John Welch and his ranch gelding hold onto a soggy steer while the branding crew does its job. I happened to be in Montana at the time, and Welch invited me to photograph him and his family working calves. I shot this shortly before a heavy downpour. We waited for the rain to stop, then resumed work. The cattle had spread out in the branding pen during the shower, which made the ground a muddy, mucky mess. Rain-soaked cow pies were spread out everywhere like land mines. Somehow, I ended up flanking calves, which was a lot of fun until the job landed me in a fresh, soggy pile. I had a flight to catch early the next morning, with no time do laundry. I’ve often wondered what airport security thought of the mysterious, funky smelling trash bag I crammed into my suitcase.
