sport

Mar

2015

Sketches: Behind the Chutes

Last fall I attended several local rodeos here in New Mexico: the Casper Baca Roughstock Rodeo Fall Series and the Bosque Farms Rodeo Association Fall Rodeo. Both rodeos allowed me up-close access, for which I am grateful. This kind of access allowed for photographs beyond the action in the arena and a glimpse into the focus and preparation involved in rodeo competition.

Recently a short series of behind the scenes images from these rodeos were posted on my Instagram, Facebook, and Flickr feeds but were neglected here. This post rectifies that.

A young cowboy awaits his 8 seconds on the steer. Bull riding is as much a mental game as it is a physical one.

Bull and Rider

A bull rider sits on a bull in the chutes leading to the bucking chute. A sense of familiarity appears to exist for both cowboy and bull.

A cowboy awaits his ride. There is a lot of time spent waiting for the 8 seconds aboard a bull.

A cowboy perhaps ponders what could have been after a Bosque Farms Rodeo Association Rodeo, Bosque Farms, New Mexico.

Nov

2014

Rodeo Warmup

Went to a rodeo this past Halloween. Lots of them around these parts.

A little warm-up.

Apr

2013

Hopes and Dreams

Baseball, it would seem, has begun again. The twitters is all aflutter; boasts and threats and promises are being made on Facebook. Some are claiming that all is right again in the world; baseball for them is akin to civil rights, justice, even oxygen.

This is an image from my project-in-process: On The Bench, for which I received Rear Curtain’s Fellowship Award to support its completion. A bit of a preview, if you will. A teaser. Happy baseball everyone!

Aug

2012

Sketches: Autograph

Jul

2011

Polo Teaser 3

I’m still working on my series of images taken from the polo tournament I attended a couple of weeks back. It has been a lot of fun editing the images down and I have arrived at about 19 that I want to keep to make a visual story. But I’m a bit stuck as to sequencing and whether all the images need to be included. So, I’ve decided to print them out and sort through them manually rather than digitally. There is just something magical when I can include the tactile element in my decision making process. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this outtake photo. I had originally cropped it down to include only the two players attacking the ball, but I’m finding I’m liking this crop too.

I’ve made this and the other polo images available for sale because the players have expressed some interest. I’m aware the “buy buttons” can be a bit distracting and I do try to keep them off my blog. Instead I prefer to have them on my “Purchase” page but for ease of ordering by my “models” I’m making an exception here. Thank you for understanding.

Jul

2011

Polo Teaser 2

I’m working on my series of images from the polo match I shot 4th of July weekend and have been dying to post some images but don’t want to give too much away. I’m hoping the series can stand on its own. However, I thought I might post an outtake. Here is Diego Flores riding Peanut during one of the chukkers.