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| Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 560, ƒ/4.5, 1/4000 |
Today I had a lot of fun shooting the Hawaii High School Rodeo at Parker Ranch Arena in Waimea on the Big Island of Hawaii.
The reason it was fun is I brought the camera and lens that let me get the action shots I wanted. I didn't bring my long glass, but rather what I call my go to lens for capturing just about anything. That lens is the Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. In this first photo I shot it at the focal length of 58mm. I wanted to capture the girl doing barrel racing, but also capture the Parker Ranch sign.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 500, ƒ/4.8, 1/4000 |
I was introduced to Cowboy art by Don Rutledge. We went to the Cowboy museum in Oklahoma City where I saw for the first time the work of Remington and Russell. They not only painted, but did sculptures.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1250, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000 |
What Don taught me with the help of Remington and Russell's work was that the expression makes the photo. The expression of the animals and the people in the frame of the picture.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1250, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000 |
What I love about Rodeos is that the cowgirls and cowboys must work as a team with an animal. The more they know about their animal and how it likes to get clues from the people on what to do the better the show.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 800, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000 |
I setup the Nikon D5 the same way I do for all sports shoots.
Here is the blog post that goes into a lot of detail for all the settings.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1000, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000 |
Now to me the crazy sport is bull riding. These bulls weigh as much as a car and can crush you just as quickly as a car. That is why the sport is just about 8 seconds long. If you can just ride for 8 seconds you are in the competition.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1400, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000 |
Most of the time I see the bull riders being kicked off the bull in less than 8 seconds.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 2200, ƒ/8, 1/4000 |
The cowgirls have an event where they are to lasso the cow. Two of the cowgirls did so in less than 4 seconds. WOW! I was really impressed at these high school girls being so good.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 1800, ƒ/5.6, 1/4000 |
The cowboys have a similar event where they lasso the cow and then with a teammate they wrestle the cow to the ground and tie their feet. This is a skill they use in the fields to capture the cows to give the shots, brand them and other things to take care of their herd.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/3.5, 1/1600 |
It was just fun to see the high school kids having so much fun and learning a skill in the process of playing games.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/8000 |
Asking the cowgirls if I can take a picture of them with their horse was always greeted with a big smile. They were proud of their horses and the bond they had built with them.
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| Nikon D5, Nikon 85mm ƒ/1.8G, ISO 100, ƒ/1.8, 1/1250 |
I cannot recommend enough finding a rodeo near you and spending the time to capture the action with your camera.
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