Land Rover Defender Photoshoot with Wolfe County Search and Rescue
There’s something humbling about photographing real-life heroes.
Back in 2022 I was asked to shoot still photos of the Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team’s Land Rover Defender driving through Kentucky’s Red River Gorge. I’ve been climbing and hiking in the Gorge for years, so I thought I was in for a scenic gig — cliffs, fog, maybe a few muddy splashes. What I didn’t expect was the quiet pride behind the wheel from the team members I captured.
I followed the team over sandstone ridges and through creek beds, camera clicking, watching them move like they belonged to the terrain. It wasn’t staged. They live this.
Photographing that Defender wasn’t about showing off the vehicle — it was about telling the story of the people who’d already gone above and beyond.
And the Defender isn’t just another truck for them. It was a hard-earned award for the Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team — local legends who spend their days (and nights) pulling people out of near-impossible situations. This vehicle was their prize from the Land Rover Above and Beyond Service Awards, an award that I helped them win in 2021 (see the video at the bottom of the post) as their video production partner.
Below is a gallery of just some of the awesome shots we got from those two days of driving around the Red River Gorge:
After spending time around the team for these media projects, it solidified my own resolve to commit to join the team myself, and in the fall of 2022 I officially became a part of Wolfe County Search and Rescue. I have already helped on dozens of rescues as a volunteer, and I’m continually honored to be a small part of such a selfless, professional team.
Below is the video we made for the Land Rover contest: