STORIES FROM THE SET: BEHIND THE SCENES OF COWPOKE U

It almost feels like bad juju to speak this into the ether, but dare we say this is the easiest shoot we’ve done in recent memory? And that’s saying something, because we were on city streets and working with an expanded cast of characters – many with more than two legs!

“I tend to preach about how hard it is to photograph animals and babies,” Mitchell said. “But I’ve gotta eat a little crow on this one. Bobby’s horses might’ve taken direction better than Kaylin and Lozzie – juuust kidding, girls! But they were a treat to work with, and so sweet; definitely keeps the mood and morale up on set when you get to love on a dog in your downtime.”

That’s an understatement; we’re pretty sure if she could’ve found a way to safely transport ‘em in her suitcase, Lozzie would’ve taken at least one dog home. (Bert, Spud, Zip, Roy, and Blue – if you’re reading this, we love you!)

Because we often shoot outside, we must always comment on the weather. We are happy to report that even though Mother Nature might’ve thought she was cramping our style, the weather was actually inadvertently quite cooperative. We had a few little showers, which meant mini breaks in shooting, but the overcast sky ended up photographing beautifully for this particular collection. And, because South Texas tends to stay hot, the crew is always grateful for a little cloud coverage.

Speaking of things working in our favor, on this particular shoot we tried something that we don’t always get the opportunity to do, and that was to have a pre-production meeting with our photog (Mitchell), our stylist (Lisa), and the models (Kaylin and Lozzie) the night before, so we all woke up on Day 1 with the same vision in mind and ready to execute. We were able to hit the ground running and the day felt uber-efficient and we captured excellent footage. In hindsight, the Chick-fil-A lunch might’ve helped – Chick-fil-A always helps. (Thanks, Bryson!)

Day 2 was equally pretty awesome – and totally unique. We were shooting in the streets of downtown Hico, which if you’ve never had the chance to visit, is simply the most charming little town. They have all these cool brick buildings that about 30 years ago, several artists came in and painted huge murals on, so now they’re still fresh enough to be photographable, but weathered enough to feel enamoring.

But of course, that’s just the setting, what really made Day 2 special was the subjects. Bobby Kerr, a crazy talented trainer, a quintessential cowboy, and just a wonderfully kind human, brought his performance mustangs, his handful of show dogs, and a cool vintage Cadillac to the set and we had the best time! We’re always in awe of horses – their beauty, their personality, and their intelligence – but Bobby’s horses were really remarkable and endlessly entertaining. When they weren’t trying to nibble on the girls (JT really had a thing for Kaylin), they were wowing us with their obedience and skill. You haven’t seen it all until you’ve watched a mustang mosey into the back of a convertible and take a seat!

“It was really something,” Mitchell said. “We had visions for a couple of shots, and we didn’t know if they were things the horses would be able to do or not, but Bobby was like, ‘Oh, sure, just take him off the lead, he’ll follow her.’ And sure enough, here’s this horse totally untethered in the middle of downtown Hico and when Bobby gives the signal, he just casually follows Lozzie down the street. It was impressive.”

And it wasn’t just his horses that won us over.

“Bobby could not have been nicer,” Mitchell said. “In fact, we ended up wrapping up the catalog by shooting a section at his ranch. We had a cool collection, cooperative weather and animals, and a catalog that really captured both. At the risk of jinxing our next one, let’s just say the odds were ever in our favor!”