2013 Bend Polar Plunge

Two weekends – two plunges!

Had a chance to head on over to Bend this last weekend to snap a few photos from their Polar Plunge to support Oregon Special Olympics.  A great crowd!

This weekend I wore thicker socks and it made a huge difference in keeping my feet warm while wearing the waders. 

And just in case you missed them – here are a few from the Corvallis Plunge.

(Thanks, again, Jim, for loaning me the waders.  They worked great.)

Rugby: CWU at OSU

Well – it’s been a couple of seasons since I’ve shot rugby – so I carved out a couple of hours on a chilly Saturday to go catch the Beavers and Wildcats.

Central Washington insured this wasn’t a close contest – but it was a good opportunity to go out and burn a few bits.

And if anybody has a good suggestion for photo-friendly gloves – I’m all ears. 

A Few From 2012

At the end of the year – I like this process of digging through the year’s photo shoebox and culling it to a few that I find striking.  Is there a unifying theme among the group?  No – not really.  But for some quirky reason or another – they’ve made the list.

So (in mostly) no particular order – here are a few from the year.

Here a man  at an assisted living home holds onto an ornament given to him by a six year old girl.  Her church group had visited to sing Christmas carols.From the NW Art & Air Festival.  Two photos – two photos of hands.  Hmmm….

Another one from the NW Art & Air Festival.

My wife and daughter really enjoyed the butterfly farm.  I know this particular butterfly is not quite “picture perfect” – but I really liked the contrast with this photo.

From the Philomath Classic Car Show – shot with a Lensbaby – if I recall correctly it was the Sweet 35 optic.

Coaching instructions to the Inn Keepers during rehearsal for the annual Christmas pageant.

Butterflies and flowers in the same list!  This one from the Wooden Show annual tulip festival.  Fun with the fisheye.

Someone quipped that this may be the most photographed tree in the world.  It’s possible.  This is from our afternoon at the Portland Japanese Garden.  Every time I open this photo up in Lightroom – I tweak it – still trying to get the oranges / reds / yellows / greens to match the photo in my head.

I have a blog post somewhere in the Drafts folder on our afternoon at the Portland Japanese Garden – but until I dig it up and dust it off – here’s another one.

From the Oregon Special Olympics – bocce ball.  I’ll be honest – I spent a few frames trying to get this one.  Not sure why – but I just really wanted to catch the ball bouncing with the trailing artificial dirt springing in the air. When you’re shooting rodeo – it’s seldom a good idea to have this shot on your proof sheet. 

It’s not often that two bull riding shots would make the list (typically it’s steer wrestling or saddle / bareback bronc …).  Here’s another one from the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo.

From a family shoot this last fall – they made sure to bring their Orange and Black. A heck of a lot of fun.  Go Beavers!

Some wild irises from a sunrise shoot with Jim at Finley Wildlife Refuge.Here’s Jim and Hugh walking back to the car after our last photo shoot together.  We miss you, Hugh.

Bull Fighting through the Eyes of the Bull Fighter

This is a great video from friend and fellow photographer Paul King – the guy who patiently showed me the ropes of rodeo photography.

Bottom line: Bull fighter (Jason McCall) + GoPro camera = Great 3 Minute Clip

 

Rodeo Week: Rough Stock

And to wrap up Rodeo Week – here are a few rough stock photos from the 2012 Philomath Frolic and Rodeo.

The concept?  Just hold on for 8 seconds with one hand.

In no particular order:

• Bareback bronc.
• Bull riding.
• Readying for a bull ride.
• Saddle bronc.
• Not all rides go to plan.
• Saddle bronc.
• Bareback bronc.
• Time to move to another shooting location. 

Rodeo Week: Bullfighters

Two good guys: Cody Harsch and Jason McCall.  In the bottom photo – you can see Jason wearing a GoPro camera on his hat (provided by Paul King).

Rodeo Week Bonus: Donkey Racing!

OK – maybe Donkey Racing isn’t much of a bonus    – but I thought I’d just share it with you all (just in case you’ve not yet had a chance to see this).

The idea is straight forward: A team of two has a single donkey. One person rides the donkey (with no saddle) the length of the arena – while the other often has the rope – hopefully guiding the donkey and rider down the course. Then the teammates swap positions and the other one rides the donkey to the finish line. Easy concept – difficult in execution.

Over the years – I’ve seen a number of techniques – neither of these are uncommon.

Rodeo Week: Steer Wrestling

Steer wrestling.  Easy concept: jump from a speeding horse onto a running steer and simply apply the brakes.

Rodeo Week Bonus: It’s (Not) About the Gear

As it turns out – my 6 year old daughter likes to sling a camera, too.

This one is from the bleachers with her red $77 HP point and shoot camera.  She took it upon herself to crop it cuz she felt it looked better with some of the background removed. 

Her favorite editing software?  The stuff that came with her first Crayola digital camera.  One day (about a year ago) she was playing with it – and when I looked up – she had completely removed all of the people from one of her tulip festival photos and replaced them with blue sky.

I’m beginning to wonder if she’s been watching Scott Kelby tutorials instead of Imagination Movers…

Rodeo Week: A Bit of Backstage

There’s a lot going on backstage at a rodeo.  Here’s a bit from behind the chutes.