The Story Behind The Image: “Wine Cowboy”.

Sometimes the outtake is the best take.

Feb 18, 2025

Side Note: Even though images are all around us, we rarely delve deeper into how they came to be. As such, in this series, I share the stories behind some of my images. You can read the complete (growing) series here.

The “Outtake” that became the leading image.

Those small in between moments, they’re special.

And they happen when you least expect them, too.

So, when you’re on a photoshoot - like I was in the case of the image above - you always have to be observing. You see, we were creating a series of images for Pieter (in frame up top) for a European campaign of his wine.

Working with natural light only.

In a wine cellar / shed on a very warm Stellenbosch afternoon.

The concept was to create a series of images showing him in his natural environment, making wine (and related processes).

In between the different sets, there was a moment where he cleaned up and re-labeled some of the barrels for a particular image I had in mind.

This is when that little in between moment happened.

It’s strange.

Like time slows down.

And as you observe this moment, you know this is it.

Photographically - for me - it’s when things just magically make sense.

Fortunately, my camera was in my hand (I was also helping move things around) as I half stumbled to frame it up, and I managed to capture him in a moment of “confused looking reflection” for the lack of a better word.

Oh, and the image we were working towards?

See below:

The “Main Image / Set” we were working towards when the “Outtake” happened.

Now, if you know Pieter, you know he is not your normal wine maker.

He is rough around the edges and does things in an unusual way, from making his wine to labelling and selling it.

Some people love it, others hate it.

You can check his wines out here: https://blankbottle.co.za

Anyway, after the photoshoot, during the editing process as I was reviewing the images, I thought to myself that the image up top just had that something special.

It reminded me of one of those classic scenes from those old western movies, where a cowboy walks into a gritty, dimly lit bar / saloon, but captured in a photograph (yes, the hat helped!).

It isn’t a perfect image by any means.

But it is real.

Raw.

It has depth.

And it makes me think.

It really was a beautiful moment.