High School Rodeo

This past Saturday I took photos at the Lone Star High School Rodeo near Terrell, Texas. I was there primarily to photograph my niece in her Junior events, but I took photos of some of the older high school kids as well. This first photo was taken during the Bareback Bronc Riding. I took a number but this was the one that stood out from the rest. The arena is large and the lighting poor. My best opportunity was when the bronc took the rider close to the far side of the arena where I was set up.
This second photo was taken during the Senior Goat Tying as one of the high school girls was dismounting her horse as it loped to the goat tying area.

Bison and Red Chili Pizza

Tonight I decided to create a Ground Bison an Red Chili Pizza. I made the sauce from a can of crushed tomatoes adding minced garlic and Itialian spices and simmered it on the stove while I prepared the crust from a packaged product. I also cooked the ground bison and roasted a red hatch chili in the broiler until the skin blackened. I the peeled and tore the roasted red chili into strips. After crust had rested I flattened it out on a pizza pan (sprayed with Pam for the Grill). I added the pizza sauce, cheese, ground bison, red chili strips, and 3 black olives diced. I baked the pizza in a 450 degree oven for 15 minutes.
It was spicy and good!

Art Walk: New DMA Painting and a Walk through the Sculpture Garden

This is one of the most recent acquisitions by the Dallas Museum of art and one of my favorite. I became familiar with Marsden Hartley in my studies of Artists and Photographers working in Northern New Mexico in the early 20th Century.


Through the DMA Sculpture garden there a several waterfalls. I took this closeup showing the patterns created by the water falling.

There are many walls and water channels through the garden.















Two Part Bench: A Pair, 1988
Porto-beige limestone.

Scott Burton, American 1939-89


This is part of the Rachofsky Collection.
and is one of my favorites. I have sketched this in charcoal.




Sea Form (Atlantic) 1964
Bronze

Barbara Hepworth, Great Britain 1903-75

Another one of my favorites. I have also sketched this bronze in Charcoal.












I walked behind the Seaform and looked through one of the holes to see what it framed and found this.

Sketching in the Galleries: Eve in the Garden

Tonight we had our 3rd Thursday sketching at at the Nasher Scupture Center. Since there was a special private event tonight, we went into the scupture garden where we were to pick a landscape. Since we were outdoors I had the option of using pastels, which I planned for. I brought a box of NuPastel and a few sheets of Art Spectrum Color Fix (tinted) paper. Since we were sketching in teh last hour of the day, I chose a paper with a dark tint so I could sketch for night. I chose a landscape with Rodin's "Eve" in the foreground and Richard Serras' "My Curves are not Mad" in the backgroud. I spent the first part of the evening working on the basic sketch since soon it would be difficult to see the the details of my subject. I then began with the pastels blocking in the scene. As the light faded the sculpture and tree lighting came on completely changing the scene. I used my yellow and light blue pastel to bring out the highlights. When I had nearly finished I noticed the Richard Serra's "Curves" had lots of shadow from the trees. I came back and added the light spilling on the Curves and added the shadows of the trees.

King of the Ladder

This past Sunday evening I was given the task of replacing some burned out florescent tubes in the Vet Clinic Stock area. I brought over the ladder and set it up, climbed up and removed one of the tubes so I could determine which kind I was replacing. When I returned from the storage area with the new tube, I found that the kittens had already discovered the new climbing challenge. This Tabby made it almost to the top before turning around and deciding to find the quickest way down.

Arabians in Country Pleasure

One of my favorite classes to photograph when I have been working the Arabian Horse Shows in past years is Country Pleasure. When I realized that the annual Texas State Fair USEF Show was Friday night, I decided that I had to go and get some images I don't usually get when I photograph as the Official Show Photographer. I decided to focus on a study of the Country Pleasure riders showing different perspectives, all with the classic left leg up position that only happens in when the horses are in the trot gaits.
Another aspect of this class I enjoy is the classic dress with hat and coattails. These are such formal classes.
Each time I photograph a show other than those I am the official photographer, I always make it a point to check in and visit as time allows, first to let them know what I am shooting for, and then to learn how they shoot horse shows. There is always something to learn and opportunities to network. If you are looking for photos of your ride at the Texas State Fair USEF show, please visit Don Stine's website at www.donstine.com.

New Mexico Revisted: Rio Grande Gorge, A slice out of the desert

This past early July, when I visited Northern New Mexico with my Parents, We stopped a few times along the road 8 miles south of Taos to view the Rio Grande Gorge. My first impression was that that is some slice out of the desert. While it is not near the width of the Grand Canyon, it is most impressive in how you have a flat desert plain and then a deep gorge that has divided the desert. Can you imagine how the pioneers riding west must have felt when after traveling hours across this flat plain and then suddenly encountered this deep uncrossable chasm.
Eight or so miles south of where We saw the Rio Grande Gorge, the highway descending nearly to river level. Along a five mile section of the Rio Grande south of the Visitor Center at Pilar we saw some river rafters enjoying the rapids.
We had seen where they had put their rafts in, so drove further down the highway for a good vantage point to see them come around the corner and down the river below us.