The One Where It All Begins

It's time to laugh, learn and take your photography to the

next level with your favorite cowgirls with cameras, Cara,

Kim, and Phyllis.

Hey there, everybody. Welcome to the

cowgirls with cameras Podcast. I'm Kim Beer with Kim Beer

photography.

And I'm Cara Taylor Swift with Fast Horse

photography.

And I'm Phyllis Burchette. With Phyllis

Burchette photo.

Welcome, everyone, to the very first

episode of what we hope are many, many, many, many episodes

that we're going to bring you about photography and about the

western lifestyle and horses and all the cool things that we know

get your adrenaline pumping, and get you up and going and excited

to embrace the beauty of the life around you. So this

podcast, of course, is our very first one. And we're very

excited to talk today about our vision and what cow girls with

cameras means to us as well as give you a little introduction

to who we are, we want to start off by telling you you are in

the perfectly right place if you love horses and taking photos.

If you want to learn how to use your camera better if you want

to take your photography up to the next level. If you want to

start or improve your equine photography business, or you

want to travel to new and exciting destinations, or expand

your creativity or meet like minded people that you can

create a community with that all are passionate about those same

things. That's what we're here to do. Moving forward, our show

is going to have a nice format to it, we're going to have news

and updates topics are going to talk about gadgets and gear and

software. And every episode, we are going to attempt to bring

you a challenge that hopefully will push your skills up to the

next level, we have shows coming up on a variety of topics,

everything from technical expertise to battling creative

blues to destination locations that we're going to cover. But

the first thing we want to do this morning is get you to know

us a little bit better. And so I'll start with myself. And then

I'm going to turn it over to my co hosts here. So my name is Kim

Beer. I've been a photographer since I was about 13 years old,

I started making money as a photographer around 18. And the

majority of my business has been focused around horses, and

definitely animals, people tend to be a little bit extra in my

photos. So and I have gotten in trouble for that the horse

always looks good. But sometimes the person doesn't always look

that great because I believe them to be responsible for

themselves. So that's a little bit of my downfall there, I

bring to this group, an interesting mix of skills. In my

other life. I am a business consultant and strategist. And I

have over 30 years experience doing that and being an

entrepreneur. So I bring that particular set of skills to the

table. And then I also bring in another unique set of skills

called Gestalt, which is helping people break through the

barriers that may keep them from achieving their goals. And for

me that ties really tightly into my vision for this community.

And my why for being here is that I see people who are

incredibly talented, and who have all the technical expertise

in the world or can learn it. And yet they still don't achieve

their goals because of a limiting belief or because of

something tied to a trauma in their past that they need to

clear out and move past in order to reach that beautiful goal

that they are wanting to reach and are perfectly able to

obtain. So part of my reasoning for being here is to help people

get to their goals by eliminating all of those

barriers that stop them from being there. Alright, that's

enough about me. So let me toss the mic over to Cara, who's

going to talk about what she brings in and her exciting

adventures in photography.

Thank you, Kim and Phyllis. I'm so excited

that we finally did this. I feel like we've been talking about

doing theCowgirls with Cameras podcast for a long time. And

when we first started working together with cowgirls with

cameras, this was like an idea that was bouncing around the

back of our head. And then for folks that have followed I guess

all three of us for a little while you know that him and I

have a podcast called The Business Animal. So we realized

you can't just have one podcast. So when we started cowgirls with

cameras, and then we when I joined Kim and Phyllis with

cowgirls with cameras, we decided we had to have this new

podcast so I'm super excited to be here and I'm excited about

the fun we're gonna have this is gonna be such a light hearted

show, I think compared to some of them out there. And I love

that because that's what we're all about. So I'm with Fast

Horse photography. I've been a professional photographer with

fast horse for probably around seven years now, I'm a wife. I'm

a mom of a really cute eight year old boy, we had major drama

this morning around the planet, maybe not planet Pluto, who

knows we had major drama this morning. So I like to talk about

my family and how that it affects my photography business.

Because I know there's a lot of folks out there that are family

people as well also trying to run a business and be

photographers. I'm a lifelong horse gal. I've been with horses

my whole life on my own now and love spending time with horses.

