My immediate family relocated to Texas about 20 years ago. I grew up in Virginia, showing hunter and jumper horses and my mother rode American Saddlebreds, so I had a strong knowledge of the English disciplines of the horse industry. My western riding experience and knowledge — not so much. I’ve learned a lot in the last 20 years! Rodeo is one example of a western sport that I’ve had to learn the associated nuances of it such as the events that make up a rodeo and its unique terminology. I remember being quite surprised when we moved to Texas learning that rodeo is a high school sport here!
For a while now I have wanted to photograph a rodeo. I reached out to a well-known West Texas sports photographer, Paul Roberts of Paul Roberts Photography, asking for assistance. This guy is a fantastic high-action sports photographer and knows his stuff! Paul is a media photographer for Townsquare Media and Dave Campbell, covering the Texas Tech University Athletics Department as well as other area schools and sports teams. He has been photographing rodeos for years and has the skill, experience, and equipment to produce fantastic images – he even comes to a rodeo with the same 300 mm, 15-pound camera lens that he uses for football! Paul agreed to allow me to train under him, for which I am incredibly grateful! I’d suggest you go check out his work and even purchase some prints from him. You’ll be impressed.
This past Thursday night I headed out to the Post Stampede Rodeo in Post, Texas, a great local event celebrating its 80th year in 2020! The night was quite tiring but incredibly fun and I learned a ton. I had an excellent teacher. I definitely realized that I need to up my game in terms of the equipment I have to photograph outdoor high-speed action at night. For example, I need to invest in a couple of high-powered strobes. The one strobe light I brought didn’t cut it, so I ended up just turning it off and using my camera and ambient light only. That recipe guarantees grainy photos. Live and learn.
The Title Sponsor for this year‘s event was GermBlast, a great company that employs a number of friends including members of the Underwood family. They were there selling T-shirts and giving back the proceeds to the rodeo. Of course, I bought one! TNT Rodeo brought a great team with them for a great event. New attendance records were made each night this year.
I can’t wait to get ready for the next great rodeo, a great western life tradition.
In 2020, the Post Stampede Rodeo in Post, Texas celebrated 80 years of rodeo.
“Life isn’t always rodeos, cowboys, & horses. But it should be.”
