Last April I posted a photo of an old pair of Cowboy Boots dating back to the 1880’s. Those old boots had an interesting story to tell, and it was a fun trip researching the history behind them. The boots in this photo don’t have that historic value but it was still a lot of fun getting them from a head-scratching idea into a photo that’s presentable.

The boots had been given to me many years ago, and they didn’t fit comfortably, so they spent the next forty years gathering dust in the back of my closet. I got the idea to dust off the boots and include some Cowboy gear to compliment them. The hat is my own and worn daily, a length of rope with a woven loop makes a good Lasso, the gloves were added to indicate the working nature of the American Cowboy, and finally, the spurs were loaned to me from a friend to complete the western motif.

My shop bench worked as my photo booth, with only a few changes to improve the lighting. I took multiple groups of photos (usually 5 to 7 shots per group), with different focus points to get the final picture as sharp overall as possible. The photo groups were shot as I rotated the boots, turned the hat, or lasso, or even adjusted the turkey feather until I was satisfied with the presentation of the final shot.

All together I took over 150 photos before I was satisfied with the outcome. The photo groups were focus-stacked in Affinity Photo then final retouching of colors and adding a background. I worked on this project off & on for more than two weeks ….. Whew!!!!

Jack Olson’s Images in the Wilderness

Last April I posted a photo of an old pair of Cowboy Boots dating back to the 1880’s. Those old boots had an interesting story to tell, and it was a fun trip researching the history behind them. The boots in this photo don’t have that historic value but it was still a lot of fun getting them from a head-scratching idea into a photo that’s presentable.

The boots had been given to me many years ago, and they didn’t fit comfortably, so they spent the next forty years gathering dust in the back of my closet. I got the idea to dust off the boots and include some Cowboy gear to compliment them. The hat is my own and worn daily, a length of rope with a woven loop makes a good Lasso, the gloves were added to indicate the working nature of the American Cowboy, and finally, the spurs were loaned to me from a friend to complete the western motif.

My shop bench worked as my photo booth, with only a few changes to improve the lighting. I took multiple groups of photos (usually 5 to 7 shots per group), with different focus points to get the final picture as sharp overall as possible. The photo groups were shot as I rotated the boots, turned the hat, or lasso, or even adjusted the turkey feather until I was satisfied with the presentation of the final shot.

All together I took over 150 photos before I was satisfied with the outcome. The photo groups were focus-stacked in Affinity Photo then final retouching of colors and adding a background. I worked on this project off & on for more than two weeks ….. Whew!!!!

Jack Olson’s Images in the Wilderness