Bull Sale - Nevada

Bull Auction - Western Photos - Nevada - Bull Sale

Cattle Ranching - Culture - Photography

Been spending a lot of time up in Nevada outside of Lake Tahoe for a commercial client, but it’s grown into a lot more than that. I really enjoy the country up there and have taken to photographing various aspects of it. Not the land so much, but everything that goes along with it. The ranches, horses, people. etc. One morning I was shooting with a girl who owned a couple wild mustangs (will be posting those images soon). We finished shooting by about 9 am, so I had the rest of the day to kill, with the commercial shoot following the next day. Was pretty beat from not sleeping much the night before, so I pulled off into the local firehouse parking lot to make a tailgate sandwich. That’s where the day took a turn. Two guys in a truck rolled up and asked if I knew where the bull auction was. We talked for a minute or two, and next thing you know I was at the bull auction. Figured why the hell not? It’s a world completely foreign to me, so why not check it out. I have no plans on buying a bull, but it sure sounded like a fun event to photograph.

If I haven’t said this before, the camera is a passport. One of the many things I love about photography. It’s opened doors and taken me to places I never would have thought about. And the older I get, the more curious I become about interacting with and documenting other people and other cultures that are the opposite of my own. It’s so much fun to learn how other people live in different parts of the world. Sure, this part of Nevada is only 8 hours away from my home in San Diego, but it’s a different world. I used to be obsessed with the need to travel to far off countries in order to experience other cultures. Exotic travel is great, but there is so much culture right here in America that can easily be taken for granted.

I loved being a silent witness at the bull auction right from the start. The people were so inviting when I introduced myself and told them what I was doing. Everything about the event was stimulating. The sights, sounds, and smells. I’m from a small town in Upstate New York, and prefer to spend as much time as possible in the country/mountains, but have never seen anything like this in person. Hope to be showing you a lot more of this in the future.

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Poway Rodeo

Rodeo Photography - Poway, California

Getting outside your comfort zone is a beneficial thing in all aspects of life. Without it growth is not possible. The rodeo in Poway was last week, and I thought it would be a fun thing to shoot. Certainly something I've never done, but was very drawn to. So I reached out and found someone who needed some coverage. Like most things I shoot, my focus was not so much on the action, but behind the scenes. The little things that add to the culture but aren't really noticed or seen by most people. I loved everything about shooting this event. Being back where the riders were was awesome. Such a foreign culture that I've never experienced. And all the auxiliary stuff was great too. I got there really early and just wondered around the grounds, where I ran into a lot of characters. Everything I shot was natural light, and after the sun went down it was cool to see how much the color temperature of the "house" lights changed so quickly as they fell off. Learned a lot, most of which is that I'd shoot something like this again in a second. The grittiness of it is right up my alley. And everything felt so authentic. These aren't showy athletes on multi million dollar contracts. They are cowboys being cowboys.