Cave Creek Rodeo: 27 March 2022 and 26 March 2023

Certainly my favorite rodeo is the one closest to where I live:  The Cave Creek Rodeo.   Another "must see" around the Phoenix area is the Cave Creek Rodeo parade.  I'll post more on that with photos in another blog entry.

One of the crowd favorite events is bull riding.   Riders have to ride for at least 8 seconds or it's a no ride.   Scores come 50% from the cowboy and 50% from the bull.  

Cave Creek is an hour or so east of Wickenburg, the self proclaimed "team roping capital of the world."   Certainly some team ropers come from Wickenburg, but really from all over the USA and Canada.

My second favorite event is barrel racing.  Here, ladies of rodeo take center stage.   Knock over a barrel, and add a five second penalty to the final score.  The idea is to get around three barrels and then race to the finish line.   It's electronic timing.  Passing through the beam starts the clock; passing through the exit stops the clock.

Until My Next Adventure,

See you on down the road,

Jim Patterson

All images from 27 March 2022 HERE

All images from 26 March 2023 HERE

Cave Creek Rodeo Finals 30 May 2021

Finally!  After over a year without fans, the Cave Creek Rodeo in Arizona opened to fans.  The stands were FULL and not a mask or muzzle in sight. 

I was in the Stockman's Club and took my perch high up in the last row.   I captured images with a Canon EOS R6 and a Tamron 100-400.   I rarely needed anything beyond 200mm so I could have used the Tamron 70-200mm.

The Servi Brothers of Colorado again supplied the stock.   They were very lively rodeo stock, too.   

The Cave Creek Rodeo featured seven events.  Steer wrestling, bareback riding, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie down roping, the ladies of barrel racing, and the popular bull riding.   

One of the interesting contestants came in the saddle bronc riding event.  Nathan Urie of Ferron, Utah was born with only a right arm!   He didn't make the eight second mark, but stayed on for a good six seconds.

Final standings for the Cave Creek Rodeo are HERE.

Post processing in Lightroom.  Sometimes in Luminar ai.   My new pre-processing takes my raw files into Adobe Camera Raw and then use the new "enhance" feature.   This cleans up any noise and also dramatically increases the size of the image so I can crop with confidence.   Then I take those new enhanced raw dng files into DxO's new PureRaw for final clean up.  

My settings for a night rodeo were shutter speed of 1/800, wide open aperture, auto white balance, and auto ISO.  I was impressed with the auto white balance.  I did not need to change white balance in Lightroom.   

Until My Next Adventure,

See you on down the road,

Jim Patterson

Click the photo below for all of my Cave Creek Rodeo images!

AND, my narrated video on YouTube!  

*** Have you tried Luminar ai yet?   It's what I use.  Click HERE to find out more!

*** I have consistently saved money through Greentoe.  For me, I always check prices for camera lenses and equipment.  Shipping is free and often they pay the tax!  Click HERE to get started.

Friday Night at the Buffalo Chip in Cave Creek

Friday night and Cave Creek, especially the Buffalo Chip, is OPEN!   

It's time to enjoy some bull riding with hundreds of my closest unmasked friends.

Sadly, the "Chip" sold out of VIP tickets, but I hear that is common.   So a bunch of us sat in the bleachers.   Still saw some find action.   

The photo on the right:  a little cowboy pulling up his britches like the big cowboys.  

Until My Next Adventure,

See you on down the road,

Jim Patterson

Click the photo below to see all the images from the bull riding at the Buffalo Chip in Cave Creek, Arizona…

Bull Riding at the Buffalo Chip 10 March 2021

The Buffalo Chip in Cave Creek Arizona has opened up bull riding again but just on Wednesday nights.   It was a lovely night 10 March to enjoy bull riding and the company of others wanting a good time, too.   And I've found the best perch for me is the VIP section.

Of course, the sport of bull riding and all the participants and fans are patriotic, so it did not begin until the flag and national anthem were played, as it should be.

Although there were quite a number of riders, not one went the mandatory eight seconds.  

To the left is my favorite image of the night.  That will tell you how close we were to the action in the VIP section.  

Bull riding is a dangerous sport.  Although I think the cowboy hat looks nice, the helmet helps protect a rider's head better.

Until My Next Adventure,

See you on down the road,

Jim Patterson

Click the photo below to see all the images from the Buffalo Chip's Bull riding....

Bull Riding at the Buffalo Chip 6 June 2020

Cave Creek is a neat western town minutes north of Phoenix and Scottsdale.   I've always considered it an escape from the city.   But this #$%$ virus has shut so much down.   People were cooped up and wanted out.   

So the Buffalo Chip opened up their little arena on the 6th of June to feature bull riding.  We sat in the VIP section and it was perfect for photography.   I used a Canon EOS R and a Canon 24-240mm lens.   I think the longest reach I used was around 100mm, that's how close I was to the action.

They had four sessions of about eight cowboys a session.  

There were some amatuer riders and some darn good professional riders.  You could tell the difference.  And it made for great action to capture!

