Got a pass to the Dodge Rodeo Tour!

06/20/2005 10:30:45 AM · #1

Okay, so I got a pass to shoot at any of these events - Dodge Rodeo Tour - Ontario

Now...help me out! I got access because the company I work for is a major sponsor of the event so I'll be expected to get some nice shots of how we are represented at the rodeo.

Other than that, what should I know?

They are all outdoor, will I be able to shoot natural light?

I know that cowboys love 'success' shots and the crowd/newspapers love 'spills'...what else should I know about salability?

What kind of shots can I look for?

I know that I should definitely have UV filters on my lenses for this shoot...any other tips regarding equipment?

Tell me everything you can tell me! Thanks!

moodville

Nikon D100

06/20/2005 10:58:25 AM · #2

First thing you need to do is confirm the times of the rodeos. A lot of rodeos are done at night from 8pm onwards here although we had a weekend rodeo a few weeks ago and they did have a 2pm Sunday start. To capture any stop action you're going to want a fast shuter and if it's at night then that's gonna be your first obstacle. If it is a day rodeo then you should be fine for light.

Try to find your company's name on the side of the area and shoot toward that angle for a few if possible. That way you get the event and the name in the same shot. Watch your dof if you do as you dont want to end up blurring your company name.

Rodeos can be fast paced and you dont always know what will make a good shot until you're reviewing them at home. I used jpg to fire off several shots at once because the RAW writing was a little slow on my camera. Review how many shots you can shoot in RAW with your camera/card if you plan to shoot RAW. Expect to shoot quite a lot. You can always delete the bad shots but if you wait for the 'right moment' you may end up missing some good shots.

The more popular shots seem to be the extreme action shots. Bulls and horses in the air, expressions on the cowboy's faces, the turns on barrel racing, etc. The horses come out quite a ways normally but the bulls dont get out of the gate much before the cowboy falls so either point toward the gates or get down close to it to isolate the ride.

Other shots you may want to get would be the rodeo clowns, spectators, character studies of the various types of cowboys/girls, young kids with buckles the size of their heads, the guys who straddle the gates etc. Just keep your eyes open and I'm sure you'll find plenty to shoot.

06/20/2005 11:03:01 AM · #3

Yeah, they are 2pm starts...what speed did you shoot at, moody?

I'm thinking that 1/500 should cut it...

Also, did you bring a stepladder? I'll be able to shoot right from the ring as I'm being put on the list of 'cowboys' so I should have great access to just about anywhere...

CorySmith

06/20/2005 11:07:07 AM · #4

get fast glass
last time i shot a rodeo 2.8 wasnt enough
if you can get away with 2.0 lens go for it. or get a cheap 50 1.8 if you can get decently close

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II

06/20/2005 11:08:45 AM · #5

Originally posted by Fetor:

get fast glass
last time i shot a rodeo 2.8 wasnt enough
if you can get away with 2.0 lens go for it. or get a cheap 50 1.8 if you can get decently close

Did you shoot inside?

I shot drag racing last weekend with a 2.8 and it was more than enough during the afternoon.

I have a 50 at 1.8 and 16-35/80-200 at 2.8 which I suspect should do the trick...

Message edited by author 2005-06-20 11:09:42.

moodville

Nikon D100

06/20/2005 11:30:25 AM · #6

Originally posted by thatcloudthere:

I was shooting mostly between 1/500 and occasionally 1/1000 at f/6 because I have a crappy 75-300.

I was shooting in the stands so just did with what I had. The pro rodeo photographer was wearing knee pads so he could kneel beside the fence and poke/rest his 70-200 on the wire square to get close and eliminate the fencing. He also brought one of those small three step ladders people use in kitchens although I didnt see him use it.

lynnesite

Canon EOS-1D X

06/20/2005 12:11:23 PM · #7

moodville offered you some great insight about candids and popular shots. Stick to your longer lenses, as nobody likes distortion in sports shots (horses need 100mm "real" focal length to avoid distorted heads and spindly legs). Yep, the faster the better. Lens hood is a must. Bring a rocket blower or equivalent to blow the dust off periodically. Try not to change lenses to avoid dust. Shooting from low looks better than from above.

