Latent Potential #9 Bozeman, Montana 2013

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Latent Potential #8 Bozeman, Montana 2013

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Spent beauty #1 Bozeman, Montana 2013

This new series, Spent Beauty, is a spin-off of the Latent Potential series I’ve been working on. When I go out looking for dried grasses and plants that have gone to seed, I keep finding some that don’t have seeds on them but that I like anyway; hence the new collection. This particular type of grass I’ve never seen before. In fact, I didn’t think it was a single plant at first. It looks like some pine needles got stuck on some kind of more common grass stem. But as far as I could tell they are actually part of the plant. Strangely, there was nothing else like it in the area where I found it; nothing that resembled it even if it didn’t have the strange arrangement of  parts. The “needles” or whatever they are seem pretty tightly bound, at least they didn’t come off in the shaking and bumping that occurred in walking with them between where I found them and my studio. How they ended up woven that way must be an interesting story. Too bad I don’t know what it is.]]>

Confronting Superman Bozeman, Montana 2013

This rodeo clown was wearing a Superman t-shirt and matching cape. I don’t think the bull was particularly impressed.]]>

Topsy Turvy Bozeman, Montana 2013

Just looking at this photo makes my wrist hurt.

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Just Another Face in the Crowd Bozeman, Montana 2013

Rodeos are really fun to watch, although you can’t tell that from this somber bunch.

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Stretching for the Finish Bozeman, Montana 2013

Another serious competitor in the barrel racing event.

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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.]]>

Go Rope Yourself Bozeman, Montana 2013

At first glance it looks like this cowboy is in the process of roping himself rather than the calf he is after. (Just for fun, I was tempted to use Photoshop to hide the part of the rope going across the front of his hat to really make it look that way.) If he were to actually rope himself by accident, I’m sure all those fine fellows behind him would have all sorts of advice regarding the situation, e.g., how he might as well go ahead and hogtie himself too as long as he was at it.]]>

Rodeo Two-Step Bozeman, Montana 2013

I think the reason this guy has his right foot so high up in the air is because he’s still in the process of getting off his horse. Once the rider ropes the calf and starts to dismount, the horse is trained to start backing up in order to keep the line taut; so shortly after the boot clears the stirrup (way before it has time to hit the ground) the horse has already stepped back a couple of feet.]]>