And when I first decided I was going to shift into photography,

I thought that I needed to photograph everything. And I

learned real quick that I didn't care to photograph everything.

The only thing I ever wanted to point my camera at was a horse.

So one of the the goals that I had was to prove everyone wrong

and prove that I could have a successful business and I could

make money being a photographer that only photographed horses.

So the way that I have done that, and one of my things that

I'm really proud of is I've done that by being a full service

photographer. By being a full service photographer, I work to

provide excellent customer service. And I believe in

educating clients around their options and helping with their

selection. So I work with clients to create beautiful

finished products, things like prints, wall decor, albums,

keepsake boxes, and just anything that they can envision

doing with their images. That's what I hope to do. And I try to

make the experience a really special one for them. So one of

the things that I feel like I really bring to cowgirls with

cameras is my experience with providing that full service

experience and the sales aspect of that. So I'm excited to be

here and I can't wait to see where we go, Phyllis. It's your

turn.

Well hi guys, and thanks for having me share

this podcast with you and the new adventure we have with

cowgirls with cameras. I'm Phyllis Burchette of Phyllis

Burchette photo. Kim and Cara are pros at the podcast business

so I'm a newbie at this so kind of bear with me

you'll be just fine.

and nature photography, there's actually not much that I don't

like to photograph I have quite a diverse portfolio at this

point in my life I feel like my purpose is to help to educate

and serve others and I love sharing my passion for

photography with you my friends, my clients my fellow

photographers Hi bring to the group how to create art that

sells and how to make money selling your images as art I

hope I can help you with that I'm I have a great passion for

art and the horses art or even in my nature and wildlife

photography as well. My passive income knowledge and skills will

help you do that. Hopefully, you've heard my podcast episode

on The Business Animal with these two ladies how to step

your creativity in in camera and in post production. I'd love to

be able to help you with that I feel like that's one of my major

skills is how to increase your productivity in those areas. My

vision for the cowgirls with cameras community is the

celebration of the Western way of life by documenting it with

our cameras and experiences to create an environment of

positivity through leadership and fellowship that will be

gained by new friends and to share our passion for

photography.

That's awesome. Awesome. As you can see, we are

quite the dynamic trio. And here's the reality of the

situation, the three of us met through photography, our

friendships were formed through our mutual love of the Western

lifestyle of horses and of telling that story through our

lenses. And we each are very passionate in our own rights.

But together we have found a whole new level of being able to

bring things to you, our listeners and to the community

at large. And for us, I think I speak for all three of us when I

say this is truly a labor of love, because it's something

that we want to share because it's impacted our lives in such

dramatic ways. And with such positivity. I don't know about

Phyllis and Cara, you guys can speak up here, but I've made

some of the best friendships that I have ever had in my

entire lifetime through photography. What about you

guys?

Most definitely, yes, of course. I've

been in the horse business pretty much all my life. And a

lot of the people that I was in the horse business with have

transferred over into photography as well. So yeah, my

best friends are photographers. Obviously. You too are among

those best friends.

That's awesome. That's an honor right there.

Now I'm gonna get teary eyed.

Oh, no. I hear that a lot though. Like

it's really hard, I think as adults to find common connection

like we could when we were younger. And one of the things

that I've always enjoyed about photography and the horse

photography community in general is when I go to events where

there's other photographers, you immediately find a common

connection you find a like mindedness and you have

something to talk about and I have met some of the coolest

people and become friends with people that in any other walk of

life I maybe would have never have met and enjoyed spending

time with and it's just been the coolest thing and I think that's

what has made me so happy about cowgirls with cameras is this

community that is being built and how people are finding a

home there and they're able to really just build friendships

and grow and it's just been so great and I just love it so much

and of course each one of you guys when I first met you I was

at such a different level of photography skill and I felt

like I was meeting famous people you know in the photography

world. So I'm just so just so happy to have you guys

Well we all know Phyllis famous. You didn't think

you get to give scape a podcast without us bringing up famous

Phyllis

really hoping that we wouldn't go there.

