Lompoc, Ca Horse + Rider Session | Santa Ynez Equine Photographer

Elizabeth and Wiley

The best part of being a Santa Ynez Equine Photographer is getting to document the authentic ranch lifestyle in the area. As all great friendships begin in 2018, I met Elizabeth on The Gram a few years back. We had a handful of mutual friends and one in particular introduced us via Instagram. “Hey you gals are both crazy horse girls and you should meet” type of thing. We’ve been following each other for years while maintaining a mutual respect for each other’s California Ranch lifestyles and aesthetic.

The opportunity finally arose for us to get together in the flesh and witty remarks and hilarity ensued. You know how you get nervous about meeting an “internet friend” in the real 3-dimensional world? That wasn’t the case. Witty banter and light-hearted sarcastic eyebrow wiggles happened immediately as well as a deep breath and an appreciative look around at the wonder of a beautiful California family ranch. Elizabeth and her family raise cattle, lavender and a few other agricultural products on her family’s ranch in Lompoc, Ca. Rancho San Julian has been in their family for over 175 years and is nestled in the heart of Santa Barbara county in the Santa Ynez Valley. As a Santa Ynez Equine Photographer, I was thrilled to see this historic ranch. Elizabeth spends her weekends at the Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market selling their products while educating buyers to the process of California family ranching.

Here’s where a crazy side story comes in…. About 8 years ago my husband was in Santa Barbara with his family for their annual family get together. I was arriving later that evening. He ventured to the Farmer’s Market with his sister to get a few missing items for dinner and ran into a girl he described as my doppelgänger. He said we looked alike, talked alike and had the same sense of humor and mannerisms. His sister confirmed these findings by saying, “It was creepy weird. There’s two Beth’s in the world.” Of course neither of them caught her name. Cool story guys.

Fast forward to last week when I was editing these photo’s and my husband looks over my shoulder to see what I’m working on. Low and behold, “That’s the girl!!! That’s your twin from Santa Barbara!!!!”. Funny what a small world it is sometimes. While I would LOVE to say this leggy blonde bombshell with turquoise eyes is my twin, I don’t really see it. But I DO see the sense of humor similarities and the mannerisms for SURE! Kind of crazy actually and really fun if I don’t say so myself.

I always find it so interesting when people that have never met before can get along so well in an instant. We laughed (a lot), frolicked in her family’s lavender field (which smelled the way I image Heaven does), and I learned a lot about lavender farming which was very interesting. Since the family also runs cattle, I got to meet Elizabeth’s main mount Wiley. Described by her husband as “quirky on the ground but a solid citizen under saddle”. Wiley is definitely Elizabeth’s special guy, even though the rumor was that her husband was stealing him for ranch work the next day. In family operations, that’s pretty fair.

All I know is that I’m dreaming of the next time I get to frolic in lavender fields with my new friend and her trusty steed.

If you are in the Santa Ynez area and would like to book your very own Horse+Rider Session, please visit me here and i look forward to chatting with you!