The fire is getting low again, pick a straw
by bigskyeye

Comment by MacDonald:
This one really cracked me up - it's funny and well done - 9

IMG_0873--bighorn
by bigskyeye

Comment by michelaudette:
Seems a little soft / out-of-focus

IMG_0873--bighorn
by bigskyeye

Comment by giantmike:
The snow on the back/head is wonderful.

IMG_0873--bighorn
by bigskyeye

Comment by MaryO:
Collecting just a bit of snow on him. Nice detail; I might smooth out the background just a tad more so it doesn't compete with the sheep so much.

small town rodeo
by bigskyeye

Comment by tanguera:
Makes my heart race. Congrats on the bling!!!

IMG_0873--bighorn
by bigskyeye

Comment by Denielle:
This is beautiful! The black and white was perfect for this shot

small town rodeo
by bigskyeye

Comment by bigskyeye:
Thanks for all the great comments, what a great venue this site is to share our work with people that have the same passion for capturing a moment and emotion in time.
In this part of the country there are Friday night rodeos rotating in small towns every weekend, real cowboys from the surrounding that compete for small cash prises after doing the same thing all week for work. I�ve developed a great respect for those that are doing what they love to do and living a lifestyle of times gone by for little pay.
I had been going to these rodeos to start my weekend for a few weeks, when I arrived to this one I thought it was going to be a waste of time- no grand mountains in the background, an old area, no clouds, dusty and very dry. I thought it would be a total loss of a few hours as far as photography goes. I decided to go over to the back side of the arena (one thing about these small rodeos is you can walk around anywhere you want) and shot into the sun. When the event started I just wanted a different look so I entered a pen full of steers, laid down in the dirt (and other stuff) set my camera to burst and bracketed three shots one stop apart because the sun was directly behind where I wanted to shoot and peaking in and out, this shot was not a perfect exposure but had perfect focus and great composition. I tried bringing back detail in the horse in the background but found it took the eye away from the �story� so I left it very light. The image is pretty much full frame except for what I cropped for the square format.

small town rodeo
by bigskyeye

Comment by littlemav:
Such a GREAT crop on a doggin' shot! I was so inspired with this, going to try some really strange angles this year on the rodeo shots!! Congrats on a Great Placing in a BEST OF challenge!!

small town rodeo
by bigskyeye

Comment by temba:
Fabulous action capture but only wish I could see the falling rider's face (and expression!)

small town rodeo
by bigskyeye

Comment by nixter:
I love the way you've brought us right in on the action. Fantastic! : )