Processing a Rodeo Image

I never used to be a big barrel racing fan at the rodeo. But once I discovered that it was an event that reallly worked well with panning, I began to love making these sort of images. The image below is one that I may have just decided to delete–because I have a lot of these type of images and it is very washed out.  But, I love painted horses and you don’t see that many of them barrel racing, so when I do get  chance to shoot them, I want to make the most of the images.

This image was captured as ISO100, 150mm, f18, 1/30 second while panning.  The dust kicked up in the arena makes the image hazy and the white on the fence is blown out a bit.  It is an image that needs some help.

In Lightroom 4, I made some relatively minor adjustments that I think really make a big impact to the image. I warmed the image very slighted (about 200K), dropped the highlights by -34, increased the blacks -54 to beat the haze and added +32 of vibrance. I used the adjustment brush to paint in -93 of clarity everywhere except the horse and rider.

I particularly like the way the colours of the crowd blur together.  With a few tweaks in Lightroom, this is now an image that pops and defines the sport of barrel racing.

Rodeo: Really close to the action

At the Caroline Stampede, a little town of just over 500 people, they set up bleachers for the crowds, but you can also sit close to the fence if you bring your own chair or are happy kneeling.  You can’t beat being right by the fence for action photography as you are at ground level with your subject.  All you have to do is find a spot to get your camera through the wire, and avoid the advertising banners.  Of course, rodeos are fast moving and it is easy to get engrossed in the moment and forget about safety.  This image was taken as the horse was heading straight at me–my focal length is just 70mm.  Luckily the horse swerved at the last moment, but still it did make me jump! Many photographers recommend shooting with both eyes open so that you can see potential dangers–or opportunities–I’m not very good at that, but at events like this, I try.

ISo800, 70 mm, f8, 1/2500

A horse of a different colour

Over the years that I have been photographing rodeos (and according to my Lightroom catalog I have shot 18 rodeos for a total of 20,418 images (not including the 1000 or so I shot this last weekend), I have noticed a few trends and preferences.

I like lighter coloured horses and livestock.  They just make the images pop more.  Black or very dark brown horses or cows/bulls just don’t show up as well, and on bright Alberta summer days, they are harder to expose for without blowing out the white fences, chutes, or clouds.  I love the greys, the tans, the palaminos–maybe not the whites, as those animals are also easy to blow out.  I also like the cowboys wearing darker hats or shirts–not really dark, but not white–again easy to blow out.  When shooting a rodeo, of course, you never know what you are going to get until the rider appears and they open the chutes.  Another reason to shoot lots and go often!

The perfect set up–a grey, not white horse, a dark hat, and a non-white shirt on the barrel-racing cowgirl.

ISO100, 150mm, f20, 1/40 second