Bull riding
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm, 212mm, f/5.6 @1/250s, ISO450
Second installment of my little mini series from the Rawhide Rodeo held here in town a couple of weeks ago. You can catch the first post here.
Like I said in my first rodeo post, I have a hard time understanding why a grown man would get on the back of a bull, that is tickled in the private parts area - and on top of that, just for fun. Dont get me wrong, its fun to look at, but that’s about the extend of it for me. Even in the pen before the event, the bulls look mean, so I assume it can only go downhill from there.
On to the images. Instead of making a post per image, I’ll show a few of my favorite shots from the bull riding event here in one post. I shot all my shots – about 800 shots – from my seat in the stands, so the control of light and background is a bit of a toss-up. But now I know that for the next time they are in town. I still think they are worth showing, but I’ll leave that up to you to decide.
Click on the images for a nice large view of the action.
Enjoy.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm, 210mm, f/5.6 @1/250s, ISO450
He didn’t last long. Btw, this guy had to take a trip to the emerge (mentioned in my previous post). Dislocated shoulder i think. They couldnt pop it back in to place on site. – Yep, cowboys are tough..
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm, 210mm, f/5.3 @1/250s, ISO450
A really bad spot to be in – cause….
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm, 212mm, f/5.6 @1/250s, ISO360
… just because you are done with the bull, doesn’t mean the bull is done with you. – I would probably need to change my pants if i laying in the dirt right there. Look at his left arm. Ouch!! Not good.. not good at all.
Next up: Rodeo clowns and other rodeo staff. Stay tuned.
Yeeeeeehaaaww
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm, 112mm, f5.6 @ 1/750sec, ISO200
I had a really cool experience last weekend. I had got my hands on some tickets to the annual Rodeo show. It was my first time at a rodeo, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I have seen it on TV a few times, but it’s not a sport I follow religiously. I brought my D300 and my longest lens, the 70-300mm, and it turned out to be a the right choice. Of course, if I have had the 70-200 f2.8 it would have been better, but I don’t own that lens…yet
The rodeo is a cool way to see cowboys and girls in full gear, riding beautiful horses, wearing great outfits (that category belongs to the girls only) and of course the atmosphere. Lots of spectators were sporting a cowboy hat as well. The southern state accent from the announcer was very fitting and of course the rodeo clown. It was all a lot of fun. I would definitively go again, just because of the atmosphere.
Now, there’s something I don’t get. How would anyone in their right mind get on the back of a 1500+ lbs. bull with testies the size of baseballs, put a strap around the said area of the bull, and then let it out of the pen. The object is to stay on the bull for 8 sec. The amount jumping the bull does is also a part of the final score. At the same time try not the stomped on when one can’t hold on to the bull anymore. One guy got hurt badly and had to take a trip to emerge.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm, 210mm, f5.6 @ 1/500sec, ISO200
This guy took awhile to get up. I think he had trouble breathing properly right after he fell off.
Anyway, I’ll start of the Rodeo image fest with the shots above. – there will be more…
Be sure to click on the images to view a larger version.
Enjoy.
Morning on the lake
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm, 70 mm, f/6.7, 1/500 sec, ISO200, Panorama - 16 images
On a trip down Hwy 6 to Manitoulin Island back in October last year, I drive through the town of Espanola. – See more shots and post from the town here, here and here. That morning the fog was pretty heavy and on a hunch I took a detour down on Panage Lake Rd, just in case I would get lucky, and I didn’t get disappointed. It took about an 1 hour before the fog was burned of enough to get this shot – well, shots actually. It’s a panorama made from about 16 images, 8 shots in 2 rows. But in the mean time, I had a lot of fun shooting the morning mist or fog which is magical in a picture. It’s peaceful and a bit mystical. Not a bad thing in an image if you ask me.
Traverse City, MI
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300mm, 195mm, f/5.6, 1/750 sec, ISO200
This shot is from the 2011 World Wide Photo walk in Traverse City, MI. The walk was divided up in three parts. About an hour on the harbor front, and then you could choose to do either a downtown Traverse shoot or a drive up on the Old Mission peninsula for some spectacular views over the vineyards. I chose the latter and in hindsight, I should have done the city part of the walk instead. Now I know for next time. I got my bests shots from the harbor, and I choose to submit this one – and I’m glad I did.
Chutes
The fall colors has peaked up here and are starting to look a bit faded, some trees are bare and getting ready for next year.
Its Thanksgiving weekend and the weather the last week has been absolutely outstanding. Currently its 23°C outside which is pretty good for Northern Ontario in the month of October.
I went for a quick drive down the highway to Chutes Prov. Park to capture some tight shots of the falls there. The sun was out so it was perfect conditions to play with my new variable ND filter. (I still can’t believe I didn’t get around to buy one before now…) It is so cool to slow down the shutter speed and get the silky feeling of running water even in direct sunlight without the blinkies.
The shot above was a complete surprise when I looked on the LCD screen on the camera, it looked like gold was running down stream.
Nikon D300, Nikkor 70-300, 70 mm, f/22, 1/8 sec ISO200
