Photo 118-119: Wide Angle Day!!!

What a beautiful, sunny day! It was wonderful!! To switch things up, I went with my wide angle lens for the day. It's different, but hey! I'm looking for new ideas! What do you think?

Photo 116-117: Trailing Cows

"To me, the cowboy is nearly America personified, the part of America that I think has been so important in the development of our country. People came west, they didn't have any guarantees for success, just freedom." Unknown

Photo 115: Birthday Girl!!!

This little girl is five years old!! How in the world did that happen?!!! It seems like yesterday that we were flying down a dirt road in the middle of the night, headed to the hospital. What an adventure! And here's to many, many more adventures, sweet girl!!

To see all the branding fun from the Little Eight Mile Ranch, go to aprilcarterphotography.zenfolio.com/littleeightmilebrandings2017. Be sure to browse though all the albums!!

Photo 113-114: Wide Angle Branding Fun

Hard work spotlights the character of people:

Some turn up their sleeves,

Some turn up their noses,

and some don't turn up at all.

-Unknown

Photo 111-112: Little Girl's Dreams

Like stardust glistening on fairy's wings

Little girl's dreams are of magical things.

Photo 108-110: Sorting

Nothing like working cows in the wind and rain! I snapped a few quick shots before the downpour hit!

Photo 107: Back Hand Turnover

One thing I miss about Wyoming is the fancy loops that everyone throws at brandings! My hubby is famous for throwing a back hand loop-swinging the loop backwards from the way you normally would-and then turning it over in the air to catch the calf's head. 

Photo 105-106: Wide Angle View

I've always wanted to try a wide angle lens, especially with my western and landscape shots! Instead of buying the whole lens, I went the cheap route and bought an attachment for my lens that I already have-just to try it out. I took quite a few pictures and I'm still not sure if I'm using it right, but here's two of my favorites from a branding over the weekend. It was cold and windy, so I have lots of dust pictures too, but what a beautiful, clear blue sky!

Photo 104: Lovin' on a Horse

My youngest seems to be the most fearless of all my girls. At this age, my 2nd child would scream any time a horse got near her, but get her up on the back of one and she would be fine. My youngest is nothing like that! I don't know who's horse this was, but he was nice enough to let her love on him while we watched the branding.

Photo 103: Rebuilding

No matter how good of a roper you are, you still have to rebuild your loop after every throw. These are some of my favorite picture moments!

Photos 96-102: Branding Round 3

I recently read somewhere of a photographer saying that his creativity was begging him for something more-something different. I have felt the same urge-trying to show our lifestyle, but in a new way. Yes, there are some that are still my original style, but I'm also trying new things....like laying in the dirt to get a really cool shot.

Bragging Moment

I'm taking a moment to brag. My oldest is 8 and loves photography. She asks all the time if she can take a picture. I relented and she captured these shots of Shoshone Falls. It's fun to see her perspective compared to mine-no two photographers are alike!

Photos 94-95: Shoshone Falls

We took a day trip as a family to see Shoshone Falls in Twin Falls, Idaho. The drive was really windy and the weather has been very cold, but the falls were beautiful! My littlest loves waterfalls and talked all the way there of getting to see the "big waterfall." It was simply stunning!

Photo 93: Clearing Snow Storm

I recently saw a picture somewhere that showed just the top of the mountain with the clouds around it. I'm too much of a detail person and have always liked to show more-but sometimes it's nice to simplify, which is what I need to do more of. The clouds surrounding the mountains after the snow storm this weekend were incredible!!

Photos 91-92: Playing Peek-A-Boo

It decided to snow again! The two littles went out as soon as the wind stopped blowing, but they weren't the only ones! The ground squirrels were digging the snow out of their homes as well. They are funny creatures to watch!

Photo 90: Different Point of View 

Photo 89: Silver Bit

Photos 82-88: Branding Round 2

I've been trying to find different shots for branding time-since we have a bunch of them and I don't want to shoot the same thing, over and over and over again! It takes a lot of thought and preparation, and I'm still not sure I'm accomplishing my goal. But, here's some pics from the latest branding. Enjoy!