glennlancaster

Rodeo @ Jackson Hole, WY

The release man chases down the bare back rider after his 8 second run.

The release man chases down the bare back rider after his 8 second run.
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NIKON D700

settings

Aperture f/4 ISO 800 Shutter 10/4000 Focal Length 1050/10

upload_date

Aug, 2015

Views

880

Likes

+62

Awards

Featured

Contest Finalist in At The Rodeo Photo Contest

Peer Award

+38

Top Choice

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

Magnificent Capture

Outstanding Creativity

Superior Skill

All Star

Jaw Dropping

Exceptional Contrast

Top Ranks

Top 20 rank

Top 20 rank week 2

Top 20 rank week 1

Top 20 rank

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was take in Jackson Hole, WY @ The Jackson Hole International Rodeo.

Time

The picture was captured about 8:30 PM.

Lighting

Being that Wyoming is in the Northern Latitudes and this picture was captured in June just before the Summer Solstice, the daylight lingered well into the 10 PM range. The sun was near the horizon setting to the right of the frame and the stadium sodium vapor lights had been turned on about 15 minutes so the animals wouldn't have any harsh adjustments to deal with later in the night.

Equipment

The camera used for this entire photo shoot was my Nikon D700 FX. This particular picture was taken using a Nikkor 70-200mm, 1:2.8 G II ED lens with no filter, set on 135mm. I had to hand hold the camera the entire night however, this picture was captured with the camera resting on an iron gate. NO flash equipment of any type is allow to prevent spooking the animals or blinding the riders.

Inspiration

Any rodeo is an opportunity to practice action shots and this rodeo was no exception. I was with a group of photographers that had signed up for the Nikon Mentor trip to The Grand Tetons, the rodeo was on the schedule of events. We were granted special access privileges to photograph anywhere we wanted. It was the first rodeo I'd ever been to lest lone photographed and I was a bit apprehensive knowing the area was going to be quite dusty - so I never changed lens.

Editing

The picture was slightly cropped to ensure the focus of the event was on the riders and animals. I used Adobe Lightroom to adjust the skin tone colors. The camera settings were on manual so the results is just about, "what-you-see-is-what-you-get".

In my camera bag

The equipment in my camera bag is highly dependent on the event I set out to capture. I generally plan a photo shoot way in advance and prep the equipment to ensure there are no surprises. Never get to an event in need of cleaning the lenses or discovering you have dead batteries. And always carry a hot battery. If I'm in the local area I have one of my four Nikons; D800, D700, D300 and a D5100, while on travel I pack three of the four and always carry two to any event. Nothing worse than having a camera go on the fritz with no spare. The lenses I carry, again, are event based. I generally gravitate to my fixed prime lens and stay away from zooms unless the action is changing rapidly. All my lenses are Nikkor, the prime lenses for my FX rig are 28mm, 50mm, and a 85mm. Zoom lenses include a 24-70mm, 70-200mm and a 70-300mm. For micros I use a 105mm. Filters are too numerous to mention but I tend to shy away from filter unless the sun is giving the camera fits.

Feedback

Stay prepared for the unexpected - Don't get prepared, you'll miss the shot. Yes, that's tough to do at a rodeo. But, if you know where your going to be standing to capture a certain aspect - prepare for it in advance and stay prepared. You may have to take lots of pictures before you get the settings adjusted to capture that one special timed event. For the inexperienced photographer (and I hate to say this) just set the camera setting to AUTO and live with it. There's nothing worse than going home to find out all your efforts are in the Delete file. Speaking from experience and being this WAS my first rodeo (pun) in the four hour event, I took roughly 800 pictures of which 600 went in the Delete file.

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glennlancaster

Rodeo @ Jackson Hole, WY

The release man chases down the bare back rider after his 8 second run.

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow glennlancaster

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