And between one of the sessions, they brought out the little cowboys and cowgirls in something called "mutton busting."

Until My Next Adventure,

See you on down the road,

Jim Patterson

Watch the entire slideshow below!

Scottsdale Parada del Sol Rodeo 8 March 2020

The Scottsdale Parada del Sol rodeo finals was held at Westworld on Sunday 8 March.  The all-around top cowboy was JC Mortensen for bareback riding and bull riding. Here are the full results from the rodeo finals. 


Events included bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, the ladies of barrel racing, and bull riding.  In addition to the rodeo clown, lady trick riders and ropers entertained and they were GOOD!   
   
In my opinion, the very easiest event for the fan to understand is barrel racing.   Three barrels to get around.   Knock any over and suffer a 5 second penalty.   And everything is electronically timed.  The lady and horse with  the fastest score wins.  

Westworld is an indoor arena with mixed artificial and natural light.   Although to the naked eye the arena looks well lit, it's a different challenge for a photographer.   Photos right out of the camera have a very decidedly orange tint.   The best white balance I found was fluorescent.  Because of the camera-weak lighting, I had to often use a very high ISO of 6400 or more.   Post processing in Lightroom, sometimes also in Luminar 4, and a few in Simplify 4. 


Next rodeo up for me is the Cave Creek Rodeo at the end of March.

Until My Next Adventure,

See you on down the road,

Jim Patterson

Here's a slideshow of all of my photos.... ENJOY!

At the Roadrunner 13 April 2019

I've lived in north Phoenix for over 18 years.  I thought I knew interesting and great places to visit and photograph in my area.  And then I found the Roadrunner Saloon in New River, about 14 miles straight north of me, off the I-17.

What fun!

It's a large bar with a band stage and bull riding arena.  So I contacted them to make sure my camera would be welcome, too.  You never know nowadays.  

First off, the burgers are massive and good.  Next time, I think I will try it with their cole slaw.  There were just too my fries!  

Anyway, I walked over to the arena and they had the little people mutton busting (children riding sheep), then the novices or first timers rode very very tame bulls.  

Then Hollywood Yates and the Hitmen played.  

That was followed by the serious bull riders.  I was a wee bit surprised because these were serious bulls and serious riders.  The competition was better than I thought.  Sadly, the arena was full and I didn't get a chance to photograph from my usual perch on the top row.  That will be for another visit.

Special shout-out to Josh, the Roadrunner videographer, for coming over and saying hi.  





I've also posted photos on Flickr and on my portfolio site on SmugMug.

Until My Next Adventure,

See You On Down the Road!

Jim Patterson

... And here's a slideshow from my visit to the Roadrunner!

Cave Creek Rodeo 24 March 2019

The Cave Creek Rodeo in Arizona has to be the best small PRCA sanctioned rodeo in North America.  I've photographed this rodeo for about ten or more straight years and it is an absolute joy.  The best group of folks around.  

Images were made with a Canon EOS R and Canon 70-200mm lens.  Post processing in Lightroom and Photolemur.

Usually bull riding comes last.  This time around for this finals event they started with bull riding, part one, and ended with bull riding part two.  Kind of an interesting way to do it.  There's a lot of tradition involved in rodeo and I have to think people like things the way it's always been done, but this worked out well.  

The bulls were especially nasty today as I don't remember more than one cowboy sticking around past eight seconds. Somebody did.  The all-around cowboy was JC Mortensen, winning $1,858 for bareback riding and bull riding. 

The featured event is always bull riding.  But before that the ladies of rodeo perform at barrel racing.  And what a show they put on!  








Here's a complete list of Cave Creek Rodeo winners.  And great professional stock was again supplied by the Cervi Brothers.  

And the Cave Creek Rodeo ends with the horse stock running around the arena.  

I've also posted the Sunday finals photos on Flickr and on my portfolio site on SmugMug.

See ya soon!!!

Until My Next Adventure,

See You On Down the Road!

Jim Patterson

... And here's a slideshow from the Cave Creek Rodeo!

Parada Del Sol Scottsdale Rodeo 11 March 2018

Sunday in the middle of March is time for the Parada Del Sol or Scottsdale Rodeo.  And once again, Westworld was host.  It’s an indoor arena with tricky lighting.  

I brought my second camera, the Canon G3x.  I got some wind from the rodeo people that they might stop me from bringing in my full size Canon 5D Mark IV.  Security could care less what I brought in.  What that ended up meaning was photos with higher grain.  Plus the G3x is a slower camera.  

Patriotism is a big part of rodeos.  That's good.  I love it.  

Bareback riding...

The ladies compete in barrel racing...

And the final event in every rodeo is eight seconds of hell, or bull riding.  

I also photographed steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, and tie down roping.  Mark Swingler was the rodeo clown. And, we were also entertained by Whiplash The Cowboy Monkey.  

Given the limitations of an indoor arena for lighting and the limitations of the camera I used, I took more time in post processing, but I still got a decent number of photos.  

Until My Next Adventure,

(Cave Creek Rodeo!)

See You On Down the Road!

Jim Patterson

… and all the photos!