Reflections on a photography shoot for our centennial celebration - Circle Z Ranch
This past few days we have had the honor of welcoming Scott T Baxter to the ranch for a 2 day photo shoot at our historic dude ranch. Photo shoots are a common occurrence at our guest ranch, some occurring for television shows, some for marketing purposes. Most of the “shoots” occur with our guests on a daily basis as the scenery is so stunning you could literally capture a “hero” shot at every bend in our 200 miles of trails.
Over the New Year Holiday we hosted and participated in a very special 2 days with an award winning photographer. Scott T. Baxter works out of his studio on the Cattle Track Arts Compound in Scottsdale, Arizona. He has been a professional photographer for more than 30 years. According to his bio, “His fine art photography work of the American West captures the dichotomy between the elegance and untamed nature of the West. Baxter’s work is in numerous museums and private collection. Notably, his work is in the permanent collections of The Phoenix Art Museum, Desert Caballeros Western Museum, The Booth Museum of Western Art, Taos Art Museum, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Museum and the Scottsdale Public Art Program.” So what an honor it was to have him at our ranch. So how was it that this amazing artist graced our ranch?
The Centennial celebration for the Dude Ranch Association is happening in 2026. In 1926 the DRA was founded as a way for the budding hospitality industry of ranches to come together and share stories, insights, and working relationships among ranches who had opened their doors and tables to guests. These ranches sprung into life at a time when city folks were wanting to experience the wide open spaces of the West, where the city smog and bustling crowds could be left behind for a time and life on the range and in the ranchers homes was much desired. This was truly the origins of the Nature Based Tourism that many still seek today. But whatever we choose to call it today, it was an experience that these “dandy’s”, as the cowboys called them, were more than happy to pay for, and the ranchers were more than happy to supplement their hard fought ranching dollars with.
I am not sure how many ranches were part of the DRA back then. Probably many are no longer in existence, deciding to go back to their roots of cowboying, or sold out to developers. But for those that hung on, and have kept up this pace for 99 years, the DRA will be celebrating their founding members in 2026 in several ways. One is the creation of a Coffee Table book. And for a high quality, photo centric centennial book, the DRA sought out one of the best to capture the 23 ranches that will be featured in this much anticipated book.
The Dude Ranch Association began this centennial book project in the Spring of 2024. By June of 2025, Scott will have traveled to 23 guest ranches, filming for 3 days at each location, some back to back as the ranches in the North only have a 3 month window of being opened. Scott’s job? Capturing epic and brilliantly framed photos of guest ranch staff and owners doing what they do best: riding their beloved horses through rugged and scenic landscapes.
Needless to say, we were excited to work with Scott on this project, knowing that the quality of the photos would be amazing, Scott and Barbara really raise the bar on what a quality photo shoot brings: early mornings and late afternoon shoots, getting out the wild rags, making sure everyone is wearing their cowboy boots for the photos, and scouting for the perfect light. As Scott says, you never know what you are going to be given with the light. But when you know how to read the light, the landscape, the perfect opportunities, then magic happens. We can’t wait for the magic of this book, a reflection of what is best about our ranches, our history and our present, and how we have endured doing something we love for 100 years.
The first day on our ranch was spent scoping out some potential sites for the photographs , looking for signature and pristine sites for iconic photos that offer good lighting for the Winter months, uniqueness to our brand, and iconic vistas. We have an endless array of the above, and the ranch owner having done several photo shoots knows the good areas for filming. The area that stood out to them, that no other ranch has, is the area down by the stream called the railroad bed. This stunning site is the corridor to many of our 200 hundred miles of trails. With a canopy of trees that line the sides and the overstory, it is like a scene out of a movie. This was their to choice for an afternoon shoot, where the riders would be backlit, and the stream is nearby for some “splash down” shots.
Our next pick was Rauls trail, in the lush grasslands where the jutting Patagonia Mountain range majestically towers in the distance. We chose this site for the early morning and late afternoon photos.
A Filming session with Scott is precise and focused. Knowing we had to be ready for the morning sunrise, we set out on our horses at 7am on a brisk morning in the dark. The ride to to grasslands is only 20 minutes, and Scott was driven by a 4 wheeler to the site, equipment in tow. We had to wait about an hour for the lighting to really set off the glow on the grasses and on our faces. Three riders wove their way towards the camera, as Scott took about 3000 photos. That is a lot for post filming production to edit out for the perfect photo!!
That afternoon, we filmed along the railroad bed and in the stream, with Jennie and Diana loping and weaving their way as the afternoon sun streamed through the trees and sparkled in the splash of the water.
Our last shoot was at the base of the Patagonia Mountain Range. The area Scott picked was different from what I had envisioned, but I discovered soon enough why it was such a special spot. As we rode up a sparse and narrow ridgeline, with the Patagonia range behind us, there was a 10 minute window of time when the light from the setting sun illuminated an area on this ridge. Miko was on a palomino horse, and the golden light hitting on the horses golden coat created an absolutely stunning glow. As Scott said, you never know what the light will give you, just position yourself for success and it may happen. And it certainly did.
