Cowgirls with Cameras first ever Winter event was AMAZING! Thank you to the wonderful group of photographers that joined us, what a fantastic group! We had such a great time with each of you, thanks to Allison, Carole, Joanne, Faith, Courtney, Ren and Tim! We all had such a fabulous time, we are still on a high from this trip and already talking about doing it again next year so stay tuned for 2025 dates! Just a few of the 200 head of horses in the C Lazy U Ranch Horse Cavvy First thing each morning the wranglers bring the herd in from their overnight pasture and later that afternoon they ..read more

MAKE LOW-KEY PORTRAITS POP This week I’d like to show you how to make low-key portrait images POP three ways using NIK 6 Silver Efex, my favorite Black and White conversion plug-in. This portrait of Rick, was taken during our Dryhead Ranch Retreat this year.  Image SOOC (straight out of the camera) with square crop applied. Obviously, I need to clean the background up so I Selected the subject (as you can see by the Marching Ants). Then I Inverted my selection so I could paint on the background. KeyBoard Shortcut: Windows: Ctrl + I – Mac: Command + I I didn’t like the light le ..read more

Welcome back to Part 2 of my travel journal! This week I’ll tell you all about our Oklahoma experience followed by a sprinkle of our Wyoming travels! Early mornings pay off when you are blessed with this kind of light…thanks Laura! Each year Art of the Cowgirl hosts a Montana Gathering in Big Timber, this year they added an Oklahoma Gathering! During the gathering there are workshops and clinics going on by different clinicians and artists. Kim Beer and I are the leaders for the Photography Clinic. Lindy Thorn giving the youngest participant, Callie hands on instruction during the Cow Clinic ..read more

Hey everyone, well I’ve been home from my whirlwind, marathon trip out west now for a little over a week and I’ve not even made a dent in any progress toward getting all the images edited that I took over the course of my three weeks on the road. This Blog Post is Part 1 of an overview of my travels. I left home on September 28 headed for Denver to meet up with Kim and Cara (my colleagues with Cowgirls with Cameras). We were all excited to host our first ever Trappers Lake Lodge Photography Adventure near Meeker, Colorado. We came a day early to get ready for the event. I’ve hosted Ladies Ride ..read more

Our second year at the Cottonwood Guest Ranch for the Cowgirls with Cameras Photography Learning Immersion Experience was filled with fabulous photographic opportunities and wonderful fellowship with an eager group of photographers. The ranch pulled out all the stops to make the week a success. Huge thanks to McKenzie, Jason, Easton, Cavin and Kyle for the lovely hospitality and all your hard work. I know I for one gained a few from eating Joe’s delicious cookies and meals he prepared each day as well! Kyle, McKenzie, Jason, Easton and Cavin  The boys were so into the photographers th ..read more

Our second year at the Cottonwood Guest Ranch for the Cowgirls with Cameras Photography Learning Immersion Experience was filled with fabulous photographic opportunities and wonderful fellowship with an eager group of photographers. The ranch pulled out all the stops to make the week a success. Huge thanks to McKenzie, Jason, Easton, Cavin and Kyle for the lovely hospitality and all your hard work. I know I for one gained a few from eating Joe’s delicious cookies and meals he prepared each day as well! Kyle, McKenzie, Jason, Easton and Cavin  The boys were so into the photographers th ..read more

Photos can make or break a sale. So how do you take a good conformation shot? Planning, preparation, and patience are key to helping your photo shoot go smoothly.   Look for a good location with level ground that is free from buildings, vehicles, or other distractions.  If there’s a fence behind your subject, make sure there is plenty of separation (distance) between the two so the fence can fade into the background. Choose a site with a “contrasting” background, one that will compliment your horse. A dark-colored horse will disappear against a dark background. It also helps if the ..read more

Let’s talk about Cropping. (this has nothing to do with growing corn, soybeans or other crops)  I do prefer to get my images as close to the way I’d like it in camera. However, sometimes that isn’t possible or it’s as simple as we don’t see the “real” story until we get the image file on the computer. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Mindful cropping is a creative decision that can significantly impact the visual storytelling and aesthetic appeal of an ..read more

Dryhead Ranch Retreat 2023 …. what a wild ride! The Dryhead Ranch is a four-generation working ranch nestled in the Pryor Mountains on the Crowe Indian Reservation in Montana. Each July Cowgirls with Cameras head to the Dryhead for our yearly photography retreat. This is a working cattle ranch with lots going on this time of year, moving, and doctoring cattle, wrangling the cavvy in and out each day, checking herds and colt starting. Who knew that all we had to do to get ears up on a herd of horses was run the American Flag by! Dryhead Ranch owns around 140 head of horses.  Some are ca ..read more

  WoW…another fabulous Iceland Equine Photo Tour is in the books! Every year I think it just can’t get any better but the farm at Skalakot delivers in every way, the scenery, the horses, the hospitality and oh my goodness the cuisine! Of course, having a wonderful group of photographers to share the experience with each year makes it an even more memorable experience for all. A huge thank you goes out to those who joined me this year for my 2023 Tour. Heather and Tawni from Canada, Liz from Utah, Christi from Arizona, JoAnne from Oregon, and Carole from Connecticut, what a great bunch of ..read more