Behind The Lens: 2011 - The best of rodeo

A bullfighter attempts to get the steer’s attention during Tyrell Ward’s ride Sept. 5 at the Cochrane Lions Club’s Labour Day Rodeo.

Cochrane is a very western town. Over the course of the year I covered 5 rodeos and a PBR bullriding event. The nice thing about rodeo is that great images can be made regardless of whether the cowboy (or cowgirl) has a successful ride.

Wade Jober of Viking missed his steer and ended up landing on his head at the Dogpound Rodeo July 20.

This year most of my success has come from the unsuccessful rides. Some of those shots include the steer wrestler above who overshot his steer and the pair of bullriders, at bottom, who ended up with hard landings.

Water Valley trick rider Shelby Cummings performs at the Dogpound stampede.

Although it is definitely not one of my best action photos the shot below is one of my favourites. This year when we started to run preview stories in the Eagle for the PBR event, to be held in town in the darkest arena there is, I was not excited to say the least.
I knew that no matter how good the action, available light images would be of terrible quality, especially when compared against the outdoor rodeo pictures taken throughout the rest of the year.
I decided that if I could get permission, it was time to try something new. After speaking to both the arena manager and event organizer, I got permission to set up my studio lights for the event. I am very proud of the experience I gained and the success I had setting up the lights and shooting the event to get sharp wonderfully lit images.