Bum steer

I seized the opportunity to get my rodeo fix this weekend and headed down to the Waikato rodeo at Kihikihi, try saying that after a few Waikato draughts! It was a scorching hot day as many have been of late, which meant everywhere was looking very brown and dusty. I could see my gear was going to need some tlc after this trip!

I checked out good shooting positions and noted that most of the other photogs were shooting from higher viewpoints. I felt getting down nice and low made the shots much more dramatic even if it did add to the dust problem.

Around one side of the arena was a double fence to keep the crowd nice and safe. So naturally I climbed over the first fence to stick my lens right in amongst the action at the closer fence. Which was working all very well and good until all of a sudden I heard thundering hooves! I thought 'that's strange, the steer in the arena I can see is currently in a headlock sooo…..'??? That's when I turned round and saw only a few metres away was a large pointy horned steer heading my way at a rate of knots! It would seem they use the channel between the two fences to get stock from one end of the arena to the other! Doh! Trying to not look totally terrified I rapidly leapt the outer fence and proceeded to try and look cool about it… judging by the laughter behind me it didn't work! 

The whole rodeo was fantastic and as per usual I cannot believe how tough the competitors are! The bull riders seemed to have a particularly rough time, with many limping away holding various parts looking rather broken. I think the heat may have been making the bulls even more ago than usual, with one or two very reluctant to leave the arena once hay had deposited their riders!

Above is my favorite sequence of shots that I captured. This bareback rider defied gravity and somehow lasted the distance on this bronco, truly amazing! My trusty 70-200mm caught most of the action at about 1/800th of a second before I had to dive back to avoid the worst of the cloud of dust and debri that followed him to the fence.

Mental note, next time plastic wrap my camera and fit a rear view mirror to spot incoming bovines!

In-between somewhere

Well I can't say I'm feeling completely fighting fit yet, must be getting old! Thankfully I have some very understanding clients who have been easing me into the year for which I'm very grateful! 

The slower start has also given me the opportunity to work through some of my 'process when possible' folder which I hadn't been able to delve into for a while. Rediscovering shots that have been lurking in the murky depths of this zone and getting them out into my stock library is very rewarding. Every journey I take I'm always on the lookout for these images, particularly road shots.

The pictures above are prime examples of these 'in-between somewhere' shots.The first one is the road to Te Mata peak which I detoured for on a trip between Napier and Masterton. It's certainly a spot I will revisit when i have more time. This shot of the road was a real bonus as i had already managed to get a nice shot of Te Mata peak itself. It is one of those New Zealand roads that anywhere else in the western world would have barriers all over it. But it's much more photogenic without so lets not worry about the safety aspects!

The next image was taken a couple of days later on the same trip, the Rimutaka Hill road has a notorious reputation for accidents and you can see why. It was a considerable challenge to even be able to stop, with nowhere to pull over…well almost nowhere! I spotted a tiny pull out, more of a dent in the bank and crushed the rental car into it (I know it looks like there is a tiny space over the road but you would have been lucky to fit a golf cart in there)!

Then it was a game of dodge the traffic, the articulated trucks being particularly frightening with nowhere to run! Once again who fancies testing the safety barriers out? Not me, I saw the drop on the other side! The final picture from the top of the Rimutaka Hill puts the road into perspective. And just for fun it gets snow on it in the winter…gulp!