Photographing the 6666 Ranch in Texas

Inside the 6666 Ranch: Photographing a Legendary Texas Cattle Operation

There are few names in ranching that carry the weight of the 6666 Ranch.

Known simply as the Four Sixes, this West Texas operation has been shaping the culture of working cowboys for more than a century. I’ve had the privilege of photographing on the ranch twice — documenting the daily rhythm of cattle work, horsemanship, and the kind of labor that rarely makes headlines but defines the American West.

My first visit to the ranch was early on in the project, making this my first shoot on a Big Outfit. It was branding season, so the wagon was there and all the guys were camped out in teepees. Breakfast is at 4:45am, they said. To be sure they knew I wasn’t there to play around, I planned on being the first one in the breakfast tent at 4:15. So that morning I sauntered over in the dark and walked into the tent at 4:15 only to find every chair already filled!

Long before television crews arrived, this place had its own gravity.

The History of the 6666 Ranch (Four Sixes)

Founded in 1870 by Captain Samuel “Burk” Burnett, the 6666 Ranch grew into one of the most respected cattle and Quarter Horse operations in the country. Located in West Texas, the ranch spans hundreds of thousands of acres and remains a benchmark for breeding, land stewardship, and cowboy tradition.

Unlike many ranches that faded into nostalgia, the Four Sixes never stopped being a working operation. The cowboys here aren’t reenacting history — they’re continuing it.

The 6666 Ranch and Yellowstone

In recent years, the 6666 Ranch entered a broader public conversation through Yellowstone, created by Taylor Sheridan. America and beyond became obsessed with the Dutton Family and Rip Wheeler, but more importantly, the show shined a light on Western culture and made the masses care again. The ranch itself was later purchased by Sheridan, further tying fiction to a very real piece of Western heritage.

Some of my cowboy photography prints have appeared on the set of Yellowstone — a quiet crossover between documentary work and contemporary Western storytelling.

But what makes the 6666 important isn’t television. The show amplified awareness of a ranch that earned its reputation before the tv was even invented.

The Real Work Behind the Legend

The scale of the 6666 is difficult to understand until you’re standing in it. Wind across open pasture. Horses saddled before daylight. The quiet coordination of cowboys moving cattle with efficiency that comes from repetition, not rehearsal.

What struck me most wasn’t spectacle, it was discipline — the quiet economy to how things are done there. No wasted motion. No raised voices. Horses and cattle are handled with respect, and the cowboys know exactly where they need to be without so much as a glance from the Cow Boss. To see first hand how fast those guys can brand 400 hundred head of cattle was staggering. Masters of their craft.

Why the 6666 Ranch Matters in Real Cowboy Culture

For anyone photographing working cowboys — especially in long-term documentary projects like mine — places like the 6666’s represent continuity and quality. The rhythm of branding pens, early morning gathers, long fence lines, and the quiet skill required to manage cattle at scale are not cinematic props. They are real life. The ranch is revered not only for world class cows and horses, but cowboys as well. To earn a job as a cowboy the 6666’s means you’re the best of the best.

This is the version of the West that matters most — not the myth, but the labor.

A Legendary Hand of the 6666 Ranch

One of the most respected cowboys at the 6666 Ranch is Boots O’Neal — a man whose name carries weight all across the American West. I spent time documenting his life and work in a separate post that goes deeper into his story, his philosophy, and what it means to stay in the saddle into his 90’s!

→ Read more about Boots O’Neal and his life at the 6666 Ranch

Fine Art Prints from the 6666 Ranch

Select photographs made on the 6666 Ranch are available as museum-quality fine art prints, produced on Hahnemühle Baryta paper and offered in limited editions. These images are part of Calves to the Fire – Working Cowboys of the American West, a long-term documentary project examining the labor, landscape, and legacy of ranch culture.

Collectors and designers interested in availability, sizing, or framing options are welcome to inquire directly.

→ View Available Cowboy Prints

Commercial Licensing & Editorial Use

Photographs from this body of work have been licensed by Western brands and have appeared in commercial and editorial contexts, including on the set of Yellowstone.

If you are a brand, publication, or production designer seeking authentic working ranch imagery, licensing inquiries are welcome.

→ Inquire About Licensing

Horses shift in the fading light while riders regroup. Even before the sun, the work keeps its shape.

Cattle funnel through red steel gates as the sun sinks low. Geometry, dust, and routine — repeated season after season.

Worn leather, metal spur, dust at the hem. The details tell their own story — miles ridden and years worked into the grain.

A cowboy steps into the dust to sort horses inside the pens at the 6666 Ranch. The light flattens everything but the movement — rope, muscle, and intention.

A lone rider moves parallel to a wall of cattle, keeping steady pressure along the fence line. Much of ranch work is quiet and deliberate — miles of it.

Through dust and backlight, riders move like outlines against the sky. The geometry of steel pens frames a practice that hasn’t changed much in generations.

Through the lines of a pasture fence, two riders close in on a calf. Speed and coordination condensed into a few seconds of dust and rope.

Inside the chuckwagon tent, hats balance on knees and conversation stays low. The stove glows steady at the center.

Temporary shelter in permanent country. The cowboy camp sits quietly against a fading sky.

A string of riders stretches across the Texas plains, dwarfed by sky. On a ranch this size, scale is always part of the story.

Riders ease cattle through the gate as dust hangs low in the afternoon light. It’s choreography more than chaos.

Between gathers, a cowboy leans back with a cigarette as canvas tents dot the prairie behind him.

