Late August through early October is proving to be a blur of interesting projects and a lot of travel so, as fair warning, blog updates may be few and far between for a few weeks. Rest assured, however, that I’m out in the field creating content that will soon make its way to your screens and magazine pages.
I’m home for a few days in between projects, however, and wanted to share a quick report on my latest assignment. For several days last week, I worked out of the historic Hunewill Ranch near Bridgeport, California, documenting the fall cattle gather for Sidetracked Magazine in the U.K. This was a dream assignment — I grew up around horses here in Montana, riding and mucking out stalls and training performance horses. So to spend days in the saddle, riding the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range while pushing cattle down from summer pasture while photographing the entire process… it was a lot of work but an entirely excellent week at work.
Some jobs just make your soul happy.
The story is currently being posted on Sidetracked’s Instagram story, and will be promoted by Visit California, who was a partner for the project. It’ll also soon appear on the magazine’s website, and possibly other places as well (stay tuned). Three days was far too short a time to do this story justice, but at least it will offer a taste of life with the Hunewill clan on their family ranch.
So why Sidetracked? Funny story. I met Daniel, one of the magazine’s editors, while working on a project in Jordan this spring. After hiking through the hills of northern Jordan and traversing the deserts of Petra, we sat beside the Dead Sea one evening and exchanged stories over glasses of wine and fine Jordanian food, talking about work, life and the things that make us “tick.” You meet the best people in the strangest places, and I was thrilled the conversation, in turn, led to an assignment. Funny old world, isn’t it?
This was a different assignment for logistics; I had to figure out how to shoot from the saddle during brisk, frosty mornings (most of the riding was done well above 7,000 feet) and during hot, dusty days chasing cattle through sagebrush-dotted hills and boggy wetlands. I used a set-up I’ve utilized while riding / shooting before: a cross-body BlackRapid camera strap for security, and an ancient ThinkTank pouch strapped around my waist so I could secure the camera while looping / sorting cattle. A Peak Design camera cover helped keep the ever-present dust away. It’s a system that works fairly well, though it tends to offset one’s seat in the saddle a bit, so requires some cognizance. The Hunewills were kind enough to let me ride their horse Blaze, a roping horse who pretty much didn’t mind anything, including dangling cameras and leaving the herd to run up a hill so I could shoot back at the cattle.
The shoot involved a lot of horses, cattle, hearty ranch food and newfound friendships. Bright, harsh overhead daylight made for less-than-ideal shooting conditions, but with a little creativity I embraced the dust-and-sun combination and rolled with it.
One night spent in my small tent up Buckeye Canyon involved midnight visits from ranging cattle, hooting owls, yipping coyotes and rowdy stories told by the light of glow sticks (no fires were allowed due to extremely high fire conditions). Nights spent at the main ranch in the valley were something reminiscent of my favorite Zane Grey novels from childhood — the whitewashed buildings weathered and comfortable, laughter sounding from different corners of the compound.
Thanks to Sidetracked Magazine and Visit California for the assignment, and to the entire Hunewill clan and team at Hunewill Ranch for having me visit. It was a good taste of the lifestyle I grew up with; one I miss during this season of airplanes and passports and logical fallacies (life is much more simple from the saddle).
Stay tuned for the release of the story!