So just so you guys know Phyllis gets

recognized on airplanes people know her name when she walks on

the airplane and I cannot be more jealous. Not one single

time in the millions of flights that I have taken. Has anyone

ever said my name if it wasn't related to Miss Beer you are in

the wrong seat?

Listen, the truth is, the truth is that she

probably just had her feet in the aisle or was blocking

traffic or taking too long get your suitcase up in the

overhead. That's the truth. That's probably what happened.

Yeah. Could you please find your seat?

Go ahead and think that girls, but I know the

truth.

Cara? Cara, cara cara? You have been at a booth

when someone walks up to the booth table, and just oh, oh,

you're Phyllis Burchette. I've been following you for years. I

just, I can't believe you're actually here in the flesh. And

I get to meet you.

I don't know how many times I got to have my

picture taken with my art and a new client.

I have to say, I have to say we're in good

company. We are in good company.

Yes. So we are all in good company.

Yeah. And every time we have an event or

we go to an event or we're at a vendor show where we're you

know, meeting people, we're always in good company, like I

have very rarely met someone that I wouldn't want to shoot

beside again. So it's pretty cool.

We're very blessed to have a great group of

ladies following us too.

Yes, we are. We are very blessed for that. But I

also want to talk to those of you out there that are going

this is not my experience of the photography world, right?

Because I will be honest, when I first started shooting, and I

first started shooting professionally, I didn't come to

this with a formal education in photography, my degrees are in

history and English, they don't do a lot to help you use a

camera, I had a vision that I wanted to create on an image.

And I knew what I wanted that to look like. But I didn't have any

idea how to use my camera. I didn't know anything really yet

about software, I am going to date myself horribly and say I

used the very first version of Photoshop that came out. So I

don't know what version we're on. But it was a long time ago.

But when I first got started in photography, I had questions, I

remember getting a job where I was going to be able to shoot in

an arena and I wanted to use strobe lights. And I reached out

to several photographers, and I could not get anyone to answer

my questions. Basically, they were like, you know, hey, we had

to learn it, you go, you go learn it and earn it too. And

what I want to relay to those of you who've had that kind of

experience or who've been at a workshop and not felt like they

belonged. That's not what we're creating here. What we're

creating is an environment where I don't care what level you're

at, I don't care if you just unpacked your camera, the

morning of the workshop, we're going to help you be able to

understand how to use that camera and get to be the best

that you want to be in what you're doing. And there's no

judgment here. There's no backstabby talking behind your

back or withholding of knowledge. And I hope this

podcast is a place where you can come dip your toe in the pool of

knowledge that we offer and when we have guests on that they

offer, because I want you to feel comfortable with that. If

your experience is not what we just talked about, about the

friendships and the joy and the happiness and the sharing, you

found a place where that actually is the theme. And it's

our most important held value in this to make sure that that you

feel welcome and have a safe place to learn and explore. And,

you know, heck, if your exploration didn't land in the

place you wanted to no one's going to tell you that you

shouldn't try again.

When I was first starting as a

photographer, I remember the most challenging part was just

trying to figure things out. And even if you've taken photography

classes, there's not there's no one that's going to sit you down

and say okay, here's how to figure out what you need to be

charging or what you need to get this job done and what kind of

materials you should be educating your clients about and

what kind of products you should be offering. Like, that's

something that you kind of get thrown into the deep end on. And

it can be really scary and extremely costly. When you order

and buy stuff that isn't appropriate for you or you

attend events that aren't, you're not ready for yet, and

you don't get anything out of them. And I think that's one of

the things that I hated so much. And I was so terrified to ask

questions and why this project is so important to me, because I

don't want other photographers to feel like I felt when I first

got started.

And to be able to support and encourage others.

I think that's a big thing and to lift you up when you're

feeling down. And we all have all of us even now at this point

in our careers, we all feel like some days we'll leave a shoot or

I know I do at least and I think we've all talked about this, how

we'll leave a shoot and go, Oh my gosh, I can't believe people

pay me to do this. First off, I'm amazed that people pay me to

do this, because it's so awesome. And then the other part

of me is like, oh my gosh, I can't believe somebody paid me

to do this. And I feel like I don't have a picture that's

worth giving them until I get home. And then I go oh, okay,

there's a good one. Oh, okay, there's another good one. So we

all do the same thing.

