Often on a photography road trip, you find yourself going to bed long after sunset and waking up well before sunrise. Renting a hotel room for just a few hours of sleep rarely makes sense.

After a long day on the road during a trip from Utah to Colorado, my wife, our dog, and I pulled over for the night on BLM land in Wyoming. Before heading out on this journey, we had built a bed platform in the back of our truck for this exact reason. We could now wake up right where we planned to shoot the next morning.

The landscape around us was a vast expanse of sagebrush and high plains, creating a terrain that felt endlessly open. A few hundred feet away, a herd of wild horses grazed peacefully, completely minding their own business. As daylight faded fast, we climbed into the back of the truck and tucked into bed for the night.

Just a few minutes later, we started hearing strange noises. I peeled back the window cover, only to find the entire herd standing right there, staring directly back at us. The moment we settled in, they must have trotted straight over to check things out. I had no idea wild horses were that curious! They sniffed all around the truck, peering inside to see what we were up to. It was both hilarious and incredibly endearing.

The next morning as we drove away, I looked out to see a wild stallion running at full speed, his mane glowing in the early morning light. It’s an image I’ll never forget.