Photographed on the Cooper Ranch in Decatur, Texas, Patrick Bennett took this image of World Champion roper Tuf Cooper for Essentia Water’s social media campaign.

“This was part of a two-and-a-half year project showing influencers and overachievers who benefit from the [bottled water company’s] product,” Bennett explains. “I was asked to provide both still and video of Tuf, and since I rode horses growing up and have photographed cowboys in the past, I was unafraid to ask Tuf if his horse would stop right in front of me as I kneeled in the dirt. He assured me his horse, Johnny, wouldn’t run over me, so I said without hesitation, ‘Let’s do it.’ ”

This image, adds Bennett, became the cover image for the 2018 Best of ASMP contest. A series of images was awarded in addition to this image.

(Shot with a Canon 5DS and a 16-35mm f/4L lens, with two Profoto B1X flashes on either side of Tuf and his horse.)

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