Robyn Mumford, owner of a home-based photography business, grew up on a ranch near Alexis Creek and did all the right things.
She spent 11 years in 4-H, got a diploma in Equine Production and Breeding Management at Olds College in Alberta, and was well on her way to establishing an agrarian career close to her roots. Then something happened.
Somewhere along the way Robyn decided to follow a different path. She left the farm and ambitions to breed fancy horses, and pursued her passion to view the world through her camera lens.
“You’d think I would be breeding fancy horses for the Olympics, which was my lifelong dream, but my true love is photography,” she confesses.
Robyn photographed her first wedding in 2005, and hasn’t looked back. She formed her own business Robyn Louise Photography and now she has more than 160 weddings under her belt taken in five different countries, and seems to have found her niche.
“I have photographed weddings in Canada, the USA, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, and Holland,” she says. “As a photographer, I am truly inspired by each and every couple’s unique personality, beauty, and love.”
Last year Robyn created a cowgirls calendar featuring majestic horses, the magnificent scenery of British Columbia, and the natural beauty of real cowgirls.
Back by popular demand, she has put together a 2014 cowgirl calendar, only this time with a decided edge. The 12 stunning ladies with their magnificent horses also includes some tasteful nudity.
“It makes a great stocking stuffer, perfect for your husband, boyfriend, brother, father, uncle, neighbour or boy next door,” Robyn quips. “Or just get it for yourself.”
Robyn describes her work as real, classic and romantic.
“I capture moments as they happen and believe that these truly are what memories are created by.”
In documenting weddings she strives to take natural, expressive photographs, capturing the emotional connections between the couple.
“Anyone can tell a person to smile and take their photograph, but I attempt to capture genuine emotions,” she says.
Robyn’s success speaks for itself. In 2007 one of her photographs of a couple riding horses in their full wedding attire won first place in an international wedding photography contest.
In 2012 she place fourth out of 2,500 engagement photos submitted to in the Bride.ca contest.
The idea for Robyn’s nude cowgirl calendar kind of sprung out of her work as a wedding photographer.
“I’m often asked to photograph boudoir and pinup shoots of brides before their weddings to give as gifts to their husbands on their wedding day, so I decided to create my own version of horse pinups and last year, I photographed and printed my first cowgirl calendar, all in the month of September.”
She says it was a huge success and a no-brainer to make a second edition for 2014.
“This past year I spent photographing nearly nude cowgirls and their horses in all four different seasons all over British Columbia.”
The Canadian Cowgirls calendar can be found in discrete locations around the Cariboo.
At the Hobbit House, Dandelion Living, Station House Gallery and High Country Pawn Shop in Williams Lake, and at Love Styles Adult (formerly The Love Shack) in Quesnel. The calendar can also be ordered online by logging on to www.canadiancowgirlcalendar.com.