Project 52 Member Kyle Jones shot the rodeo in Reno recently. Kyle is a photographer of many interests and talents.
He is working on building a book and getting out in the Reno market by the first of the year. This fun shoot is one of the stories he is working on for his personal pages.
I love rodeos… this work makes me remember how much.
From Kyle:
It’s June in Reno, Nevada. That means one thing, the Reno Rodeo is coming to town. This year (2013) marks the 94th year since its inception. Being from upstate New York, I hadn’t really experienced many rodeos in my life, but, since moving to Reno in August 2009, I’ve been fortunate enough to attend every one. This year marks my fourth straight Reno Rodeo.
A day spent at the rodeo is fun and exciting. I thought this would be the perfect venue to document for my Project52 Pros assignment. There are many areas to photograph; the rides along the midway, vendors who set up shop in the buildings, people walking around the food court, and of course the main attraction, the rodeo itself.
This is a very challenging assignment with varying light conditions throughout the event combined with the fast action of a bareback bronc ride or bull ride. The sun is still high in the sky at 7 p.m. when the rodeo begins, shadows and strong sunlight can wreak havoc on composition. However, it isn’t long before the summer sun is setting on the horizon when the next challenge presents itself, stadium lighting. Time to crank up the ISO setting!
This year we had seats directly across the arena from where the broncs and bulls come out of the gate. I would get my camera positioned on the cowboy that was up next and when the gate was pulled, fire off frames as fast as technology would permit. I try my best to put the focus point on the cowboy’s face or chest. My goal was to document the excitement and family fun that a rodeo brings to a community by mixing up exciting shots of cowboys and cowgirls in action with the master of ceremonies on his horse and other intermission entertainment taking place between rodeo events.
I really enjoyed covering this event. At future rodeos I plan to cover even more by taking the whole day to capture more ‘behind the scenes’ shots of the stockyards and stable workers. I’ve met many people who volunteer their time to the Reno Rodeo each year, so, I’m confident that with persistence and asking, this goal will come to fruition.
— Kyle D. Jones
The Images:
