MARBLE, COLORADO, IS “REMINGTON COUNTRY”
OutWest Guides provided locations, horses, guides, and dogs for 5-day photo shoot
 When you’re looking at those gorgeous Remington Firearms advertisements in the hunting magazines such as Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, Bugle, Fair Chase (the Boone & Crockett Club magazine), and Petersen’s Hunting, you might often wonder where in the heck those gorgeous photos were taken.
Since 2004, most of the photos you’ve seen have been taken right here in Marble, Colorado, with OutWest Guides. In the early autumn of 2003, OutWest Guides was contacted by a Denver location scout who was looking for an all-inclusive location to shoot catalogue, website, and magazine advertisements for Remington’s upcoming marketing campaigns involving both big game hunting and upland bird hunting situations.
Since OutWest Guides owner Gary Hubbell is a freelance writer and photographer with photo credits in dozens of magazines, it was a natural fit. “The locations in Marble, of course, are stunning,” Gary said. “But not many outfitters know what a production company is looking for. Having put together many photo shoots myself, I had a clear idea of what they were after, and it went together fairly quickly.”
Most of the guides that Gary employs had done photo shoots for Gary in the past, so they knew what to expect. “I have a list of guys who have modeled for me in the past, including Ian McLendon, Dave Rasmus, Lorren Britain, Adam Sahnow, and Rob Crawford, among others. Not only are they good-looking guys, they’re all very competent hunters and outdoorsmen, so the photos were going to look very realistic.”
Eric Barnes was coordinating the shoot for Brothers and Company, an advertising agency based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, that specializes in hunting, fishing, and outdoors advertising campaigns. According to Eric, the first problem was finding an outfitter who understood the dynamics of a photo shoot. “In recent years, we started building a photography library for our client, Remington Arms Co. The first category of photography was high country (big game and upland). We contacted several outfitters, but of all we talked to, Gary Hubbell and OutWest Guides seemed to understand our needs the best. With his experience as a professional photographer, Gary seemed to understand our needs the best.”
 Ken Redding, a very experienced outdoor photographer from Grand Junction, Colorado, was the shooter on the production. “I really enjoyed working with Ken,” said Gary. “I learned a lot from him, and we’ve become good friends.”
Gary remembers how the ad agency folks presented him with a mock-up drawing of the Remington Arms Co. 2004 catalogue cover. “It had a drawing of a guy walking up through a meadow, with timber in the middle ground and a rocky peak in the background. They wanted it to look like he’s leaving for a day’s hunt up in some beautiful high country. I took them out to our horse meadow in Marble and showed them the exact situation they’d described, with Chair Mountain and Prospect Mountain in the background. I said, ‘Like this?’ and they said, ‘Yeah! Like that! Exactly like that!’ and the next day, we photographed Lorren Britain walking up that meadow with a Remington rifle in hand. That’s the cover of the 2004 catalogue.”
“Gary handled every detail, including talent and locations,” said Eric Barnes. “Each of the models was an experienced outdoorsman, which added to the authenticity of the shoots. Each had also worked on previous photo shoots, so they understood their roles well.”
Not only were the models first-rate, but so were the animals, according to Barnes. “Gary also provided horses and dogs for our photo shoots, and each animal performed above expectations and added another dimension to the photography.” Eric particularly liked Gary’s two English pointers, Dottie and Timber, Gary said. “They stayed on point for the longest time, and Eric’s a big-time quail hunter,” Gary said. “He ended up asking me if I was going to breed them, so he could reserve a puppy.”
Remington now has a body of work that will keep fresh images in their ads for years to come. “In a five-day photo shoot, we worked through our entire shot list, and provided our client with outstanding images that are regularly used in Remington’s catalogue, website, and print advertising campaigns, and will be incorporated for years to come,” Barnes said.
“Gary Hubbell’s professionalism made our photo shoot successful beyond our expectations, and our client was thrilled with the results,” Barnes said.
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