Cowgirls with Cameras Photographer’s
mastery virtual day clinics
Expand your skills and elevate your craft
Mastery Clinic Schedule
December 12, 2026
Phyllis Burchett, Kimberly Beer, & Betsy Bird
January 23, 2027
Tracy Allard, TBA, & Kimberly Beer/Phyllis Burchett copresenting
March 6, 2027
Amy Peterson, Megan Wimberley, & Cara Taylor Swift
May 8, 2027
Kate Byars, Terri Cage, & Phyllis Burchett
Clinic Hours are 9:30 am – 4 pm Eastern
Cowgirls with Cameras Photographer’s Mastery Clinics are live, one-day virtual learning experiences created for equine and western photographers ready to expand their knowledge, toolkit, and creativity.
- Dive deep into specialized topics with focused 2½-hour sessions instead of surface-level instruction.
- Learn directly from respected photographers and industry experts who bring real-world experience to the classroom.
- Explore new creative techniques that can expand both how you shoot and how you see.
- Discover new opportunities, from competition and editorial work to stock, licensing, new markets, and income streams.
- Strengthen your photography with practical education you can actually put to work.
- Ask questions live and learn from the questions and experiences of other photographers in the room.
- Keep learning after clinic day with one full year of access to the recordings inside the Cowgirls with Cameras Community.
- Instructor access post clinic for two weeks in our Cowgirls with Cameras Community Forum.
Every Mastery Clinic includes two 2½-hour deep dives plus a practical one-hour Lunch & Learn, bringing you a full day of education without the travel, lodging, and expense of an in-person event.
Tuition per event: $180 public | CWC Founding Herd Members: $95
Season Pass to all four events: $630 (save $90) public or $335 for CWC members
Discount codes for CWC Founding Herd Members are in the Community Gathering Space
Mastery isn’t about knowing everything.
It’s about continuing to discover what’s possible.
Clinic 1: December 12, 2026
9:30 am to 4 pm | 30 minute lunch break from 12-12:30 | All times Eastern
Put Your Work to the Test: Photography Competition for Confidence, Growth, Recognition & Opportunity with betsy bird
Photography competition can be about so much more than ribbons and recognition. Discover how putting your work in front of professional judges can challenge you creatively, sharpen your skills, build confidence, and help you see your own photography with fresh eyes. Whether you’ve never entered a competition or you’re ready to approach competing more intentionally, this session will explore how competition can become a powerful tool for growth, opportunity, and taking your work to the next level.
About Betsy:
As the owner of Ride the Sky Equine Photography, Betsy spends her days doing unhinged things to make animals look at her (clearly, she’s desperate for attention). Through Unbridled Business, she mentors photographers on building profitable, sustainable businesses without the chaos, helping them get organized, get strategic, and stop guessing.
Her award-winning equine and pet portraits appear in homes and stables across the United States, and she’s a frequent guest voice on photography and business podcasts. She is the co-author of Equine & Equestrian Photography Poses that Sell, and she and co-author Cara Taylor Swift are already knee-deep in their second book.
Betsy holds the Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman degrees from Professional Photographers of America, is a Certified Professional Photographer, and holds her Tennessee Photographic Master and Service degrees from TNPPA. When she’s not helping photographers tighten their workflows or photographing opinionated chestnut mares, Betsy is juggling young adult drama and attempting to convince her Chief Barketing Officer & VP of Sock Acquisition & Retention, Derby, that chewing cords is not a transferable job skill.
Is Your Website Ready for 2027? A practical guide for photographers
with Kimberly Beer
Make sure your website is doing its most important jobs: helping the right people find you, quickly understand who you are and what you offer, and know exactly what to do next.
High-Key & Low-Key Photography: From Start to Finish
with Phyllis Burchett
Follow Phyllis from capture through final edit as she shares how she creates striking high-key and low-key images, including the creative decisions that bring each distinctive look to life.
Clinic 2: January 23, 2027
9:30 am to 4 pm | 30 minute lunch break from 12-12:30 | All times Eastern
Tracy is a Master of Photography, Photographic Craftsman, and Certified Professional Photographer, holding the M.Photog., Cr.Photog., and CPP degrees from the Professional Photographers of America (PPA).
