Seriously Charming
Bozeman, Montana
2013
It’s a little hard to tell from this close-up shot perhaps but this young woman is right in the middle of her barrel racing run at the rodeo. There’s nothing dainty about riding a horse as fast as you can while circling around barrels, as I found out when photographing close enough to the action to be in the trajectory of all the dirt the horse’s hooves kicked up when turning tightly around a barrel near me. It’s like a four-legged freight train going by. But this rider still seems to look, if not dainty, quite elegant in a rodeo queen kind of way. I found the dangling earrings a particularly charming contrast with her look of concentration and the intense action going on.]]>
Seriously Charming
Bozeman, Montana
2013
Hey Larry, Glad to see you’re still shooting rodeos. Strangely, I feel a sense of loss when I look at them. The world has gone to atv’s and razors driven by pot-bellied men in plaid trousers, and I don’t believe this is a good thing. But as long as there are rodeos in places like Augusta and Chester, (or even Bozeman-gone-Jackson) then there is hope. And no one I’d rather record it. You’ve got a nice way with light.
OBTW, many thanks for the kind remarks on “Root Ball”. I’ve been shooting a bit, but not processing very much. Hate to sit down at the computer after a long day at work. Maybe when snow flies…
Thanks for the comments Jeff. I agree with them, except for the reference to Bozeman-gone-Jackson–how insulting! 🙂 Your comment about not being able sit down at a computer after a long day of work is interesting. When I worked on the computer all day at the INL I still came home and worked on photography for several hours most evenings. Between work and the evenings, I spent so much time on the computer I started having shoulder troubles with my mouse hand (shoulder but not carpal tunnel for some reason). I solved that problem by training myself to use the mouse in my left hand at work and my right hand at home. Surprisingly that worked quite well and I still alternate hands today. It’s the only thing I’m truly ambidextrous at!