Cave Creek Rodeo Finals 30 March 2014

Team Roping, Background Out of Focus with Focus2Pro

This is one of the finest smaller pro rodeos around.  It’s in Cave Creek, just a few miles north of Phoenix, in a very compact arena.  I’ve photographed this event before, and I thought I’d try another vantage point.  This time, I went to the very last row center stage.

Barrel Racing

I shoot primarily with a Canon 5d Mark III.  I mistakenly brought the Canon 70-200mm lens.  I was disappointed at first because I thought I needed more reach.  Yes, many of the photos I ended up with are cropped, but I’m still pleased at the output. 

Black and White with Silver Efex Pro

I used Tv priority, or shutter priority, setting the camera at 1/1000^th of second to capture action without blurring.  It was a sunny day, so I used ISO 100 and a sunny white balance, although since I shoot in raw I could change white balance in post processing.  I didn’t need to, though.

HDR Toning with HDR Efex Pro

I use primarily Adobe Lightroom in post processing.  I did use some plugins for the black and white photo, using Silver Efex Pro.  I like the look and feel of the black and white conversion; it reminded me of an old Lone Ranger scene.  I also used an output filter for HDR toning called HDR Efex Pro.  And I used MacPhuns’ Focus2Pro to put focus on selected areas of a photo. 

Rider Thrown from the Bucking Bronco!

My salute to all the cowboys and cowgirls of the PRCA (Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association) and the people of the Cave Creek Pro Rodeo.  This is a dangerous and very hard business.  These folks go from rodeo to rodeo chasing wins.  All it takes is one mistake and they get nothing and have to move on.  Some people in Europe think they can insult Americans by calling them “cowboys.”  I always answered I WISH I WERE A COWBOY! 

Bull Riding, With Help from Focus2Pro

From Color to Black and White back to Selective Color

See ya on down the road!

Jim Patterson

Here are all my photos of the rodeo from Flickr….

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