In early morning light , a rider walks his horse past the tents. The day narrows down to silhouettes and routine.

A tent glows in the dark prairie. Charlie Ferguson stands framed in canvas and light — temporary shelter in permanent country.

Three hands sit outside the tents at camp laughing together. The workday slows here, but it never fully leaves.

A cowboy ropes a runaway calf over the fence.

Smoke drifts through the pen as the brand meets hide. It’s a hard image, but it’s honest — this is part of the job.

Fringe, mud, and sweat-darkened leather. The uniform might be decorative but its also functional and earned.

A child sits in during branding, learning by watching. On ranches like this, knowledge isn’t taught in classrooms — it’s absorbed in the dust.

Leaning against a flatbed between sets, the crew trades stories. Humor is as necessary as rope.

At blue hour, one cowboy laughs while leaning back in a folding chair. The prairie quiets, but tomorrow is already waiting.

From above, the branding crew forms small circles inside a larger system of steel and cattle. Smoke rises evenly into a washed-out sky.

Charlie Ferguson - Chuckwagon Cook

Part of the process left in the dirt beside a steel post. Ranch work carries physical consequences — not symbolic ones.

Smoke lifts from hide as the brand settles into place. It’s a brief moment, but one that defines ownership and responsibility.

Bloody hands after branding on the 6666 Ranch in Texas

In the heat of a Texas afternoon, water cuts across the herd. Modern ranching is muscle, steel, and systems working together.

The Four Sixes gate falls behind the windshield at sunset. Dust still clings to the glass long after the work is done.

Authentic Western Brand Photography in Texas with Bucking Bull Trainer Dennis Davis

Behind the Lens of a Commercial Western Photoshoot in Texas

When Boot Barn called me to photograph a project with Dennis Davis, a bucking bull trainer in Texas, I knew it was going to be one of those shoots where everything lined up — the subject, the setting, and the story.

Dennis lives and breathes the Western lifestyle. His world is built around the kind of grit and determination that can’t be staged. That’s why people like Dana White trust him with their bulls, and that’s the kind of authenticity brands like Boot Barn want in their photography. It’s also the kind of work I love to produce.

From a production standpoint, shoots like this are where preparation meets adaptability. Bulls don’t wait for lighting setups, and Dennis can’t hit pause so we can get the perfect angle. The key is building trust, staying mobile, and knowing when to step in and when to step back. Every shot has to feel as natural as the dust and sweat in the air. So my tactic is to just be a fly on the wall, with the confidence that all my experience leads me to the right wall at the right time.

Working with Boot Barn meant balancing their brand vision with the reality of Dennis’ day-to-day routine that would both tell a story and sell clothes. We mapped out a shot list, but the best images came from leaning into what was happening in the moment: Dennis working a bull through the chute, quiet pauses between runs, the weathered textures of the arena, and of course action photos of the riders in action. Those unscripted moments are what connect an audience to a brand. For brands, that’s the value of hiring a photographer who has spent years documenting real Western culture. It’s not just about sharp images — it’s about telling stories that feel lived-in and true, while still delivering the polished assets a campaign demands.

Why Authenticity Matters for Brand Photography

Audiences are sharp. They can spot staged from a mile away, especially in the Western world. Photographing someone like Dennis Davis for Boot Barn wasn’t about staging cowboys and bulls — it was about showing the raw power and quiet pride of the work as it really happens. That kind of authenticity is what gives a brand’s imagery staying power.

What Brands Can Expect Working With Me

Every brand has its own story. My job is to translate that story into imagery that feels both true and visually striking. On shoots like this, that means:

• Clear communication before the shoot to align on goals.

• Flexibility on location to work with real-world conditions.

• An eye for the unexpected that creates the strongest images.

• Fun - if we can’t have fun on a photoshoot while still getting the job done, then you’re in the wrong business.

• Deliverables ready for campaigns across print, web, and social.

That’s the same approach I bring whether it’s a shoot for Boot Barn, a fitness campaign, or photographing working cowboys in the middle of Nevada. So if your brand is looking for imagery that feels as real as the people wearing your gear, I’d love to help bring that story to life -rob@robhammerphotography.com

To view the short documentary Boot Barn made about Dennis Davis go HERE.

To view more of my Western cowboy photography go HERE.

Shop Fine Art Cowboy Photography Prints

Portrait of professional bucking bull trainer Dennis Davis

Dennis Davis getting into his big rig truck used for hauling bulls

Dennis Davis unloads a bucking bull from a trailer

Jacob Law - bull rider

Close-up photograph of a bull riders belt buckle

Gritty photograph of a bull ride in Texas

Dramatic portrait of a bull rider

Quiet moment of contemplation before riding a bull

Dennis Davis laughing with friends during a bull training session

Dramatic photograph of a bucking bull

Photograph of a bull rider before a ride

Action photograph of a bucking bull in mid air

Anthony Smith - Bull Rider

Dennis Davis petting the back of a bucking bull

Bull trainer Dennis Davis laughing with friends while drinking beer

Dennis Davis Bucking Bulls

Detailed photograph of a cowboy driving in a classic truck with a rifle by his side

Photograph of a cowboy riding in the back of a pickup truck at sunset

Bucking bull trainer Dennis Davis loading a bull onto a trailer at dusk

ML Leddy Cowboy Boots

ML Leddy’s — Handmade Cowboy Boots from the Ranch to the White House

Where Work and Legacy Meet

ML Leddy's has built boots for working cowboys who spend their life in the saddle. They also build boots for U.S. presidents, musicians, and public figures whose names carry weight far beyond Texas.

