Angier+Fox, Celebrating Rural America & beyond

Every late winter and early spring in the Sierra Nevada Foothills for the past 160 years the local cowboys of Italian and German descent have branded and marked their new crop of calves. Many came during the Gold Rush and found a different kind of gold in the Mother Lode in both feeding the miners and in the land. Today the sixth and seventh generation cattle men and women are still working the land and keeping it in trust for the next generations.

Cattle marking and branding in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Amador County in late winter with the Busi & Dell'Orto families.

Winter cattle branding in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Amador County, California, with multi-generation ranching families.

Farming, crops, farms, harvest, vegetables, fruit and more in California and the West.

Spring cattle branding on the Busi Ranch in Amador County, Calif.

Real Amador County cowboys moving their cattle from one ranch at the end of spring to the home spread for later transport up to the mountains for vegetation control and cooler weather.

Winter calf branding, doctoring and marking at the Red Barn Calaveras County, California where the Sierra Nevada Foothills meet the San Joaquin Valley in Central California. Beginning with the California vaqueros in the 18th century, cowboys continue to mark and brand their cattle using horses and lariats in this timeless tradition in the lush pastures of state.

California cowboys during spring in Monterey County, Calaveras County and Amador County. Included are spring doctoring, marking, branding. Family ranchers, rural California, food production. Cattle and horses, dogs, and hard work. Cattle drives and gathering cattle.

Portraits from the Chestnut Roast are photographs of families and friends at this long-time gathering the Saturday after Thanksgiving near Jackson, Calif. It is a tradition started many, many years ago by local Italian ranchers to gather and enjoy each others' company and give thanks for their long-time friendships.

Cattle marking on a clear day during winter in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Amador County, California. For more than 300 years, cowboys have raised cattle in California and each year gather them to mark and brand the calves.

After a long day of the fall cattle gathering in the High Sierra of Amador County, it's time to wind down in the cabin at Cow Camp.

America's own sport, Rodeo, not by elite athletes who can't shovel manure, but from every day cowboys and ranch hands who actually work the land and livestock in rural Oregon, Idaho and Nevada.

Cattle marking on a clear day during winter in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Amador County, California. For more than 300 years, cowboys have raised cattle in California and each year gather them to mark and brand the calves.

Portraits from the ranch is a personal series of portraits taken at a rural ranch in California's Mother Lode Gold Country. The photos are of friends, children and elders; multiple generations of families. Many are the descendants of immigrants who came to California in the 1850s and 1860s and still care for the land of their ancestors.

A few photos from a remote sheep ranch in Nevada's outback featuring the leppy (orphan) lambs at the Durferrena Ranch.