Jess McGlothlin Travels

Updates on travels, adventures and news from Jess McGlothlin Media.

Jess McGlothlin Media

Assignment: Salmon Select Sale for The Big Sky Journal

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Close photograph of a horse's eye in a rodeo arena.

I had the chance to spend this past weekend down in Salmon, Idaho, photographing the Salmon Select Horse and Mule Sale for one of my favorite Western publications, The Big Sky Journal. 

Assignments like this one are my favorite—my two careers merge into one, which makes for a good day at work. After growing up on an equine boarding and training in northwest Montana, it’s always a strange homecoming to return to the horse world, even just for a few days.

Cowgirl on a horse at a rodeo arena during an event in Idaho.Get a little mud on the boots, dust on the lens and horse scent on the jacket and all is good with the world.

Just like this California ranch assignment last fall for the UK’s Sidetracked Magazine, it’s easy to fall back into old habits, and I’m still convinced down-home cowboys and cowgirls are some of the best people on the planet. Think I made more random new friends in one day at the sale than I have in ten months here in Missoula.

The images will be appearing in a later 2019 issue of The Big Sky Journal, so stay tuned. Thanks again to everyone who didn’t mind the “girl with the camera” running around; to all the lovely folks who made small talk and to the BSJ team for the assignment!

Here’s a tip: want to boost your photography skills? Look for the details. Wait for the right moment, then capture an image with tight framing, focused on the minute little bits of the scene. Tell a story with those details. I think you’ll find the challenge well worth the trouble.

Roping horse portrait in an Idaho rodeo arena with cowboy.

Telling the Story: Gear Junkie Nod

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It was quite a pleasant surprise to glance through the web on Friday and find this extremely kind feature from Gear Junkie. Extremely flattered to be featured in this round-up of women in the sporting world, and especially for the kind words that closed the section:

“Gender be damned, because McGlothlin isn’t simply one of the best female photographers in the outdoor industry — she’s one of the best overall.”

While I try to fly under the radar as much as possible on the personal press side—I’d rather tell the stories of other people, not my own—It was such a nice surprise. Thanks once more to everyone who supports this work… here’s to more adventures coming up!

Fully Unplugged: Swedish Lapland for the U.K.’s Fieldsports Magazine

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Jess McGlothlin Media for Fieldsports Magazine "Fully Unplugged" article and images about fly fishing for grayling and pike in Swedish Lapland.Last summer I was lucky enough to go spend some time running around Swedish Lapland with a few newfound friends. While the team from Swedish Lapland Tourism was making a short film about my photography and writing work, I was running around with cameras and an underwater housing, trying to capture the incredible light, rivers, fish and people of far northern Sweden. Whenever you are above the Arctic Circle, magic tends to happen, and this was no exception.

Underwater image on man fly fishing with grayling caught in net in Swedish Lapland.

I really enjoyed penning a feature for the U.K.’s Fieldsports Magazine about the trip, especially mine time off the grid at Geunja and Tjuonajokk, now two my favorite “reset and remember what’s important” locations. Thanks to the Swedish Lapland team, the awesome crew at Fish Your Dream and the various editors around the world who have supported this project. It’s rare on international shoots that everything goes smoothly and is even kind of relaxed, but this shoot was one of them (despite the lack of sleep—why rest when the midnight sun is the best light for making images?). And, somehow, despite the lack of sleep I’ve rarely felt better.

Must be something in the water.

Grayling fish in golden sunlight being held in the water in Swedish Lapland.

Swedish Lapland: Woman fly fishing under Arctic midnight sun with a fish on the line on river.

Into the Old West for Sidetracked Magazine

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Man on horseback herding cattle in the mountains of California.Last September, I had a chance to go back to my roots while on assignment with Visit California and the U.K.’s Sidetracked Magazine at the historic Hunewill Ranch in California. Sidetracked sent me out for several days in the saddle with the Hunewill clan, gathering up cattle from summer pasture high in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, bringing them back down to the main ranch in preparation for the cattle drive to winter pastures in Nevada. Photographs of ranch life in California at the historic Hunewill Ranch, in Sidetracked Magazine.

It was truly one of my favorite assignments to date; while
juggling camera gear on the back of a horse in the midst of riding mountains and moving cattle is more challenging than many past assignments, it was incredibly rewarding and, quite simply, just nice to be back in the saddle again.

The story has just come to life in a campaign on the Sidetracked website—titled “Into the Old West.” Give it a read and let me know what you think!

Welcome to the New Blog!

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Canvas camera bag, notebook, sunglasses and flip-flop sandals waiting in an island airport in French Polynesia.

I’ve been writing for nearly ten years on FireGirlPhotographyBlog.com, and finally it’s time to graduate to a faster, fresher and more in-depth blog. The archives on the old blog will still be alive and well—feel free to get lost in a decade of travel archives, photography tips and random dispatches from around the world—but this new site will serve as a forum for new content, updates and a new way of sharing the day-to-day routine of my work.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure you’re following along on Instagram for a behind-the-scenes look, and stay tuned on here for news, updates and plenty of tips ‘n tricks. Keep updated on my portfolio site, JessMcGlothlinMedia.com, for the latest in client projects, publications and photography / writing work.