Both leave the shop with the same thing: A pair of boots made entirely by hand.

That dual identity — ranch tool and cultural artifact — is what makes ML Leddy’s elite in the world of Western craftsmanship.

Built for the Saddle

Long before Western boots became collectible objects or fashion statements, they were tools. A proper working boot must, sit securely in a stirrup, withstand dust, heat, brush, long hours on horseback, and hold its shape through years of wear

At Leddy’s, the foundation hasn’t shifted. The boots are cut, shaped, stitched, and finished by hand — not assembly line, not automated.

Leddy’s cares just as much about longevity as they do cosmetics.

Exotic Leathers and Presidential Orders

But there’s another side to the shop.

ML Leddy’s is also known for custom boots made from exotic leathers — ostrich, alligator, elephant — crafted with the same care as a pair destined for ranch work. Over the years, presidents, entertainers, and public figures have commissioned boots here.

The difference is not in the quality of the work.

It’s in the material and design.

A working pair might show dust within a day. A presidential pair may never see a stirrup. But both begin and end the same way — by hand, at a workbench in San Angelo, Texas.

An Analog Craft in a Digital World

One of the most striking things about Leddy’s isn’t the leather, it’s the process.

Measurements, past orders, client details — everything is recorded by hand in large books that sit on shelves in the showroom. No tablets. No cloud storage. Just pages filled with names and numbers accumulated over decades.

Getting a pair of custom boots from Leddy’s starts with getting your name on a list, then you receive a phone call a year later saying your name is up. So you drive into the shop, sit in THE chair, where your foot is outlined and measured every which way, and those numbers are recorded with a pencil in a book. No tablets. No cloud storage. Look around the showroom and you’ll see an unthinkable amount leather records books filling the shelves.

When a returning customer needs a new pair, the staff simply pull a book from the shelf and flip to the page where measurements were first recorded — sometimes decades earlier.

The record-keeping mirrors the boots themselves: tangible, physical, built to last.

Western Craftsmanship Beyond Nostalgia

Bootmaking at ML Leddy’s isn’t preserved for tourism.

It remains relevant because ranchers, riders, and collectors still demand a boot that will last a lifetime.

Like saddle makers and spur makers across the American West, Leddy’s represents a trade where tradition survives because it continues to function.

The culture of the West is sustained not only by working cowboys, but by the craftsmen who build what they rely on.

The tools may differ.
The materials may change.

But the approach remains consistent:

Work done by hand.
Built to be used.
Rooted in place.

Explore More Western Craft & Culture

If you’re interested in traditional Western trades, you may also want to explore:

• My portrait of saddle maker Doug Cox
• The long-term project photographing working cowboys across the American West

Licensing & Editorial Use

These photographs documenting ML Leddy’s and the tradition of handmade Western bootmaking are available for editorial and commercial licensing. The images focus on process, environment, and the people behind the craft — making them well suited for publications/brands covering Western culture, heritage brands, ranch life, and traditional American trades. For licensing inquiries, project collaborations, or publication requests, please get in touch directly.

The iconic neon boot outside ML Leddy’s lights the streets of San Angelo, marking one of the West’s most respected handmade boot shops.

The ML Leddy’s workshop is lined with wooden lasts, each one tied to a customer and a specific fit.

Exotic leathers are carefully selected and cut by hand, each hide destined for a custom pair of cowboy boots.

Leather is stretched and shaped directly over wooden lasts, a physical process that defines the character of each boot.

Decorative stitching is completed on vintage machines, guided by practiced hands and years of experience.

A pair of custom boots waits between stages of construction, surrounded by the quiet rhythm of daily work inside the shop.

Measuring a boot last for handmade cowboy boots in Texas

Every nail is set by hand, reinforcing the sole using techniques passed down through generations of bootmakers.

Handmade cowboy boots in Texas

Custom boot lasts

Old cowboy boot parts

A finished pair of handmade cowboy boots, built start to finish inside the ML Leddy’s workshop in Texas.

Texas Plains Photography: Llano Estacado

Llano Estacado Photographs

The Llano Estacado is easy to misunderstand. It’s often described as flat, empty, or featureless, but spending time there reveals something very different. This high plains region of West Texas is defined less by landmarks and more by distance — by how far the horizon stretches, how light moves across open ground, and how small human presence feels once you slow down enough to notice it.

These photographs were made while traveling through small towns, farmland, and back roads that sit quietly within that vastness. They are not meant to explain the Llano Estacado so much as sit with it.

A Landscape Defined by Absence

There are few visual interruptions on the Llano Estacado. Roads run straight for miles. Fields repeat themselves. Buildings appear only occasionally, and when they do, they often feel temporary — as if they were placed there out of necessity rather than permanence.

That absence becomes the subject. Empty intersections, wind-worked soil, distant structures, and isolated signage take on weight simply because there is so little competing for attention. The photographs rely on restraint: space, quiet geometry, and light doing most of the work.

Small Towns, Everyday Objects

Scattered across the plains are towns built around utility rather than spectacle. Hardware stores, abandoned buildings, hand-painted signs, school stadiums, and roadside memorials all reflect daily life shaped by isolation and self-reliance.

Rather than searching for dramatic moments, this work focuses on ordinary details — objects left where they were last used, buildings holding onto their purpose a little longer than expected. These elements reveal how people adapt to scale, weather, and distance without needing to announce it.

Wind, Agriculture, and Modern Presence

The Llano Estacado is both deeply agricultural and increasingly shaped by modern infrastructure. Wind turbines rise above fields that have been worked for generations. Long rows of crops trace patterns across land that feels otherwise unbroken.

This overlap between old and new is quiet but persistent. The turbines don’t overwhelm the landscape; instead, they become another line on the horizon — another marker of how the region continues to evolve while remaining visually spare.

Photographing the In-Between

These images are less about destinations and more about what exists between them. They were made by pulling over often, driving slowly, and paying attention to what most people pass without stopping.

The goal is not nostalgia, but observation. Not commentary, but presence. The Llano Estacado rewards patience, and these photographs reflect that pace — measured, minimal, and unforced.

Interested in These Photographs?

A selection of photographs from this series is available as fine art prints, and the full body of work is available for editorial and commercial licensing.

If you’d like more information, feel free to get in touch.

View more photography from the American West

“It’s a long way, round the Llano Estacado” - Colter Wall

A hand-painted water-for-sale sign along a remote Texas highway, underscoring the scarcity and scale of life on the Llano Estacado.

A rural intersection on the Llano Estacado, where roads stretch outward and towns feel held together by distance.

A spare horizon broken only by distant farm buildings and turbines, emphasizing scale and emptiness on the Llano Estacado.

Inside a small-town hardware store on the Llano Estacado, where tools, shelves, and light speak to decades of daily use.

Dust moves across freshly worked earth, softening the horizon on the wide, exposed plains of the Llano Estacado.

Roadside crosses stand against the open plains, marking memory, faith, and loss across the Llano Estacado.

Handwritten letters from an abandoned Texas home, marked by distance, memory, and everyday life on the Llano Estacado.

Farmland stretches ahead and behind, reflected in a car mirror while crossing the open roads of the Llano Estacado.

A lone midcentury tower rises above a quiet town, emphasizing the scale and openness of the Llano Estacado.

Wind turbines rise over aging structures, where modern infrastructure meets long-standing rural life on the Llano Estacado.

A fading brick wall sign promises trust and familiarity, echoing the economic rhythms of Llano Estacado towns.

Photograph of a long dirt road on the Llano Estacado in Texas

A modest brick house on the Llano Estacado, where handwritten signs and quiet streets reflect a self-reliant rural economy.

A nearly empty frame holds a thin horizon and distant turbines, emphasizing restraint and scale on the Llano Estacado.

A high school football stadium sits among cotton fields, reflecting the cultural center of small towns on the Llano Estacado.

An abandoned building on the Llano Estacado, where discarded fixtures and faded walls blur the line between utility and quiet absurdity.

Water tower in Littlefield, Texas - Hometown of Waylon Jennings

Wind turbines line a distant ridge above the canyon, where industry and landscape quietly coexist on the Llano Estacado.

A lone basketball hoop stands behind a chain-link fence, hinting at everyday life and quiet routines on the Llano Estacado.

A simple directional sign stands between plowed fields, offering choice without urgency on the Llano Estacado.

Boots O'Neal

Boots O’Neal - Cowboy - 6666 Ranch - Texas

Being a photographer has been a great pleasure and an even greater adventure. It’s taken me to some outstanding parts of the earth and allowed me to photograph some of the most famous athletes on it. “Who is your favorite?”, has always been a common question. Until recently that was an impossible question to answer. Now my final is abundantly clear - it’s the legendary Texas cowboy Boots O’Neal. Boots is a 90 year old cowboy on the iconic 6666 Ranch. A more inspiring human you will not meet. To learn more about him continue reading this piece I wrote that was originally published with Wrangler.

View More Cowboy Photography From The American West

Tom Moorhouse - Texas Cowboy

Fine Art Cowboy Prints

Branding Season at the 6666 Ranch

The photographs above are just one piece of a much larger story. Branding season at the 6666 Ranch is a coordinated effort and well oiled machine run by first class cowboys.

→ See the complete 6666 Ranch branding photo series

Boots O’Neal on his horse working cattle in the corrals at the 6666 Ranch

Boots O’Neal and the Tradition of Ranching in West Texas

Imagine for a moment, waking up in the hospital with 12 broken ribs, a punctured lung, broken vertebrae, and a bleeding brain. Now imagine that pain at 82 years of age. Cal Ripken Jr. was Major League Baseball's “Ironman”. Earning the nickname after playing 2,632 consecutive games. Put those end to end and you’ve got over 7 years of straight baseball. An astonishing stat and impressive feat only possible for a human made from the toughest stock. No offense to Mr. Ripken, but that doesn’t hold a candle to the Texas legend - Boots O’Neal, who's been horseback for the better part of the last 75 years. Despite the aforementioned injuries, piled on a lifetime of other broken body parts, the now 90 year old cowboy shows no desire whatsoever to retire. You’d think someone that’s lived in such a way would have a face much resembling their saddle that’s endured as many miles. Instead, O’Neal’s is endearing, and fixed with a perpetual smile that causes you to do the same. The kind of guy that inadvertently makes you a better person just by being in his presence. 

While we’re on the stat train, let’s dole out a few more just to drive the point home, what an outlier he truly is. The average retirement age in America is 62. The average age of death is 78. And a cowboy will normally take home about $31,466 a year. At a time in life when most folks are either dead or in a nursing home, Boots wakes up every morning with excitement to saddle a horse and work cattle alongside fellow cowpunchers that could be his grandkids. People just aren’t built like him anymore. Not a partier, but it would be safe to put O’Neal in the Keith Richards class. Immortal freaks, in the most beautiful way possible. 

