Canyons of Cebolla, New Mexico


There are athletes, and then there are people who have already decided. Chantry was still in junior high school when we did this session at the Canyons of Cebolla — and she had already decided. Olympic-level decided.

She competes in clay target shooting for USA Shooting, the national governing body that fields the U.S. Olympic team. The medals around her neck during part of this session weren't participation ribbons. They were earned at national-level competitions, the kind where you find out exactly where you stand in the country. Chantry knew.

We shot at the Canyons of Cebolla, a stretch of high desert terrain in northern New Mexico that most people drive past without stopping. The plateau opens wide and flat before the land drops into canyon walls — it's the kind of landscape that makes a person look small against something enormous, which is exactly what you want when the whole point is that the person isn't small at all.
A young woman stands in an open field holding a rifle over her shoulder, wearing a white jacket and red pants.
Black and white portrait of a young woman holding a shotgun, wearing a shooting vest and bracelet.
Female competitive shooter in USA vest holding shotgun outdoors at sunset in desert landscape.
Three women pose outdoors holding shotguns, wearing shooting vests and medals in a triptych portrait.
Woman in red boots and traditional outfit poses with a rifle at golden hour in a desert landscape.
A young woman walks through an open field carrying a shotgun, wearing an orange hunting vest and red pants at dusk.

USA Shooting Competition Kit


We started with Chantry in her full competition gear — the navy and red USA Shooting vest, Tommy Hilfiger athletic pants, orange shoes, her Browning over-under shotgun across her shoulders. This is what she wears when she competes. It was important to document it. The open desert spread out behind her, and as the sun dropped toward the horizon the light turned the dry sage and scrub into something almost golden. She moved through the location like she owned it — shoulder, hip, walking away with the gun across her back — because she did.

The medals came out midway through: multiple national competition medals laid across her chest, earned in her early teenage years. The image of her in the white ruffled top holding them up in the desert flatlands — that's the one. That's what an aspiring Olympian from northern New Mexico looks like.
Woman athlete in colorful uniform carries a shotgun over her shoulder outdoors in a field under a cloudy sky.
Woman holding a shotgun over her shoulder at sunset in a desert landscape, wearing a shooting vest.
Smiling young woman in white off-shoulder top holding a shotgun outdoors under a bright sky.
Woman in red flared pants and white top stands on rocky terrain with her reflection visible in a puddle below.
Three portraits of a young blonde woman holding a rifle outdoors in a field, wearing a white top.
Young blonde woman in white off-shoulder dress holding a rifle, smiling outdoors under a blue sky.

The White Top & Red Flares


For the second look, Chantry switched into a white off-shoulder ruffled top and deep red bell-bottom pants with her cowboy boots — and the session became something different. Still her, still the shotgun, but now the landscape did more of the talking. We found a sandy wash where a shallow pool had formed and caught her reflection perfectly in the still water. We moved to the canyon rim where the layered rock walls dropped away behind her. We let the fading afternoon light do what New Mexico light always does at that hour — turn everything warm and cinematic.

A Name to Remember

Chantry Stermer. Junior high school. USA Shooting. Browning shotgun. Northern New Mexico.

We photographed her before any of it had fully happened yet — the bigger competitions, the national rankings, whatever comes next on a path pointed at the Olympics. That's the thing about photographing athletes early: you're not documenting an achievement. You're documenting a trajectory.
Woman in red flare pants and white blouse holding a guitar on a dusty outback dirt road under blue sky.
Woman in red pants and floral top proudly displays multiple medals in a desert landscape, shown in a triptych portrait.
Woman in red skirt and white blouse poses with a musket rifle on sandy dunes under a blue sky.
Woman in red skirt playing violin on ancient ruins in a desert landscape under cloudy skies.
Woman holding a shotgun over her shoulder in a shooting vest at sunset in a desert landscape.

 

If you're an athlete in Northern New Mexico — high school, junior Olympic, college-bound — and you want portraits that tell the whole story of what you do, we'd love to photograph you. Reach out at quietlight.photo to book your session.


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