We're always learning, we're always growing.

And sometimes we need people in our corners to say, You know

what, you got this, or you know what, you didn't do a great job

on that project. But let me give you the tool that you need to

move forward. I mean, we all need that sometimes

We absolutely do. And we all need to break through

those barriers that keep us from reaching our potential. And

that's another thing we're here to support you with. I'm not

sure of any other photography community that's going to focus

as heavily on helping you with the personal growth that comes

along with expanding your art. Because when you expand your art

and your vision, you also expand yourself. And that process

sometimes takes a little bit of support, and it can take a

little time. And that's again, we're here for that. So I want

to talk a little bit ladies about what we envision this to

look like. I think one of the biggest things that we're

excited about, because we know what's going to happen at them

is the events that we are planning to hold our workshops,

we are looking at holding a little bit different format than

a typical photography, workshop or retreat, we want these to be

full on experiences for you where you are immersed in

photography, knowledge at the track level that you are needing

at the time, whether you're a beginner or an intermediate or

an advanced photographer, and also immersed in the lifestyle

that you are capturing because that is the bottom line to what

we all do. As photographers we tell stories through our images

and to understand that lifestyle and to really feel like you're a

part of it is a key aspect to that. So we have some great

events coming up. Cara, why don't you talk about our

cottonwood event that is going to be coming up in August. We're

all thrilled about that,

Oh, gosh, this is going to be such a cool

event. It's a brand new location. We are just thrilled.

We've already got people registering for it. But we do

have some spaces left. I think we're gonna have 10 shoots

during that week. Is that right, Phyllis?

Yes.

So we've got 10 shoots set up that week. But

one of the coolest parts about it is that we will have

education available in the middle of the day for all levels

of photographer and our hope is that you will grow whatever

level that you're at, you will grow in that experience and you

will grow at that level. So we have a lot planned for that

week. Phyllis, can you talk a little bit about the location.

It's a guest ranch, but it's also a working

cattle ranch and they have a large cavvy of guest horses. So

I think they run about 75/80 head of horses that we'll be

able to photograph as a group. And they also are going to have

pack mules, I guess that they'll be taking out for hunting at

that time. So we'll be able to photograph the pack meals, which

I'm really excited about and get to learn a little bit more about

packing horses or packing mules. So I'm just really excited

because we've never been to the location. But the landscape is

stunning. The scenery is stunning. It's just the people

the family, it's a I think a five generation ranch and they

got kids that rope and it's just going to be a great, great time.

So it's a beautiful Lodge. And we all be staying in the lodge

together. So we'll have that community even more so where we

can have fellowship and friendship, right there all

together and eat together and got a classroom and I'm just I'm

super excited. I think Well, I think we all are

it can't come soon enough. Yeah,

we all are. Yes. Yeah. By the way, Cottonwood is

in wells, Nevada. We all forgot to mention where we're going.

Because frankly, we wouldn't care where it was that list of

things that we just talked about and reason we're headed there.

And of course we'll find our way there. So we're going to be

having some other events over the year there. Some things that

Phyllis and I do together and that Cara and Phyllis do

together. And we've all kind of mixed and matched doing some

events in partnership with each other. And Phyllis and Cara, you

guys do a great event in January called Horses on the Beach,

which I am going to this January because I am, frankly jelly

every single time I see the photos that come out of that, so

I can't stand it.

Don't bring any of that nasty Missouri

weather with you.

Trust me, I'm gonna leave it here in January

or February whenever you guys are doing that. I know the cool

thing is is Cara has to time that tide schedule correctly.

And I'm glad she's doing that and not me because I would

probably screw that up. So tell us about horses on the beach.

Well, Kim, it's a real thinker. It's a real

thinker that tide schedule. So I love this event. Phyllis, we've

been doing this are we on our fifth year now?

This was our fifth year.

This might have been our fifth year horses

on the beach. Yep. So we do. We've been hosting this event.

