The Making of Gray Malin at San Ysidro Ranch!

Hi Friends,

I want to introduce you to my newest series, Gray Malin at San Ysidro Ranch. This historic hotel is tucked away in the foothills of Santa Barbara offering peace and privacy under the canopies of oak and sycamore trees — making it a perfect backdrop for this creative collection. Although it has quite the list of famous guests that have stayed there over the past century, this series highlights the stunning grounds of the hotel with new, unexpected visitors.



From a zebra upon arrival, a camel in the wedding garden, longhorns at lunch and vintage cars carrying precious cargo this collection plays into the serenity of the ranch with a magical twist. I invite you all behind the scenes of this shoot! Here’s a little bit about the final images and how we captured them…



We shot this in July of 2023 which means the weather was perfect – warm, breezy and ideally sunny in only the way the California coast can be. I knew I wanted to shoot next to the pool given the weather, and the horse was the only animal that could make this grand pool look to scale. The final image, Pool Day, San Ysidro Ranch turned out beautifully. With this series I wanted the animals and the property to really be the stars of the show so we kept props very minimal.



Welcome to San Ysidro Ranch was so fun with this longhorn — I love how impactful his horns are and the horizontal lines they create next to the San Ysidro Ranch sign. Plus, longhorns remind me of my Texas roots! We also shot Two Horses, San Ysidro Ranch and Wild Welcome, San Ysidro Ranch by the iconic San Ysidro Ranch sign. It was fascinating to see how the different animals made the vibe of each of these feel so distinct.





The ranch is tucked into the hills of Montecito which really gets highlighted in shots like this. The pairing of this tranquil rose garden and the shock-factor of the camel is such an unique pairing – I adore how the final Rose Garden image turned out. I’m always in awe of how large this animal is every time I see one.





As you may know, I love to add vintage cars to my series to really play into the retro feeling I admire so much. We worked with locally owned and operated Santa Barbara florist, Hogue & Co., to install bundles of lavender in the back of this vintage pickup truck. I think this was such a fun nod to the property’s lavender fields at the entrance.



I hope you enjoyed this little peek behind the scenes! Montecito and Santa Barbara are some of my favorite areas on the California coast so it was such an honor to be able to shoot at San Ysidro Ranch. If you ever find yourself in those areas check out my travel guides for both Montecito and Santa Barbara where I share some of my favorite spots and things to do.

xx Gray