Portrait of Boots O’Neal

Cowboys in general are a strand of human unlike the rest of us. Born not made. And from birth, it was obvious O’Neal created a category all his own. Growing up in the 30’s he was one of 8 children living in a home without running water. The bathroom was an outhouse, and the bath, a tub filled with water and placed next to the kitchen oven, door open for heat. After 3 or 4 of the kids took their turn, that water was tossed outside to calm down the dust. He was never much for school. The only thing he excelled at was boxing, but usually just looked forward to running off the bus and into the barn to saddle a horse, only coming in when his mother hung a white sheet on the clothesline - their version of a dinner bell. 9th grade was as far as he cared to go, leaving home in August of 49’ at sixteen to cowboy for the JA ($90/week). That job found him on the wagon, sleeping in only a bedroll 6-7 months at a time. A lifestyle that fit him just fine. 

Before we go any further, it would be appropriate to define what makes a real cowboy. The loud mouth sporting a big black hat getting in drunken bar fights makes for good movies, but that’s about it. According to the man himself, a real cowboy is polite. Smooth. Talks gentlemanly to ladies and is good under fire. Dusty Burson (32) - foreman on the Four Sixes and close friend to Mr. O’Neal said it best - “What’s a cowboy? Well, they’re good people. Honest. They do what they say they’re gonna do. If they tell you they’ll be there to help, they’ll be there, and they’ll stay to the end.” If that statement made its way into Websters, the following words should read “also see Boots O’Neal”. 

Boots O’Neal branding calves in the early morning on the 6666 Ranch in Texas

Boots O’Neal’s custom spurs

After the JA, he continued punching cows in different places including a quarter century stay at the Waggoner Ranch. All the while racking up a collection of buckles and saddles from bronc riding in rodeos all over the country. Word is he’s still pretty sticky. A wife (Nelda) also came into the mix as did a daughter (Laurie). Despite being opposites, Boots and Nelda remained in love for 44 years until her passing. She was a proper lady that enjoyed being in town but fully supported his innate need for open country. As their relationship grew, his career did along with it. The 50’s’ found him in Korea with the Army, where he stared out at vast foreign valleys, daydreaming about them filled with 1000 steer, and wondering why in the world they didn’t have any. After two years he was back on a ranch working hard to become a Peace Office and Brand Inspector at a time when cattle were still shipped by railroad. Along with the coveted title came a doubled salary, new clothes, fancy truck, and expense account. A novelty quickly erased by jealousy every time business on a ranch forced him to watch cowboys ride away on horses while he sat in a truck headed back to the office. “I just wanted to punch cows” he said. So he gave back a job that most in the industry would kill for and reclaimed his true love, working cattle from the back of a horse. 

Love is what it takes because the life of a cowboy asks a lot of a person, physically and emotionally. “ Even when I know tomorrow is gonna be a bad deal, and they’re predicting snow, and the wind coming out of the north blowing, and we’re gonna ride straight into it in the morning, I just look forward to getting out there and freezing my tail off” says O’Neal. How many 90 year olds have you ever heard say something like that? Burson again offers some insight - “he wakes up thinking I’m going to be happy today. He doesn’t let circumstances dictate happiness.” Dusty was the one who found the 82 year old O’Neal alone in a pasture, after the horse wreck that would have ended any mortal man. Even if it didn’t put him in the ground, the pain alone would cause a rational person to take a brush with death as a sign and say, ok, it’s been a good run. Burson visited him in the hospital shortly after and recalled the nurse asking why he kept lifting his left leg up in the air. Obviously, it was to keep the mobility of toeing a stirrup. “That’s how bad he wants to be a cowboy when he grows up” says Burson. 6 weeks later, he was back on that same horse and continues riding him today.  

Boots O’Neal talks with chuck wagon cook Charlie Ferguson on the 6666 Ranch in Texas

Seems like it came naturally for Boots, but don’t get it twisted, any good cowboy is a student of the trade. Always figuring out a way to get it done better without asking for recognition. All of the best cowboys Boots ever knew and patterned himself after, accomplished unthinkable feats even Taylor Shariden couldn’t script, in the middle of nowhere with only a few people to witness. Another friend and Texas icon Tom Moorehouse (72) is quick to point out “I’ve known Boots almost all my life, and anything I’ve got to say about him is good”. From the outside you might think that cowboying is a physical game. Only for the young. Not so. Sure, you need the gumption to handle extreme physical abuse and relentless weather that doesn’t end after an eight hour shift. But Moorehouse says the thing that separates Boots from the rest is that he’s a “keen observer”. He continues “my dad used to say a real cowboy is somebody that pays attention. Now that doesn’t sound like a good story, but that’s the truth.” There is so much that can go wrong when you’re working with 2,000+lb animals and navigating remote unforgiving terrain. One mistake could mean the end. 

