A Reno Rodeo shot

Higgmeister

Just thought I'd share this. The backgrounds are all too busy. I'm busy trying to fix some of that with some suggestions made in the technique thread. This one has not been fixed.


I don't think the horse wanted to dance. If you look close, you'll see the front hoofs are also off the ground. I bet the rider was wishing the ground was a lot softer:D.

Thanks for looking,
Chris

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
1/250s f/2.8 at 100.0mm iso800

Ann McRae

I think all this one needs is a crop - nice and tight to the horse and rider. I can't decide right now if vertical or horizontal would be better. Vertical would let the other rider be in the shot.


Great action, and I don't recall any rodeo shots that do not have busy backgrounds. Its the nature of the game.

ann

Higgmeister

Hi Ann,
I was trying to keep the shadow of the rider in the frame, but it's not dark enough to really matter. I'll try some other crops, I have lots of room since this is cropped about 50%.
I noticed the pro shots of the same event were real busy as well, and the photog was in the arena with a BIG lens. That made me feel better about my shots and the background.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions,
Chris

Higgmeister

Here is another one
A tighter crop.


He looks a little concerned:hurt. His hang time was good though.

Thanks for looking,
Chris

Canon EOS 20D ,Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM
1/1000s f/2.8 at 100.0mm iso800

Gator

Wow, I like 'em both! Rodeo's are great fun and provide fantastic photo ops! They are always full of raw emotion and bravado! After looking at them back and forth, I think I really like the second best! That rider's face is priceless!

tmlphoto

Interesting method of dismounting. Nice shot.

ian408

Not seen too many rodeo shots. These are kinda nice.

Ian

Higgmeister

Thanks for the comments,
It was a very dramatic dismount, one that I never want to try. The rodeo was a ball and I'll definately do this again. I'm going to pull the top 20 or so and post a gallery. I took a little over 500 photos in the 2.5 hours time, so 20 may be hard to keep to.
Action is the name of the game for both animal and rider. I covered all the events and will have some from them all. The barrel racing was quite competitive and was exciting to watch just as much as the bull riding.

Thanks again for the comments. I'll post here when I get the gallery done; it's going to have to wait till I get back from vacation though.

Keep on bucking,
Chris

ginger_55

Chris, I love it! The rodeo, I used to go to them, in Colorado, a long time ago, the fifties.

Am sure I saw the same dismounts, but this one looks better than it did to a teenager in the stands.

good shooting. I do like the crop, too.

ginger

lynnma

First thing outta my mouth was "oh wow what a great shot".. very active and says lots of stuff! I wish the black horse was not quite as distracting in the background of the second shot. Great catch

Higgmeister

Hi Lynn,
Thanks for the comment. I may clone out the horse in the second one, I think I can manage that one. The original frame showed 98% of the front horse and the entire horse and rider in the background. This one has quite a tight crop. The problem with just about every shot is it's so busy. Some of the less busy shots (but lots of action) are the barrel racing. I was able to isolate the subject better. A clear background seems to be an exception for rodeo shots:cry.
If you like action sports shots, I can't recommend a rodeo enough. Even if you aren't into the rodeo scene, a decent seat will almost guarantee some great action shots. People are always falling down on the job:D.

Chris

Angelo

Hey Chris - I remember when you first posted these: nice adjustment on #1, it's a perfect capture of a live rodeo event. and #2 is just great also.

Higgmeister

Thanks Angelo,
When I get back from vacation, I'll be processing the rest, plus vacation, plus IR cemetery, plus resignation series, plus bottle still life series, plus, plus... Is there an end? Too many Honey-Do's before vacation to process much of anything right now:cry though.

Thanks for the comments,
Chris

winger

mmmm cowboys, yum

Higgmeister

Hi Karen,

winger wrote:

mmmm cowboys, yum

.

You got a laugh outta me on this one. Thanks. I promise there will be more.

Chris