Cowichan Valley Travel, Tourism and Photography Information

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Luxton Pro Rodeo – Canadian Professional Rodeo Association

By Kevin on May 17, 2009 with Comments 3

Ready to Rope, Luxton Pro Rodeo, Luxton, British Columbia

It’s always a good experience to photograph an event for the first time that’s entirely different from anything else you have ever done. You go in with only a guess about what access will be like, what lenses might be of use and basically, no matter how much pre-planning you have done, anything can and will happen.

I had an opportunity to photograph the Luxton Pro Rodeo yesterday and after doing a little internet research and talking with the photographer I was travelling with I determined I had no idea what I was going to shoot or how I was going to shoot. Going in a little blind! Shooting this way actually excites me and is part of the reason I love photography.

I knew within a few minutes of arriving that I had made a huge strategic error. As we were walking to the coral the cowboys, friends, wives and others were grooming their horses, inspecting their ropes and making last minute preparations for the big event. Many of the cowboys were practicing their roping skills on fake cows, making it look so easy although I imagine when you are riding a horse the level of difficulty goes up dramatically. My big strategical error; I really should have lined up a press pass as I didn’t have access to this area. This behind the scenes preparation was something I would have loved to photograph, maybe next year!

We situated ourselves in an excellent area for getting the classic shots of man and horse chasing down cows, crazy guys riding bulls and all the other rodeo sort of stuff. I photographed from this location for a few minutes but decided that for what I was looking for I needed to get in closer. I spent the next three hours trying to get in close and actually managed to do surprisingly well without having credentials. This proves in some ways that anyone with general access can get photos that are a little more interesting than your everyday, typical photos that are shot by the crowds. Some of the photos worked, some didn’t and I’ll definitely be better prepared next year if I return.

As I was working on these images this morning I decided that a duotone treatment would suit the subject. It worked out OK I think.