After not making the Top 10 (or even the Top 20) in Soul Searcher, Mabel and I came back swinging with a Top 10 win in City Slicker!

Originally, I had planned to shoot in downtown Rapid City, but our streets are basically a minefield of parking spots, parking meters, and traffic lights, none of which scream “clean city aesthetic.” So instead, I packed up Mabel and headed for the historic town of Deadwood, where the old architecture and neon signs felt just right for the theme.

The funny thing is, this challenge actually took two shoots to pull off. The first one was in the early morning city light: quiet, soft, and simple. But then I realized something: the neon lights downtown were still glowing at 4:30 a.m., and they gave everything such a fun, cinematic vibe. So back we went, this time up even earlier! Mabel and Aunt Toni were both good sports about dragging themselves out of bed twice and making the crazy early trek to Deadwood.

Of course, halfway up the road on the first shoot it hit me, this week was the Sturgis Rally. What if the streets were packed full of parked bikes?! Thankfully, the casinos clear the streets at night so they can get their morning deliveries, and the city crews can clean. Huge sigh of relief!

Luckily, the early morning delivery trucks left the streets empty just long enough for us to sneak in a shoot. And wow, was it worth it.

Shooting at night with a dog as your model is no easy feat. The final image was taken at 1/60 of a second, which any photographer knows is basically begging for blur. But Mabel? She sat perfectly still, like she knew this one mattered. I was ridiculously proud of her.

The lights behind her created this incredible effect, so many people commented they looked like wings. Honestly, I can’t unsee it now. My little angel dog, glowing under the Deadwood neon, holding her pose like a pro.

Somewhere between the two shoots, I also managed to turn my poor dog into an Old West cowboy. Don’t ask me how I convince her to do these things, she’s just a good sport who humors her slightly over ambitious photographer mom. One of these days, she’s going to start invoicing me for wardrobe changes.

Once again, these challenges are pushing me (and Mabel) in the best ways. From wide open Badlands skies to quiet city streets at dawn, we’re building a scrapbook of adventures together and collecting a few Top 10s along the way.

Wow, am I behind on writing these! I just wrapped up the last challenge, so expect a bunch of blog posts over the next few days as I catch up. Mabel’s been busy collecting ribbons, and I’m finally finding the time to share them all.

Want to see all of the City Slicker winners? Check out the full Top 10 list here:
👉 https://www.unleashed.education/blog/embark-city-slicker-top-10