It's a fun weekend event that we do where we photograph horses at

sunrise and sunset over on the east coast here in St.

Augustine, Florida. We usually have one offsite location as

well. We've done everything from full fantasy to fully styled to

just if you can picture just the beautiful silhouettes at

sunrise. We have horses jumping on the beach, we've had a little

bit of everything. This event fills up really quickly. As a

matter of fact, I think it's full for next year. We're

it's something that folks are interested in, they can reach

out to us. We've got a cool one day gypsy vanner event that

we're doing here in Florida in a couple of months. And then for

those of you I know Kim, you guys have your Kim and Phyllis

you guys have your Art of the Cowgirl event that you attend

that I got to hang out at last year.

The Art of the Cowgirl is a great event and

Phyllis and I lead a workshop there Phyllis Why don't you tell

him a little bit about what we do at that workshop because it's

an interesting thing and this year you got to shoot with a lot

of the people more than I did

Art of the Cowgirl is a huge event. It's a

celebration of the Western way of life and promoting women in

the western industry. So they have a big event every January

in Arizona was this year it was at the Horseshoe Equestrian

Center in Queen Creek Arizona and Kim and I we basically have

a photography clinic where our photographers the participants

and us are part of the photography staff that helps to

supply images to the Art of the Cowgirl for their social media

for their website for marketing. And it's just a really,

absolutely fantastic event where women are supporting women. It's

ranch rodeo the world's greatest horse woman. They have breakaway

roping, they have working cow horse, they have so many

demonstrations and presentations going on. Artists Oh my gosh.

It's just it's so packed full of events and things going on.

They've got braiding Rawhide clinics, they've got chap

making, chink change making clinics, they've got boot making

clinics, they Oh and the working the working dogs to the stock

dog, they have a clinic for stock dogs and they have stock

dog trials they have. There's so much they have going on there

and were there to to photograph and document that and help our

participants to learn more about the art of photography and the

business of photography and to guide them in every way possible

that we can. And then we have a booth as well. We were so

blessed to have Cara and another great helper Marci from North

Dakota, which was a participant with us last year at the same

event in Bozeman. She came and helped with the booth and we get

to sell our art and have a little meeting place for

ourselves as a gathering place. So we're very blessed and

thankful to Tammy Pate for having us do that every year.

And we're going to be doing another clinic in big timber

this August. We don't have all the details on that one yet, but

we will be doing another event there.

I didn't realize that that's gonna be

really fun. And then don't forget about the Dryhead Ranch.

Did you want to talk about that a little bit?

The Dryhead is a blast. The fun thing about where

we go is we make friends with people who live on these

ranches. And we get involved in their lives. Kristin Grant who

got us into the dry head we met her at another event. So it's

just a big train of fun when you hang out with us. Once you get

on you can just kind of ride until you till you want to get

off. So we met Kristin and she said I have this great ranch and

we do guest ranch where people come in. And I love this thought

if you live in the western lifestyle of the fact that you

go to their ranch and you pay them and then they let you help

them work cattle. Oh, we wished it here in Missouri that we had

a depth of a destination location that people would pay

us to come and work our cattle with us. But at any rate, it's a

wonderful location and the family is just awesome. So

they've got a great little number of children and there's

Jesse and Jake who entertain us and mom Who takes care of us,

and there's great food and wonderful photography, they are

located in the Prior Mountains. So you get beautiful prior

mountain vistas behind your images. And nothing is more

entertaining than Jake and Jesse, Jesse is the cowgirl that

I would want to be when I grow up. So she's pretty awesome. And

Kristin is amazing. And she just had a little baby. So we're

excited because we're going to have baby photos this summer

when we head out there. So it is it's a beautiful place. And it's

full of friendship and laughter and a lot of really good times.

So we also have some other events that we're working on in

the background to bring to people that are going to be

focused on on again, on learning. And also Cara, I have

a little vision and Phyllis has joined in on this as well, where

we want to bring a retreat for photographers where you can get

some relaxation and maybe a little pampering like spa time.

