Men & Women of the West | Alexandra | 2021
As we’re driving to the shoot the wind starts to pick up and heavy storms are on the horizon. Well, this should make for some great images OR a complete waste of time. I’m glad we stayed the course.
Alexandra and I started off our shoot with some essential Colter Wall music. If you don’t know who Colter is just think of a stereotypical olden-time cowboy working a cattle drive and singing songs at the moon. Add in 85 years of gargling nails and smoking cigarettes and you’re in the ballpark for what his voice sounds like. Ahh, ok… Hang on. Ok, listen to that. ;)
Settling into music and developing our shooting relationship, we start dipping into creating some compelling imagery.
I’ve been sworn to secrecy on the location of this barn so don’t even ask. I mean it. Don’t do it. Plus, I didn’t drive and couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to, but I digress. If you were going to shoot at a top-secret barn this would be the one. Everything is in great shape and weathered to perfection.
The shot of Alexandra in the entryway of the barn was pretty straightforward as far as lighting goes. We tucked a light behind the door on the inside and balanced that with the ambient light. After playing with the shutter speed and light output of the strobe a bit we came away with this! I love it.
I love tack rooms. Everything you’d want in a location that naturally has interest is already in there. The top left image was created by placing a strobe outside the window and after placing a full CTO gel to mimic the sun’s rays we blasted the light through. I love the plume effect and how the light fills the room.
Alexandra
With a deep love for mountains and horses forever in my blood, my desire to skyrocket out west post-college came easy for me. I was born and raised by horse enthusiasts; my grandfather, aunt, and mother. Horses have kept me on a good path in life and they bring so much light into my life in ways I can’t describe it.
I eventually bought Vern in Montana after I moved out to Jackson Hole, from my uncle’s neighbor, who will be a longtime friend. Vern and I have been a good match for the past 3 years. We enjoy trail riding and exploring all around the Teton Valley.
The untamed beauty, laid-back lifestyle of the ageless pastime (the west) motivates me and makes me appreciate where I am every single day.
Black on black
Hindsight is 20/20
Notes for photographing a black horse in low light. You have to have an edge light to separate them from the background. I didn’t put up a second light here and I wish I had because the background of pine trees was so dark and as the light was fading so too was the visibility of Vern. A simple edge light would have gone a LONG way, but Vern wasn’t overly excited about our one light and was moving a lot. Trying to navigate two lights with the number of hands we had would have been close to impossible but maybe worth a try? That being said, I’m pretty happy with what we got.