We’ve already established that Boots is an enigma, but for arguments sake, let’s say he got lucky? Somehow the body that’s been broken more times than anyone can count, managed to miss the big one. Even with luck, longevity like his doesn’t just happen. And living on a wagon, eating ranch food, wouldn’t make any blueprint for “healthy living”. Cowboys require hearty meals to get them through their overly demanding lives. So It should be no surprise that beef has made its way to Boots’ plate just about every day for the past 90 years. Along with the beef came biscuits, gravy, and potatoes. Breakfast was peanut butter and syrup sandwiches. All of which goes against everything you’ll read from the so-called nutrition experts. Although pinto beans, prunes, and raisins are foods he now tries to consume regularly along with said beef. The fresh fruit and vegetables he also concentrates on just wasn’t a thing back then.”It wasn’t until I got up in years that I ever worried about putting something bad in my body.”  A chuckle was the only answer given when asked about exercise, but “I’ve never been short on sleep” says O’Neal. Which he believes has been the holy grail to his success. For as long as he can remember, even as a young buck, he’d turn in early, ensuring 8-9 hours of shuteye every night. These days he says “it takes me longer to rest than it does to get tired”, but it becomes obvious shortly after meeting him, that modesty is one of his many virtues. He’ll try and claim that he can’t do this, that, or the other. Then he slips into the saddle and the truth is revealed. “It takes a whole crew to keep me going”, he says. Again, modesty perfected. Perhaps his days aren’t spent aboard wild broncs, but he always gets the job done with grace, and his expertise couldn’t be matched anywhere in the world. Ironic for a guy who’s never considered himself very smart. What Boots has can’t be taught. He’s got a PHD in punching cows. Anybody will tell you he’s on the Mount Rushmore of the cowboy universe, but who the hell else could be up there with him? Is there another human that’s punched cows for almost 8 decades?  “It’s amazing what all he’s got stored up inside him that someone oughta have recorded” Dusty says. A lot of people with such knowledge and history can become high and mighty. Not Boots. He’ll let you mess up, then suggest, in a non degrading way, how to do it better. He knows we’re all in this thing together.

Boots O’Neal offloading his horse from a trailer on the 6666 Ranch in Texas

Boots O’Neal roping calves on the 6666 Ranch in Texas

If you think about the human condition and what we’re all after, one of the key ingredients is professional happiness. Everyone wants to spend their waking hours doing something they love. Why is that goal so elusive, so rare? A million dollar question. Even harder than finding that happiness, is keeping it. Somehow Boots O’Neal has managed to do it at one of the most physically demanding jobs on the planet and continues today at a very high level. Maybe the how doesn’t really matter. Maybe we should just use Boots as inspiration to be better humans. The iconic Four Sixes has been his home for the past 26 years. Panhandle, Texas is the closest town to their northern division where we met. The town sign fittingly reads “People of Pride and Purpose”. Just like the dictionary, there might as well be a picture of Boots next to that slogan. He figured IT out and still can’t get enough. He doesn’t need to work in a monetary sense. He wants to work, although it’d be a stretch to hear him use a four letter word like that. Even on a rare day off, he doesn’t look forward to a hobby or a vacation. Instead he’ll watch a rodeo on television or sit in a chair outside his bunkhouse apartment to watch the remuda come in. A sight he says, of 50 horses all running together, is one that most people will never get to see. Bob Dylan wrote a song on this very topic using only 17 words:  

“All the tired horses in the sun…..”

The guy has done it all, taken the beatings, and asked for more. He’s been inducted into every Hall of Fame a cowpuncher could possibly be associated with. Somehow that doesn’t seem enough of an honor though. Boots should be everyone's hero. He’s a national treasure and outstanding human being.  We should all strive to accomplish in our own lives what he has in his. Burson says “Yeah, he’s a cowboy, but he wants to be one tomorrow too”. If more people had that attitude, the world would be a better place. 

We were just about done talking when Boots’ story paused abruptly . A mischievous smile came to his face and the words stopped flowing. His attention fixed on one of the guys in a nearby corral working a young horse that was fixing to blow up. The grin stayed as he reminisced “I rode a lot of bucking horses in years past. I could get on a horse like that, just gather that thing up, and he’d be 3 feet in the air when I got that right stirrup”. Boots is a Christian. If he weren’t, and followed a religion believing in reincarnation, he says that’s what he’d want to come back as, a bucking horse. At 90 years young he knows precisely how good his life has been and isn’t scared of the inevitable. In a very matter of fact way he spoke about his funeral, being buried in the cemetery on the Four Sixes, and the speech by his friend Joe Leathers. When asked what he hopes Joe will say, Boots paused then replied humbly with a far off stare ”He was an honorable man. Done what he said he would. And didn’t mistreat his horses” 

Portrait of Boots O’Neal

Boots O’Neal on his horse at sunrise on the 6666 Ranch in Texas

Boots O'Neal

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Historic Texas Barbershop Photographs

Raymond’s Barbershop - Lockhart, Texas

Lockhart is best known for its barbecue, but places like Raymond’s Barbershop tell another side of the town’s story. Between visits to longtime institutions like Smitty’s Market, everyday routines continue in quiet spaces that rarely draw attention but shape the rhythm of local life just as much.

A Traditional Barbershop in Lockhart, Texas

Lockhart has no shortage of visitors passing through, but Raymond’s Barbershop remains firmly rooted in local life. The worn chairs, utilitarian layout, and unpolished surfaces reflect decades of daily use rather than intentional preservation. This is not a styled space—it’s one that has simply been allowed to age naturally alongside the town itself. During my time at Raymond’s, he was cutting the hair of an old friend. This wasn’t made known explicitly, rather in the chemistry the two had—genuine smiles exchanged as the customer walked through the door and candid, easy banter which can only be formed by time.

