin following the event, and we became friends of a sort. He came to my art exhibit at the National Finals Rodeo that year. I had made 100 8×10 B&W prints of the Bullrider’s Prayer. Lee signed the prints for several hours and we sold them all. The proceeds from that event went to Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund that year. Lee finished third in the world in Bullriding that year at the NFR.
The following year, Cowboy Brand used the image in a t-shirt design with Bible verse Matthew 18:20, “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Cowboy Brand donated the proceeds from that shirt to Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund as well.
In 2007 Lee was severely injured by a bull stepping on his head and crushing his skull. He was not expected to live, but he bucked the odds, and miraculously survived. He is the truest and toughest example of cowboy grit I’ve ever known.
The Horse Trailer 
A friend of mine owned this old trailer and had it out on his land near Sheridan Wyoming. I was visiting one winter and he mentioned his plan to take it apart to make a flatbed for hauling hay. I thought that was kinda sad as these old trailers had so much character. He gave me permission to photograph it first. I headed out and strung the Christmas lights on it, thinking it could make a nice holiday scene. As I was doing so it began to snow. I was getting set up, planned to use the tripod (rare) but just dark enough to be a good idea. He went into the trailer to get something, and his horse Little Red followed him and peered in the window. It’s not often that horses will comply with your wishes with regard to photographing them, so I knew I had to act fast. The camera was not even on the tripod yet, so I grabbed the Blad from the bag and shot the scene. Mike came back out as I was putting my equipment away, and asked “what are you doing, we haven’t even done any photos yet.” Well it happened fast, another of my intuitive images just fell into place. He missed the whole thing, sadly.
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