Beyond the Horse: Expanding Equine Sessions into Pet & Livestock Portraits with tracy allard
Your equine clients’ stories rarely end with their horses. Their homes, barns, and farms may also include dogs, cats, beloved ponies, rabbits, goats, sheep, show livestock, and other animals that are part of the family.
In this class, Tracy Allard will show equine photographers how to expand your existing business by incorporating pets and livestock into equestrian sessions, and by creating stand-alone portrait opportunities for the other animals your clients love. Drawing on her experience as a professional pet photographer and former professional dog trainer, Tracy will cover animal behavior, session planning, safe handling, posing, lighting, client communication, and workflow across a variety of species.
She’ll also explore practical ways to package, price, market, and sell these sessions to existing equine clients, 4-H and FFA families, farms, ranches, breeders, and other animal-centered communities. Attendees will leave with a framework for expanding beyond the horse while remaining firmly within the animal-portrait niche you already know and love.
Tracy Allard is the owner of Penny Whistle Photography, a Dallas–Fort Worth portrait studio she founded after retiring from an international sales career. A professional photographer since 2015, Tracy specializes in capturing the bond between people and the pets they love. She is a PPA-credentialed photographer recognized for excellence in photographic artistry, education, and service to the profession. A retired professional dog trainer, longtime rescue volunteer, foster parent, and lifelong animal lover, Tracy combines extensive animal-handling knowledge with more than a decade of experience building a successful, diversified photography business that also includes family, high school senior, and equine/equestrian portraits along with corporate headshots and commercial photography services.
Stock Photography Know How
with TBA
We are currently working with a speaker on this topic!
Horsemanship for Equine Photographers: Build Your knowledge for Better Images
with Phyllis Burchett & Kimberly Beer
Learn about western horse terminology, tack, breeds, disiplines, and what you, as the photographer, need to know about horses and how to make them look their best in images.
Clinic 3: March 6, 2027
9:30 am to 4 pm | 30 minute lunch break from 12-12:30 | All times Eastern
See It Before You Shoot It: Finding Your Vision in Western Photography with amy peterson
Great images often begin long before you ever pick up your camera. In this interactive class, Amy Peterson will explore how to find inspiration, visualize an idea, and turn that vision into intentional Western imagery. Through creative exercises, real-world examples, and group participation, you’ll learn ways to push through creative blocks, look beyond the obvious, and develop an idea into a single image or an entire series.
We’ll explore how light, location, perspective, lens choice, storytelling details, emotion, and anticipation can help bring what you see in your mind to life through your camera. Whether you’re photographing horses, ranch life, cowboys and cowgirls, or the Western landscape, you’ll leave with practical tools to refresh your creativity and start seeing possibilities everywhere.
About Amy:
Amy Peterson is an award-winning photographer and owner of Selkirk Ridge Photography in Sandpoint, Idaho. Growing up in the mountains of North Idaho, Amy’s lifelong connection to horses, the outdoors, and the Western way of life has shaped the stories she tells through her camera.
Her work focuses on Western lifestyle, ranch heritage, horses, wildlife, and authentic moments that celebrate the people and places of the West. Amy holds the Professional Photographers of America Master Photographer and Photographic Craftsman degrees and is a Certified Professional Photographer. She is passionate about helping other photographers grow creatively, see beyond the obvious, and create images with intention and story.
Understanding How to Navigate the Fine Art World
with Megan Wimberley
Learn what you need to know to pursue juried shows, museum exhibitions, galleries, awards with the founder of Cowgirl Artists of America. You’ll learn how to find opportunities and what jurors/organizations are looking for in your art work.
Developing Your Signature Portrait Flow
with Cara Taylor Swift
Learn how to create a repeatable session flow that is creative enough to keep you consistent while not sacrificing uniqueness and creativity. You’ll learn about positioning, connection, hands, heads, bodies, safety, and flattering angles as well as transitioning between posed and natural interaction.
