Posted on by Anne Sandler · 23 Comments

My First Rodeo, part 2

We are back at the rodeo. This time we are roping cows and tying their legs. We are also riding horses that don’t want to be ridden.

When you’re sitting in the stands, watching the action you are in awe. You are amazed at the skill of the riders, you don’t think about the possible injuries they sustain while riding. You also don’t think about the animals. There’s a reason they don’t want to be ridden.

I’m not sure whether I’ll be back to another rodeo. I also don’t like boxing. I think it’s not right to have two men or women get in a ring just to hit each other.

Okay, off my soap box and on to the action. Here are pictures of one cowboy’s effort to lasso a cow, get it to the ground and tie its feet. I think it’s amazing that he can pick up the cow and get it on its side.

Here’s the bucking bronco event. This is one cowboy’s rough ride.

I’m glad I went to experience a rodeo. Another experience I want is to ride in a hot air balloon. You can be sure if I do, you’ll see a post about it!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 14 Comments

Competition and education: The Motherload Fair

For years I’ve been looking at my friends’ (Sandy and Ken) ribbons attached to their photographs. They participate in the Motherload Fair, Sonora, photo competition. It’s a small fair and I asked them to let me know when the next one was happening. That was about 2 years ago. A pandemic interfered. But this year they suddenly decided that with California opening up, the fair would happen.

So I entered seven pictures in various categories. The entry fee was $1 per picture. I did say it was a small fair!

Sandy and Ken print and mat their own images and I drove down for a lesson in printing and matting. I did learn a great deal. First, matting is no easy task. I did one mat and Sandy did the rest. I’ve decided that in the future, I would print out a standard size and buy a standard mat! I don’t have Sandy’s math abilities or patience! I also bought a printer just like hers. Richard has already printed out one of his astrophotography pictures. So that’s the education.

When Ken brought in our entries, he was amazed at the lack of pictures. The Fair staff said that there wasn’t a lot entered this year. Now for the competition. Of the seven, I had four first place images with one of them being best of division, one second place image and two honorable mentions. Sandy took best in show and others. Ken’s won many ribbons also.

Here are my first place images:

Since this was my first time to this fair, I brought my camera. Well, I always bring my camera! Here are some captures that are captioned.

  • This clown had no problem getting in front of my lens!
  • The fairway to the rides and animals.
  • In the exhibit hall, this amazing quilt!
  • Fair food. We had tri-tip sandwiches.
  • The merry-go-round.
  • This was the first day and not crowded.
  • Bathing the cows.
  • They don’t seem to mind.
  • Do pigs always sleep?
  • I’ve never seen a chicken like this one!
  • A sweet goat.
  • Another variety.
  • The Ferris Wheel.
  • This band was a Creedence Clearwater tribute band.
  • They played well and had people dancing.
  • Even a mom and son.
  • Under the purple evening lights.
  • Nighttime camera zooming.
  • These were hand held.
  • No tripod.

Sandy and Ken are already talking about next year. Will I enter?

Finally, here’s Sandy’s Best in Show image. It’s hard to see because of all the ribbons!!

I’m sure I have more to learn. Maybe next year!

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 11 Comments

Anxiety: Finalist in the INFOCUS competition

I was on overwhelm. I had bought my first DSLR, a Nikon D3100 in late 2012. Digital photography was slightly out of my technical expertise. Like what was ISO? Nikon wrote a pretty good manual, but assumed that the reader understood the terminology.

So, I looked for help, and I went to visit my friend Sandy, in Sonora, who’d been shooting for years. We had a great couple of days. Mostly, she showed me how to relax with the camera and gave me composition tips.

Since then, my expertise level has increased, mostly because of doing the 365 (taking a picture each day of the year) and joining the Sierra Camera Club in Sacramento which offers juried competitions twice a month. I’m not there to win; I’m there to learn. But, I always wondered if I should enter into a more broad type of competition.

I watched Sandy winning or placing at small county fair compeitions and asked her to let me know about one when it came along. The California State Fair, right here in Sacramento, seemed daunting to me. Could I really compete with the wonderful photographers in this region?

Sandy did let me know of the INFOCUS Photography Competition & Exhibition in Columbia, California. I knew if I didn’t enter this one, I would never enter one. I submitted five photos and two made it into the finals. So why am I anxiety ridden? It’s the printing, matting and framing that has me in a tizzy. The wonderful owner at Image Pros Photo, in Orangevale, helped me understand that I couldn’t make the images larger. I would lose some of the picture. Since these were macro and closeup photos, I kept them small. She also worked with me on the lighting in the picture.

So, here I am, ready to frame and bring the pictures down to Columbia for judging and exhibition on March 9. Still on overwhelm!

Here are my entries that made it into the finals. Wish me luck!