Winter in the Desert

Ellensburg, WA

January 8th, 2025

There was a chill in the air that frigid day in January. 

Aiming to turn my creative vision into a reality, I approached the very gorgeous Kate Rose a few weeks prior. I sent her some photos for her to take inspiration from, and it came out better than I could ever imagine. She brought her big sweet gray gelding, and a couple of outfits I thought would look best against the desert scenery. Before we took off for a ride, she curled her hair using a curling iron she plugged into her truck. Even before it got started, it was badass!

We rode out on the John Wayne Trail just east of Kittitas, Washington with the intent of taking it slow and letting the vision come to life. Our horses were calm, quiet, and seemed to enjoy the rhythm of the morning. At one point I had to stop because I had 12 million layers on, and somehow my lens cap fell off my lens. Let me tell you... trying to get off and on a tall horse with all the layers and gear strapped to me like a sack of potatoes is enough of a workout to last a month! I told her not to judge me as I gave it my best effort. I felt like I looked as if I had never ridden a horse a day in my life. But, we proceeded! We stopped when we got to a small little "canyon" as I like to call it. It was perfect, and no wind!

Here is where we captured pure magic! On the way back we stopped to do some fun little hitch hiking and suitcase photos to complete my vision.