Why Small-Town Barbershops Still Matter

In towns like Lockhart all across America, barbershops have long functioned as informal gathering places—spaces where news travels, laughs are shared, and familiarity carries more weight than novelty. As commercial rents rise and older barbers retire, places like Raymond’s quietly disappear, taking a long and irreplaceable history with them.

Documenting Raymond’s Barbershop as Part of a Larger Archive

Truth be told I only found Raymond’s because of my obsession with BBQ, which brought me to Lockhart, but that’s just the luck of the draw. You never know how important subjects are going to come into your life. Regardless, these photographs of Raymond and his beautiful old shop are part of an ongoing, 15-year effort to document traditional barbershops across the United States. Each shop is approached individually—rooted in its town, its people, and its history—while collectively contributing to a broader visual record of a disappearing American institution.

View More Traditional Barbershops

→ View the full Barbershops of America gallery

For more work made in Texas, you can also view photographs from another long-standing barbershop documented as part of the same project:

→ View a Texas barbershop in Marfa

The storefront of Raymond’s Barber Shop in Lockhart, Texas—a modest main street presence that has served generations of local residents.

Hand-painted lettering on the front window of Raymond’s Barber Shop in Lockhart, Texas, separating the street outside from the quiet work happening inside.

An empty chair and quiet waiting area inside Raymond’s Barber Shop in Lockhart, Texas, between customers and conversations.

Barber and customer smile together during a routine haircut underway at Raymond’s Barber Shop in Lockhart, Texas, where familiarity and trust guide the work as much as technique.

Barber holds the chair as his elderly customer braces himself at Raymond’s Barber Shop in Lockhart, Texas—part of a daily routine that has remained largely unchanged for decades.

ROAD TRIP

THE BAD:This past week was the first time in a while since I’ve been on this particular route through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The findings were not good economically. It was hard to see so many familiar small town restaurants and hotels closed, boarded up, or in the process of being demolished. Maybe the timing was a coincidence, but you have to wonder if it was all the result of COVID? Either way it’s a shame.

THE GOOD: Road trips are always so much fun, educational, and therapeutic. This one had me shooting on a cattle ranch (The Four Sixes) in the Texas panhandle where I met some great people and had a hell of a lot of fun shooting with them. Will be a while until I can post those images. So for now you can click HERE to see more of my Cowboy photography.

Texas Road Trip

Kreuz Market - Lockhart Texas

Texas BBQ Photography at Kreuz Market in Lockhart, Texas

Documenting Texas BBQ Culture, Pitmasters, and Historic Smokehouses

If you know BBQ, then you know Kreuz Market. They’ve been slinging world class BBQ since the early 1900’s in Lockhart, Texas. Which, some say is the BBQ capital of the world, and anyone that would argue otherwise is just a moron. In the span of a square mile (give or take) you can hit 3 world class BBQ joints with a handful of others also in the area. Aside from Kreuz, you’ve also got Smitty’s and Black’s. I’d personally vouch for all 3.

Kreuz Market and the Tradition of Texas Barbecue

Kreuz Market dates back to the early 1900s, long before BBQ became a national trend or social media spectacle. The emphasis here has always been on meat, smoke, fire, and consistency — no gimmicks, no unnecessary theatrics.

Photographing this environment means working fast and respectfully. The pits burn hot. The spaces are tight. The people working there have done this thousands of times before — and the rhythm of their work becomes part of the story.

What interests me most isn’t just the food, but the process:
hands lifting heavy cuts of meat, smoke drifting across brick walls, knives resting on worn butcher blocks, the quiet confidence of people who have mastered their craft over decades.

These photographs aim to document Texas BBQ as lived culture, not as a stylized food trend.

Texas BBQ Photography Prints Available

Images from Kreuz Market are available as fine-art photography prints. These prints work especially well in:

• Kitchens and dining rooms

• Restaurants and hospitality spaces

• Offices, studios, and creative workplaces

• Homes that appreciate Americana, craft, and documentary storytelling

Each print is produced with archival materials and museum-grade standards, with an emphasis on tonal depth, texture, and longevity.

Texas BBQ Photography Licensing & Editorial Use

This Texas BBQ photography archive is available for editorial licensing, commercial use, advertising campaigns, restaurant branding, cookbook publishing, tourism marketing, cultural storytelling projects, etc. If you’re producing work related to Texas food culture, barbecue, hospitality, or American regional identity, feel free to get in touch about licensing or custom image selections.

See My Photographs from Smitty’s Market — Another Texas BBQ Landmark →

Roy Perez - Legendary Texas BBQ Pitmaster

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Smitty's Market - Lockhart, Texas

Legendary Texas BBQ at Smitty’s Market

If you love Texas barbecue long enough, you eventually find yourself in Lockhart. The state legislature crowned it the “Barbecue Capital of Texas,” and more recently Smithsonian singled out this little town, and its heavy-hitters like Smitty’s Market, Kreuz, and Black’s, as one of the best small towns in America to visit.

Smitty’s is the one I kept coming back to with my camera. Not because it’s shiny or modern, but because it feels like barbecue preserved in amber — smoke-stained, stubborn, and honest.

A Barbecue Story That Starts in 1948

The story of Smitty’s starts long before there was a sign on the door that said “Smitty’s Market.” In 1948, a butcher named Edgar “Smitty” Schmidt bought Kreuz Market, the old-school meat market and barbecue joint in downtown Lockhart.

For decades, that brick building on South Commerce was the beating heart of Lockhart barbecue. When the family eventually split in 1999, Smitty’s daughter, Nina Schmidt Sells, kept the original downtown building and reopened it as Smitty’s Market, keeping the fires, and the history, right where they’d always been.