Nikon AF Zoom-Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5D

06/20/2005 01:17:34 PM · #8

Perfect, thanks for the advice!

I also found out I'll likely be working with the pro photographer so I should be able to learn a lot!

If there's more advice out there, I look forward to hearing it!

So far, I've figured this out:

Bring 80-20 with lens hood and UV filter.
Bring stepladder.
2.8 should suffice.
Bring 50 1.8 for Candids and behind the scenes (rodeo clown putting on makeup, etc).

What about marketing the photos? Anybody have any expertise on what to do with these photos once I'm done? Do riders/fans buy prints?

mcrael

Nikon D300

06/20/2005 04:11:53 PM · #9

I'm pretty certain that riders would buy photos, as I know of several photographers who are shooting rodeos with the intention to sell prints. I do this for dog agility competitions myself.

If you want to sell prints to the fans, you might want to think about getting releases from the riders to sell your photos of them. (ask the pro photographer you'll be working with to see what he/she says about this). I recently shot a native culture celebration event as an "invited" photographer, and experienced some resistance from the native dancers about their images being made available for public use. But then again, some native dancers are extremely sensitive about others making a profit from their culture, or about not being recognized as "people". Not exactly the same scenario as yours, but one that would make me be more pro-active in the future about getting releases.

Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

06/20/2005 04:20:57 PM · #10

okay, so a silly question...what's the best way to do this (assuming i get approval and everything)

would i hand out business cards at the rodeo and sell the prints online? anyone with info or ideas?

lykofos

Canon EOS-40D

06/20/2005 06:29:17 PM · #11

I got the opportunity to shoot a rodeo last year and it was awesome. I can't wait to do it again. It was very fast paced. You'll have a great time!

I would suggest a lens hood and protective UV filter if you don't have them aleady. I was right behind the fence (leaning through it actually), shooting w/ my arms resting on the bars, and got quite a lot of dirt/rocks kicking up at me and the camera. Be prepared to move fast, as I almost got nailed by a bull a few times. Also, it's a good idea to take a shot of the digital display board (if they have one) before/after each rider begins/ends so that you know the rider's name & time.

I used solely my 28-135 IS. I kept it on ISO 400, f/7.1-8.0, and 800-1600 shutter speed.

crabappl3

06/20/2005 06:43:15 PM · #12

One other piece of advice I can offer. If you can get high, like the announcer's booth, you can shoot images with the dirt as the background which leaves little distraction from the riders. I have not shot a rodeo this way, but have done many playday events from the announcer's booth and like the end results.

Moodville pretty much summed up everything else.

-danny

lynnesite

Canon EOS-1D X

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II

06/21/2005 12:57:41 AM · #13

Be very cautious about the sales--the official photographer has the rights to sell photos, and you don't unless a) his show contract doesn't give him the exclusive, or b) he permits you to cannabalize his own sales at the event. :-)

If he gives you permission, decide if you're going to do printed proofs or a web gallery of proofs. Either way, offer 20% discount for orders within 2 weeks after the event. Make sure your ducks are in a row as to sales tax.

I print a business card with an extension on it, that has the web gallery URL on it, then print those as glossy 4x6 (2 of these to a print), with a note saying the discount etc. Do NOT underprice the pro, keep your print price at or close to where his are.

Just my pro horse photog POV, feel free to ignore it.

