Larry Larson Clinic

May 27, 2013 by ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ 1 Comment

For those of you that live in a hole- or have never been to a horse show or looked at an equine sale catalog, or even a “Barrel Horse News” you may not know who Larry Larson is.

Allow me to tell you: he’s a world renowned photographer of equines, and basically does the sale/stallion/promotion photography for most of the big horse ranches here in South Dakota.

He had a show career, and burnt out. Decided he wanted to stay close to the industry and his friends, so he began photographing horses. His photos are very pretty, if you’ve never seen one, but you can google (Larry Larson Horse in Google Images), and find countless examples.

Every year he does a clinic, and this year, my SIL was nice enough to get me a spot for my Birthday! So I spent Mother’s Day Weekend in Rapid City at a gorgeous facility where “Harley D Zip”, a 16x World Champion horse lives. Harley has earned more points, world championship titles and Incentive Fund money than any other horse in the history of the AQHA.

Larry and I have a very different shooting style but no matter. I still learned plenty about how to best set a horse for the shot, how to help level the top-line and when not to use a 3/4 front or rear shot.

I couldn’t help myself and still had to take some artsy shots, but I thought I’d show a few of the photos from the weekend.

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.