Marfa, Texas – 2020

A great facade for an authentic Texas working bar with the two neon lights outside. But this frame was a technical challenge because these two lights offered insufficient ambient light to give any detail outside – even before contemplating capturing a rearing horse.

This meant using some LED lighting but we had to be careful not to kill the mood. The only card I had in my hand was that I could open up the lens and sacrifice depth of field, as all the detail I wanted would be within a narrow range from my camera. This gave me a chance.

The girls did a great job, as did the cowboy and the horse. The Heath Ledger type cowboy in the bar was a good addition and then it was just down to luck with the horse on a longish shutter speed. A year ago, we did a similar outdoor shot in Big Timber, Montana. Coyote Ugly – as we called it – was well received. The Lost Horse Saloon was much more of a challenge on so many levels. The two certainly complement each other very well. Maybe this is the start of something.