Stampede #2

I shot my first Calgary Stampede Rodeo on July 11. It was sort of underwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I love to shoot rodeo. What I don't like are the crowded conditions, huge infield, and tight security.

Once you get over the hype, the Stampede Rodeo is a rodeo, same as any other rodeo I've ever shot anywhere in Alberta or Saskatchewan. The difference is the size of the infield. It is huge at the Stampede which makes lens selection tricky, especially for me who has limited shooting positions thanks to the nature of my press pass.

The press pass limits where I can go, namely I'm not allowed in the pit which I'm told is the best place to be.

All told the pics are the same as any rodeo, but its not as fun because of how restricted it is.

To finish positively though the rodeo goes fast, and its still a rodeo after all, one of my favourite events to cover with lots of great photos.

Stampede #1

The Stampede has arrived again, and for the first time since I started working in photography, I'll be covering part of the spectacle.

The Stampede, for me, started at 5:45 a.m. on July 9. When I found out I would have to wake up that early I felt a little like Bart Simpson, there's a five in the morning? I had to be up this early because I was riding in the Stampede Parade.

Originally the Eagle's Publisher, Jack Tennant, was going to ride with the Cochrane Posse. The Posse had invited several children from the Children's Wish foundation to ride with them and use disposable camera's to record their experiance. Jack was going to photograph them until he realized that if someone from the Eagle was going to ride in the parade and take photos they should know what they're doing. Thats where the early wake up call and I came in.

I had to be at the Fort Calgary at 6:30 a.m. so that everyone involved had time to get organized onto their horses or wagon and head off to the judges.

Although it was painful to wake up that early, I can now say that not only was I a participant in the Calgary Stampede Parade, but that I was with the Cochrane Posse when they won first place for Best Western Heritage Entry.

It was a neat experiance to be in the parade, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt, it is a terrible way to see or cover the parade.

Lacrosse, Lacrosse, and more Lacrosse

I photographed the Box Lacrosse Tournament at the Soccer Dome for a friend of mine over the July 3-5 weekend. Although it was really nice to be shooting a lot of sports again, it reinforced why I like working in journalism so much.

The best part of newspapers is getting to photograph something different every day, I like the variety of shooting portraits, features and spot news. Lacrosse is fun to shoot but after three days of 10 plus hours each it gets to be a little much. I also prefer shooting for the best image as opposed to tournament photography where the focus is on quantity not quality.

That said, other than the cough I caught, it was fun but not something I'd want to do more frequently than once every six months or so.

NEW JOB, NEW BLOG

To quote my sisters blog, "Basically, this blog has been a long time coming." When I left St. Albert and moved home to Calgary I had 3 goals:

1. Find work - For me this meant an new staff photographer job, hopefully in Southern Alberta, as well as getting enough freelance work and contacts to support myself until I found the right staff job.

2. Update my website - Updating my website was a bit of a no brainer, I needed my new contact info up as well as my best and most recent work online, if I wanted to be found and impress potential freelance clients.

3. Start a blog - I follow and have been impressed by other reporter and photographers blogs and wanted to try my hand at it, especially since I felt I may need to get back into writing in a big way if the only work I could find was as a reporter/photographer

The first two goals worked out reasonably well, My site has been updated and although I haven't done as much freelance as I want, I have made some good contacts. Where freelance has been lacking, a staff job hasn't. I am the new staff photographer of the Cochrane Eagle weekly newspaper.

The blog sort of stalled out, when I was working full time again, but I've put aside my excuses and will now be updating this blog regularly, detailing my life and work as a photojournalist.

The first Photo I took for the Eagle