A Visit to James' Ranch

It was almost 5’0clock by the time Jeremy and I got to James’ Ranch in Peyton. The shadows were just starting to become long, stretching out over the landscape like fingers caressing the earth. A terrific time to grab my camera and set out to find my voice through the lens.

As I set out I am greeted by 2 horses, Grace and Garrett. I hang out with them for a bit, the light from the setting sun illuminates their backs and manes. The remaining rays of sunlight plays around them and shows the definition of their muscular bodies. I follow them through a passageway in the fence and they go back to their grazing. Only once in a while acknowledging me. They slip past some heavy brush and trees, and they are gone. The guys have come out by now to see what I’ve been up to and mention a dilapidated barn just down the road a bit. I’m in, and we all board the 4Runner.

In a few minutes we see the barn. It is severely battered and must have seen many harsh Colorado winters. It doesn’t appear to have many left, but what do I know, it could stand forever. While we’re standing in front of the barn, I decided to have some fun with the light and do some cowboy silhouettes...we were in Peyton, weren’t we? The guys kicked up some dust in the barn and the light filtered through and gave us a surreal effect. We decided to stretch our legs a bit by walking around the prairie. It’s amazing how small you start to feel when you are able to see for miles. But alas, all good things must come to an end, and it was time to head back to the ranch for dinner, prepared by James himself.

Everything was quite tasty that night, grilled corn, baked potatoes, steak and a few other things. Everyone sat around the table and enjoyed dinner and the cool air from a September night in Colorado. A great end to a perfect day...