A Cowgirl Trashes Her Dress

**This photo shoot was published on www.TrashTheDress.com! Find out more here**

We were delighted when Rick & Venesa contacted us about "trashing" her wedding dress for an official "Trash the Dress" Session. You may remember Rick and Venesa's wedding pictures. They got married at Springwood Ranch in the Ellensburg area a few months ago in May. Although they currently live in the Seattle area, they wanted to do a session with their 2 Belgian Draft Horses and Venesa's horse "Cowboy" in the Swauk Praire area of Cle Elum Washington.

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress session

In case you're not familiar with the "Trash the Dress" concept, these sessions are based on "creation, not destruction"according to the official website www.trashthedress.com . While the wedding day is all about romantic, heart fluttering portraits, "Trash the Dress" sessions are all about edgy, fashion inspired images that take place in unexpected locations. Many brides are choosing to create extraordinary bridal portraits after their wedding day, instead of storing the dress in a closet, never to be worn again. And if the dress has to get muddy or wet in the process, so be it! :)

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress session

Here is "Cowboy", Venesa's horse:

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress sessionRoss James Photography - Trash the Dress session

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress sessionRoss James Photography - Trash the Dress session

And "Fred", one of their Belgian horses:

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress session

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress sessionRoss James Photography - Trash the Dress session

Rick & Venesa were awesome (as always) and we walked around an open field in search of ideas. This Swauk Prairie area was also where we did their engagement session last year [link], so we were somewhat familiar with the area.

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress session

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress sessionRoss James Photography - Trash the Dress session

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress session

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress session

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress session

I (Melissa) kind of got freaked out near the end about rattlesnakes, so I used the light stands like giant feet to ward off snakes. The guys thought I was ridiculous, but I thought it was clever and resourceful!

Ross James Photography - Trash the Dress session

Article related links:
Official Trash the Dress website

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anyone catch Venesa's shadow on the very first one by the old house?
If not, look far to the right :)

Anonymous said...

These are fantastic, Ross! I especially love the lighting and feel of numbers 3 & 4. (And yes, I saw the shadow--very cute!)

Unknown said...

These are by far my favorite trash the dress shoot pictures ever!