That’s what you feel when you walk in: not just a restaurant, but a place that’s been seasoned by generations of smoke, grease, and conversations over butcher paper.

Walking the Long, Smoky Hallway

If you’ve been, you know the approach. You step in off the Lockhart square and into that long, dark hallway. The air is thick and warm, the floors worn smooth by decades of boot traffic, and the smoke hangs low like a permanent weather system.

Follow your nose and the temperature climbs. Then the pits reveal themselves — massive brick beasts with open fires glowing on the floor, logs stacked and burning right beside the line. It’s dramatic and a little wild, and it’s part of why Smitty’s leaves such a mark on people.

In a world of spotless stainless-steel kitchens and carefully hidden cook lines, Smitty’s shows you everything: the fire, the coals, the meat, the sweat. You feel like you’re walking through the engine room of Texas barbecue.

What’s on the Butcher Paper

Smitty’s lives firmly in the Central Texas tradition: meat first, everything else second. No plates, no fuss. Your order arrives on butcher paper with maybe a stack of white bread, pickles, and onions if you’re doing it right.

On any given day you’ll see brisket, prime rib, pork chops, ribs, smoked turkey, and, of course, those famous sausage links hitting the paper. The sausage, especially, has built a devoted following — peppery, smoky, with that satisfying snap when you bite into it.

Smitty’s cooking style is so emblematic of “old school” Central Texas barbecue that it’s been featured nationally — including on the Travel Channel’s Food Paradise as a go-to spot for slow-smoked brisket and signature sausage.

Like any legendary joint, opinions about the brisket can spark friendly arguments that last longer than the meal. Some folks swear it’s among the best in the state; others come mainly for the sausage and the atmosphere. But that’s barbecue — subjective, seasonal, and human.

Photographing a Living Time Capsule

Places like Smitty’s are why I haul cameras and lenses across Texas. The moment you step inside, you’re standing in a living time capsule:

• The orange glow of the open fires against the dark pit room

• Smoke curling through shafts of window light

• Long tables packed with families, road-trippers, and locals in feed-store caps

• Hands passing butcher paper, breaking bread, and building sandwiches in that very Texas way

My photographs from Smitty’s focus less on the close-up food porn and more on the world around it — the way the smoke stains the ceiling, the rhythm of people sliding through that hallway, the quiet concentration of the pitmen tending the fires. It’s the intersection of architecture, ritual, and appetite that makes this place feel like Texas in one room.

For me, Smitty’s isn’t just a stop on a barbecue tour; it’s part of a larger story about American spaces that refuse to modernize just because trends say they should. The pits, the hallway, the dining room — everything still carries the weight of 1948 and all the years since.

For Collectors, Editors, and Brands

If you’re a barbecue fan, I hope these photographs feel like stepping back into that smoky hallway — you can almost smell the oak and feel the heat on your face.

If you’re a collector, these Smitty’s Market images are available as fine art prints. They’re meant to hang in homes, restaurants, and offices as quiet reminders of what “real” Texas barbecue looks like when you strip away the marketing and leave only fire, brick, and tradition.

For editors, publishers, and brands working on stories about Texas, Lockhart, or the culture around barbecue, the images are also available for licensing — from wide environmental scenes that set the mood to tighter, more graphic frames from the pit room and dining area. They work equally well for travel features, restaurant coverage, or campaigns that want an authentic Central Texas feel rather than a staged set.

Why Smitty’s Still Matters

Lockhart’s barbecue landscape has changed over the years, but Smitty’s holds its ground as one of the core stops on what people call the Lockhart BBQ Trail — a lineup that includes Kreuz Market, Black’s BBQ, and other local institutions that keep the town worthy of its “Barbecue Capital” title.

Smitty’s isn’t trying to reinvent anything. The fires still burn in the old building on the square, the pits are still right there in your face, and the meat still hits butcher paper just like it has for generations.

That’s why I keep pointing my camera at it. In a state that’s constantly chasing the next big thing, Smitty’s Market is content to do what it’s always done: smoke meat, feed people, and let the walls slowly absorb another layer of history — one plate at a time.

If you’ve stood in that hallway, I hope the photographs bring you right back. And if you haven’t made it to Lockhart yet, consider this your nudge to go stand in the smoke for yourself.

If these photographs made you smell the smoke, take one home.
Prints and licensing inquiries are welcome — get in touch and I’ll help you find the right piece for your space or project.

Fire in the foreground, work in the distance — the heat, smoke, and rhythm that define a day inside Smitty’s Market.

Stacks of oak firewood behind Smitty’s Market — the fuel that keeps the old brick pits alive every day.

Fresh links smoking low and slow inside one of Smitty’s historic pits.

The smokehouse above and below — decades of soot overhead and pitmen working the briskets beneath it.

The fire that starts it all — a pitman standing ready beside the flames that shape every bite.

A Smitty’s pitman tending the sausage pits, surrounded by the oak that feeds the fires.

The back room at Smitty’s — decades of tools, textures, and smoke layered into the walls.

Ribs smoking over the open brick pits — heat, oak, and patience doing their work.

A pitman working a full load of briskets inside the dark, smoky heart of Smitty’s.

Briskets deep in the cook — bark forming, fat rendering, smoke wrapping around every surface.

Checking the links inside the smokehouse — one of the daily rituals behind Smitty’s iconic flavor.