About Megan:
From the moment Megan Wimberley could cling to a saddle horn, legs barely long enough to sit a horse, she was in love. Her fascination with the animals of the American West has dominated much of her life- a preoccupation with drawing and learning about these animals following her wherever she went. Through her work, Wimberley contemplates our connection to, and partnerships with, the animals around us.
Wimberley also brings her experience in the western/ranch lifestyle to her art, exhibiting the hard work of ranchers and bringing awareness to the work women do in these spaces. She is the founder of Cowgirl Artists of America, which strives to increase opportunities and recognition for female Western artists and makers.
Wimberley received a BA in Fine arts from Wayland Baptist University and an MA in Art Education from Boston University. She currently resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Clinic 3: March 6, 2027
9:30 am to 4 pm | 30 minute lunch break from 12-12:30 | All times Eastern
See It Before You Shoot It: Finding Your Vision in Western Photography with amy peterson
Great images often begin long before you ever pick up your camera. In this interactive class, Amy Peterson will explore how to find inspiration, visualize an idea, and turn that vision into intentional Western imagery. Through creative exercises, real-world examples, and group participation, you’ll learn ways to push through creative blocks, look beyond the obvious, and develop an idea into a single image or an entire series.
We’ll explore how light, location, perspective, lens choice, storytelling details, emotion, and anticipation can help bring what you see in your mind to life through your camera. Whether you’re photographing horses, ranch life, cowboys and cowgirls, or the Western landscape, you’ll leave with practical tools to refresh your creativity and start seeing possibilities everywhere.
About Amy:
Amy Peterson is an award-winning photographer and owner of Selkirk Ridge Photography in Sandpoint, Idaho. Growing up in the mountains of North Idaho, Amy’s lifelong connection to horses, the outdoors, and the Western way of life has shaped the stories she tells through her camera.
Her work focuses on Western lifestyle, ranch heritage, horses, wildlife, and authentic moments that celebrate the people and places of the West. Amy holds the Professional Photographers of America Master Photographer and Photographic Craftsman degrees and is a Certified Professional Photographer. She is passionate about helping other photographers grow creatively, see beyond the obvious, and create images with intention and story.
Understanding How to Navigate the Fine Art World
with Megan Wimberley
Learn what you need to know to pursue juried shows, museum exhibitions, galleries, awards with the founder of Cowgirl Artists of America. You’ll learn how to find opportunities and what jurors/organizations are looking for in your art work.
About Megan:
From the moment Megan Wimberley could cling to a saddle horn, legs barely long enough to sit a horse, she was in love. Her fascination with the animals of the American West has dominated much of her life- a preoccupation with drawing and learning about these animals following her wherever she went. Through her work, Wimberley contemplates our connection to, and partnerships with, the animals around us.
Wimberley also brings her experience in the western/ranch lifestyle to her art, exhibiting the hard work of ranchers and bringing awareness to the work women do in these spaces. She is the founder of Cowgirl Artists of America, which strives to increase opportunities and recognition for female Western artists and makers.
Wimberley received a BA in Fine arts from Wayland Baptist University and an MA in Art Education from Boston University. She currently resides in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Developing Your Signature Portrait Flow
with Cara Taylor Swift
Learn how to create a repeatable session flow that is creative enough to keep you consistent while not sacrificing uniqueness and creativity. You’ll learn about positioning, connection, hands, heads, bodies, safety, and flattering angles as well as transitioning between posed and natural interaction.
Clinic 4: may 8, 2027
9:30 am to 4 pm | 30 minute lunch break from 12-12:30 | All times Eastern
Creating the Visual Story: Editorial Photography that Supports the Story with kate byars
Great photos might get you noticed. Knowing how to tell a story—and deliver what an editor needs—gets you hired.
Editorial photography requires a different mindset than a portrait session: it’s supporting the story narrative, providing the visual to the written word. In this presentation, longtime freelancer and former Western magazine editor Kate Bradley Byars will share her knowledge on how to photograph for the writer’s story by creating a visual narrative, how both you and the writer can work together to build an effective shot list, capture supporting details, and collaborate to produce a stronger finished piece.