And then just some really deep self care, because that's

something that we have a very physical passionate, either

hobby or profession, depending on what level you're at. And

sometimes a little self care would go a long way. So we're

looking at some locations for that. But we're all very excited

about this part.

Don't forget, we're headed to Animal Image

Makers in April as well.

Oh, yes, we are, we are headed to animal image

makers to go hang out with other animal photographers.

And we will have a booth there, we will have

a booth there. And we also are working on a

t-shirt line for photographers, which has been a really

entertaining project that we are deeply enjoying. And we're going

to have some of the T-shirts at the AIM booth there and super

excited about that. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that

Phyllis also does an international workshop in

Iceland every year. And we are going to do a future episode of

this podcast focusing on international photography and

that particular event. So we'll have a lot of talking about

Iceland and Phyllis's adventures there. I do want to mention a

couple of other things that we do have planned that are outside

of the workshop experience, because we know not everybody

can attend a workshop and still wants to be part of this

community. We're working on a membership community where

you'll be able to join and get access to each other and

dialogues and online learning and stuff like that, we're still

working on what exactly that's going to look like if I had my

druthers, we'd launch it halfway. But Cara is a really

good individual about reining my crazy butt in on occasion and

she is got me focused on making it the best it could absolutely

be for all of us. And so we're going to roll that out. We don't

know exactly what it's going to look like at this moment. But

it's gonna be fantastic. When we do get it ready for everyone.

Right now we do have mentorships to where you could work with one

or all of us in in that capacity if you're interested in it. And

we're going to have a lot of community building and online

learning opportunities coming up that you can participate in

without necessarily coming to an event. The final thing I do want

to mention here is we have a line of artwork that is designed

to be displayed in a barn. So it's made on a substrate that

allows it to be weather friendly and also cleanable and and be

able to hang it without being under glass which makes it

perfect to go in people's barns and we have all contributed are

in the process of contributing pieces to go into a collection

that consumers can buy for this particular project. It's called

it's for the barn and we're excited about seeing where that

project goes we don't have it completely outlined for the

future yet but we are working on it Have I forgotten anything in

that list of stuff that we're up to?

I don't think so. Why don't we move on to the

weekly challenge?

Absolutely. So every episode that we put out

Cara just booked us into weekly our goal to start off oh sorry.

She's convinced we need to do let's not do weekly weekly.

Phyllis is a little bit afraid anyway. So it the podcast will

come twice a month.

the podcast is going to come out twice a month

I'm a little afraid of weekly too.

and every episode that we bring to you we want to bring you a

I just want to thank everyone for being here

challenge because part of this is again to build community and

to get you to explore your strengths and to explore your

photography. So this particular challenge for this episode to

and joining us on the very first episode of Cowgirls with

kick off this series is going to be looking at things from a

different perspective. Just like we have as photographers as

people who have led workshops and done photography education.

We have decided to step into a different place and look at that

from a different angle. As photographers, we all know that

stepping over one step to the right one step to the left

getting on something squatting down, it changes the view of

what you're shooting, and it tells a whole different story.

And sometimes that story is something that someone else

might not have seen. So your challenge for this particular

episode is to take photos from a different perspective, if you

would like to share those photos, which we would love for

you to do, by the way, and we will give you some love on our

social media. If you would do that. If you want to share them,

share them on Instagram with the hashtag, #CWCphotochallenge. So

that's #CWCphotochallenge for cowgirls with cameras photo

Cameras. We hope you understand this is just a kind of an

challenge, and please use that hashtag. And we'll be watching

for those images just from a new perspective. Is your prompt for

this week. Is there anything else you ladies would like to

introduction for us. We've got a lot of great things planned and

add? Before we close this up?

we hope that you join us you can also join in on the fun online

we are on Instagram and Facebook at cowgirls with cameras and our

website is cowgirlswithcameras.com if you

want to see some of the upcoming events, we have just click that

Events tab and you'll get some great information right there.

Don't forget we are currently booking for Cottonwood ranch

experience right now. I think we have a few spaces left. So if

you are interested in that, go ahead and hop on and get

yourself pre registered and then we'll get you rolling through

that process.

Or if you have any questions regarding the

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until next time.

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