Harrison H. - Veteran, Wyoming Senior Pictures

I’d venture to say that about 1 in 4 of the people I photograph just absolutely love having their picture taken.

Harrison was not one of those people.

At. All.

This cowboy would have preferred to just get on his horse and ride off into the sunset.  But he persevered and stuck with me through a hot August night on the Wyoming prairie in a little spot the locals call Goshen Hole.  The results?  Pretty spectacular, if you ask me.

I loved so many things about this session, including how his twin sister Jadyn acted as his groom and how by the end of our time together he was actually laughing at my bad jokes.

There’s always a moment in a session where I can see and feel the client relax and lean into what we’re doing.  It’s usually prefaced by me asking a question about their interests or passions and them finding something they love talking about.

For Harrison, that was me asking about his plans for the future.

“I want to run our ranch.”

The uncertainty about what we were doing and his discomfort vanished as he talked about his love of the land, farming, ranching, and the gorgeous piece of ground we were standing on.

“It’s so peaceful,” I told him.  “Did you pick this spot out?”

“Yeah,” he told me, grinning.  “I love this spot.  But you should see some of what we have up around Lusk.  It’s even better.  It’s beautiful.”

He went on to describe their land and what he loves most about it.  Friends, I don’t know if there’s another energy quite as contagious as a young adult talking about their passions.  And after seeing so many young people struggle with having their lives turned upside down the last few months, his excitement (such as it is with taciturn teenage boys) was good for this momma’s heart.

I think this outstanding young man has it figured out.  If you’ve got a cotton-candy sunset as a backdrop, the meadowlarks singing goodbye to the night and a few good horses, by golly, the future looks pretty amazing indeed.