Kate will also pull back the curtain on what editors and publishers expect—from captions and metadata to hitting deadlines, quality communication, and image delivery. You’ll leave with practical tools to become not just a better editorial photographer, but a more hirable one.
About Kate:
I began my publishing career in 2010 as an assistant editor with Western Horseman after working in the communications department of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. I became a full-time freelancer in 2014, and in 2017 co-founded The Freelance Remuda educational resource for fellow equine media freelancers.
Over the years, my writing and photographs have been published in the American Quarter Horse Journal, Western Horseman, Quarter Horse News, Barrel Horse News, Paint Horse Journal, Chrome, Horse Illustrated, Horse & Rider, Young Rider, Western Life Today, The Appaloosa Journal, The Reiner, NCHA’s The Chatter, Reined Cow Horse News, and others. In addition, my photographs have also appeared in America’s Horse and Barrel Horse News’ Stallion Register, with images used in advertising for K Bar J Leather, Kimes Ranch, Platinum Performance, Succeed, Troxel Helmets, and Anderson Bean Boot Company, Rios of Mercedes Boot Company and Olathe Boot Company.
After serving as the communications manager for National Reined Cow Horse Association and as managing editor of the NRCHA’s Reined Cow Horse News from 2018 to 2022, I stepped back into a full-time freelance role. Now, my focus is on managing Kate B Creative, my writing, photography and media branding company that handles a half-dozen social media accounts, including Bud Lyon Performance Horses, Joey Jemison Custom Leather and Stock Horse of Texas accounts. In 2025, my husband and I created Stalk + Still Ventures, a joint wildlife media and hunt sales company, expanding my portfolio to include Whitetail and exotic animal photography and videography, plus ranch marketing.
I’m a fighting Texas Aggie, a longtime horse girl that finally captured a World Champion title in the Stock Horse of Texas Non Pro Boxing division, and a dog mom to two Labradors. You can find examples of my work at katebradleybyars.com and at stalkandstill.com.
Working with seniors & their Horses
an interview with Terri Cage
A conversational look at the senior portrait market from the photographer’s perspective. We will talk about all the important details — working with teens (and their parents!), creating an experience, session planning, sales opportunities, and how to navigate whether or not to do ALL the senior photos for a client or just the horse photos. Terri will also share some basics on her senior rep program to attract more seniors into your business.
Diversifying Your Photography Income
with Phyllis Burchett
Building a solid photography income over multiple revenue sources is a great way to recession proof your photography buisness. We will explore print and product photography; licensing; reference; editorial; education; fine art; and shooting for passive income range.
Terri Cage is based in the small town of Ponder in North Texas, very close to the heart of horse country. Being a lifelong horse lover and owner, Terri started her photography emphasis with horses and people with their horses. Terri added senior portraits to her collections after several customers asked if she would photograph their senior portraits with their horse. Terri enjoyed photographing seniors and a new niche within her photography business was started. As a mother of four grown children, she understands how important senior portraits are to many graduating students.
Terri has a degree in fashion and design, which helps in choosing the best fashion and colors that complement each model. Her knowledge of horses helps in understanding the best angles and the correct timing to make a horse look its best. Equine photography takes a great deal of patience, which is something she has plenty of.
She has spent countless hours studying the behavior, movement, and conformation of horses. She takes pride in making you and your horse look your best. Terri is available for a wide variety of photo sessions, from large farm shoots to more personal sessions showing the horse and human bond. If you are in the need of equine stock images, Terri has a large collection and variety to fit your needs.
Other than horses and photography, Terri is an avid hiker and takes several hiking trips each year with her sister or husband. Rocky Mountain National Park is a favorite, but she loves any mountain terrain.
Clinic 4: may 8, 2027
9:30 am to 4 pm | 30 minute lunch break from 12-12:30 | All times Eastern
Creating the Visual Story: Editorial Photography that Supports the Story with kate byars
Great photos might get you noticed. Knowing how to tell a story—and deliver what an editor needs—gets you hired.
