The South Dakota Cowgirl

Life on the Ranch Through My Lens

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What Happens in the Branding Pen…

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…When you give your camera to someone else, because the photojournalist that is there wants to flank a calf? You get interesting photos.

Allow me to show you the results of my 28mm lens, a bit of instruction (ie- get close so you don’t need binoculars to see what is in the photo), and a guy who looks like he might be able to have a career as a photographer- except I think he wants to be a psychologist or some such nonsense as that!

Here’s the cowboy’s youngest brother, Bud:

The Cowboy’s Brother, Guthrie (there’s four of them, those boys, by the way):

A self portrait of the man holding the camera:

A long-time, family friend:

The man who loves to stay covered in dirt, and blood and other stuff for the weekend:

A stoic photo of my little brother:

A laughing portrait of my BIL (who by the way, is also a saddle maker):

A gorgeous photo of Jordyn ( who was kind enough to let me shoot her senior photos a couple years back):

A hilarious photo of our intern for the summer, Ladeana:

And me hard at work, shooting with a Nikon D3 (serious, serious camera envy folks), because the photojournalist (who, of course, I photographed) wanted to do some work in the branding pen, and who are we to tell him no?

And there you have it! What happens when you give your camera to someone else. You get photos of the person who’s usually behind the lens!

In case you’re wondering about my absence, and you’ve been in a hole- or you don’t follow me on Facebook, my family came in this past week because it was time for our annual Father’s Day Branding! They left me too busy to catch anyone up on my life, which is fine, because a great time was had by all and many memories were made. So this week, I plan to catch everyone up on my life through lots of photos and fun stories!

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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Comments

    • ~The South Dakota Cowgirl~ says

      Thanks for sharing it with me! Have you been invited to our Father’s Day Branding page on Facebook? if not, when you accept my FB friend request, I will add you to the group! There’s about to be a couple photos of you posted there. Don’t be a stranger!

      Reply

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