Donaldo

Nikon D1H

Sigma 14mm f/3.5 for Nikon

06/21/2005 01:35:10 AM · #14

Hey Mike, you seem to be scoring well lately (Drag racing and now Rodeo) good on ya. I shot a Rodeo a few years back and got lots of good shots out the back where they pen all the animals (equialent to the pits at the Drags). The cowboys\girls go out and size up all the beasts they are going to ride (or at least attempt to) and check their equipment etc. Lots of facial expressions and they are a little of gaurd. There was also a Rodeo Queen comp, girls in Western Dress, same thing with them, get them behind the scenes when they are not on show, caught some great candid moments amongst them. I found that getting the riders coming out of the gate was a good sure thing shot, tight and a bit wider, the guys that open the gate can get some pretty intense looks on their faces as well as the riders. I was allowed to get up above and shoot down at them as they were waiting to be released, these were realy good. And some good advice earlier was to avoid changing lenses if you can or at least limit it as much as possible, there is no shortage of dust. Selling stuff from these sorts of things is allways a bit doubtfull, like at the drags it's the guys who are still on the way up that are more likely to buy from you. The pros or established guys have already got good shots of themselves.

06/21/2005 07:38:11 AM · #15

Okay, I made the call today and it looks like it will be good. There is one pro photographer (Norm) there who sells his stuff as stock on the internet and then there is another photographer (the organizer's son, Sean - a photography student) who sells his stuff to the riders. The organizer said there are no rules about selling but I said I definitely wouldn't step on any toes if Sean already has something going.

So, there are about 4 or 5 events that I'll go to and get to know the two photographers already shooting and perhaps Sean could include some of my photos in the ones available for sale to the riders.

Either way, sales or no sales, I'm bound to learn a lot, make some great contacts and build up my portfolio in sports action and feature photos.

I tell you, the more opportunities I get to shoot, the more I'm determined to quit my job and go to photojournalism school next September! I love doing this!

Thanks for all the tips (the one about the digital display board is a great tip!)...

PaulMdx

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM

06/21/2005 07:40:34 AM · #16

Mike, you might want to check out this thread, over on SportsShooter:
//www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=16235
In particular, the third post's links.

06/21/2005 07:41:23 AM · #17

Yeah, I saw that one Paul...very inspiring!

Oh, those links on the third post are in regards to the PBR association's very restrictive usage rights on photos taken at their events. I've heard lots of horror stories on photos that are more or less portfolio-only because the photogs can't do much with them.

Luckily, this is a Rodeo Management Group event and is a much smaller scale...

Message edited by author 2005-06-21 07:46:55.

06/21/2005 10:07:44 AM · #18

Okay, further questions:

One idea that I had was to solicit local sponsors (local radio stations, hair salons, mom&pop hardware stores) to see if they would like to purchase prints of the event (showing their logo, of course)...do I try and gauge interest beforehand or should I get the photos and then try and sell them afterwards? Any advice on this?

06/21/2005 11:57:26 AM · #19

bump from a pest...

Question: One idea that I had was to solicit local sponsors (local radio stations, hair salons, mom&pop hardware stores) to see if they would like to purchase prints of the event (showing their logo, of course)...do I try and gauge interest beforehand or should I get the photos and then try and sell them afterwards? Any advice on this?

gwphoto

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

06/21/2005 12:17:59 PM · #20

If this is a pro event, you age going to find that there are several Pro Photogs that travel the circuit and privide the photo on the spot. So unless you have a high speed dyesub printer and a team of people to help do the printing and selling you will be shooting for your own company. The Pro's will be at the right spopt to catch the action, as they are fully aware of the how the direction flow goes for each event. They will probably have high power fill flash also. Enjoy the event and learn from it.

06/21/2005 12:20:18 PM · #21

I mentioned the situation (as far as other photographers go) earlier in the thread. The pro at this event will be directing me to the right spots and I will learn from it.

Any answers to the question I posed?

gwphoto

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

06/21/2005 12:23:55 PM · #22

Your not going to have time to look for shots, you are going to have to take everything you can and edit them later. Things happen very fast. You will need to use predective focus and a very fast zoom lens. I suggest a mono pod if you have a good lens as it will get heavy as the day wears on. I have and would use a high power fill flash with a tele reflector on it.