Editorial photography requires a different mindset than a portrait session: it’s supporting the story narrative, providing the visual to the written word. In this presentation, longtime freelancer and former Western magazine editor Kate Bradley Byars will share her knowledge on how to photograph for the writer’s story by creating a visual narrative, how both you and the writer can work together to build an effective shot list, capture supporting details, and collaborate to produce a stronger finished piece.
Kate will also pull back the curtain on what editors and publishers expect—from captions and metadata to hitting deadlines, quality communication, and image delivery. You’ll leave with practical tools to become not just a better editorial photographer, but a more hirable one.
About Kate:
I began my publishing career in 2010 as an assistant editor with Western Horseman after working in the communications department of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. I became a full-time freelancer in 2014, and in 2017 co-founded The Freelance Remuda educational resource for fellow equine media freelancers.
Over the years, my writing and photographs have been published in the American Quarter Horse Journal, Western Horseman, Quarter Horse News, Barrel Horse News, Paint Horse Journal, Chrome, Horse Illustrated, Horse & Rider, Young Rider, Western Life Today, The Appaloosa Journal, The Reiner, NCHA’s The Chatter, Reined Cow Horse News, and others. In addition, my photographs have also appeared in America’s Horse and Barrel Horse News’ Stallion Register, with images used in advertising for K Bar J Leather, Kimes Ranch, Platinum Performance, Succeed, Troxel Helmets, and Anderson Bean Boot Company, Rios of Mercedes Boot Company and Olathe Boot Company.
After serving as the communications manager for National Reined Cow Horse Association and as managing editor of the NRCHA’s Reined Cow Horse News from 2018 to 2022, I stepped back into a full-time freelance role. Now, my focus is on managing Kate B Creative, my writing, photography and media branding company that handles a half-dozen social media accounts, including Bud Lyon Performance Horses, Joey Jemison Custom Leather and Stock Horse of Texas accounts. In 2025, my husband and I created Stalk + Still Ventures, a joint wildlife media and hunt sales company, expanding my portfolio to include Whitetail and exotic animal photography and videography, plus ranch marketing.
I’m a fighting Texas Aggie, a longtime horse girl that finally captured a World Champion title in the Stock Horse of Texas Non Pro Boxing division, and a dog mom to two Labradors. You can find examples of my work at katebradleybyars.com and at stalkandstill.com.
Working with seniors & their Horses
an interview with Terri Cage
A conversational look at the senior portrait market from the photographer’s perspective. We will talk about all the important details — working with teens (and their parents!), creating an experience, session planning, sales opportunities, and how to navigate whether or not to do ALL the senior photos for a client or just the horse photos. Terri will also share some basics on her senior rep program to attract more seniors into your business.
Terri Cage is based in the small town of Ponder in North Texas, very close to the heart of horse country. Being a lifelong horse lover and owner, Terri started her photography emphasis with horses and people with their horses. Terri added senior portraits to her collections after several customers asked if she would photograph their senior portraits with their horse. Terri enjoyed photographing seniors and a new niche within her photography business was started. As a mother of four grown children, she understands how important senior portraits are to many graduating students.
Terri has a degree in fashion and design, which helps in choosing the best fashion and colors that complement each model. Her knowledge of horses helps in understanding the best angles and the correct timing to make a horse look its best. Equine photography takes a great deal of patience, which is something she has plenty of.
She has spent countless hours studying the behavior, movement, and conformation of horses. She takes pride in making you and your horse look your best. Terri is available for a wide variety of photo sessions, from large farm shoots to more personal sessions showing the horse and human bond. If you are in the need of equine stock images, Terri has a large collection and variety to fit your needs.
Other than horses and photography, Terri is an avid hiker and takes several hiking trips each year with her sister or husband. Rocky Mountain National Park is a favorite, but she loves any mountain terrain.
Diversifying Your Photography Income
with Phyllis Burchett
Building a solid photography income over multiple revenue sources is a great way to recession proof your photography buisness. We will explore print and product photography; licensing; reference; editorial; education; fine art; and shooting for passive income range.