The South Dakota Cowgirl

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A Western Photography Workshop

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This June we were able to host Chris Dickinson for one of his Western Photography Workshops.  If you don’t follow Chris on Instagram, I suggest you do so, stat.

Last year I was able to go to his workshop in Salt Lake. I had a blast — as was evidenced from the images I captured.

Since our ranch is relatively far from civilization, we housed and fed all the participants. That made for great camaraderie and relationship building.  Everyone had so much fun. In fact, several of the participants have already booked themselves into next year’s workshop — that’s right — in case you missed it we’re doing it again next year!

Chris is an excellent teacher.  He is kind and genuine and really knows his stuff.  No question is a dumb question, and there aren’t really “rules” for shooting at his workshops.

It just so happened that we were able to brand our calves at the workshop, which made for some super fun images!  To make our weekend even more fun, our mutual friend  Chris Petersen, came in from Utah, and played a little private concert for us,  hung out, took some photos and of course had to get in on the action at branding.

We got to spend an evening with our broodmare band. That’s certainly one of the favorite things to do for any visitor that comes to the ranch.

Here are a few of the photos I took during our evening visit to see the mares:

western photography workshop, the south dakota cowgirl, the dx ranch, foal, quarter horse foal

western photography workshop, the south dakota cowgirl, the dx ranch, foal, quarter horse foal

western photography workshop, the south dakota cowgirl, the dx ranch, foal, quarter horse foal

western photography workshop, the south dakota cowgirl, the dx ranch, foal, quarter horse foal

western photography workshop, the south dakota cowgirl, the dx ranch, foal, quarter horse foal

western photography workshop, the south dakota cowgirl, the dx ranch, foal, quarter horse foal

western photography workshop, the south dakota cowgirl, the dx ranch, foal, quarter horse foal

western photography workshop, the south dakota cowgirl, the dx ranch, foal, quarter horse foal

and here are a few of my favorites that Chris took during the workshop:

 

 

 

 

To see the photos taken by the other participants, click here, or here.

Will we see you here at the ranch next June? If you want to up your photography game, this is the place to be!

Happy Trails!

About ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~

Jenn Zeller is the creative mind and boss lady behind The South Dakota Cowgirl. She is an aspiring horsewoman, photographer, brilliant social media strategist and lover of all things western.

After a brief career in the investment world to support her horse habit (and satisfy her mother, who told her she had to have a “real” job after graduating college), she finally took the leap and stepped away from a regular income; trading the business suit once and for all for cowgirl boots, a hat, and jeans. She has not looked back.

When Jenn first moved to The DX Ranch on the South Dakota plains, she never imagined she’d find herself behind a camera lens capturing an authentic perspective of ranching, and sharing it with others. Jenn has always been called to artistry, and uses music, writing, images, home improvement, and her first true love of horses to express her ranching passion.

Horses are the constant thread and much of her work centers around using her unique style of writing to share her horsemanship journey with others in publications such as CavvySavvy, the AQHA Ranching Blog, the West River Eagle, the family ranch website, and her own website.

Using photography to illustrate her stories has created other opportunities -- Jenn’s brand “The South Dakota Cowgirl” has grown to the level of social media “Influencer”. This notoriety has led to work with Duluth Trading Company, Budweiser, Wyoming Tourism, Vice, Circle Z Ranch and Art of the Cowgirl, to name a few. She also serves as a brand ambassador for Woodchuck USA, Arenus Equine Health, Triple Crown Feed and Just Strong fitness apparel. Her photography has been featured by Instagram, Apple, TIME Magazine, The Huffington Post, and Oprah Magazine. Jenn’s work has been published internationally, has been seen in several books and has graced the covers of several magazines.

Jenn became a social media influencer by accident when she started to explore Instagram as a way to share her life on the ranch with folks that don’t get to experience it. It’s grown into an incredible platform that she uses to empower women, create an environment for self improvement and share life on the ranch.

When she’s not working, she loves to drink coffee, play with her naughty border collie named Copper, start ranch colts, and run about the country chasing cans. Her mother still thinks she doesn’t have a “real” job.

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