2024 brought exciting things, the re-opening of Grizzle Ridge Arena, travel, equestrian sessions, and finally succeeding in having images to place in all the major contests. But the biggest positive was that Grizzle Ridge Arena is an indoor facility and that meant horse show season for me extended beyond good weather and into winter.
Back at the end of November the Gifted Gaits program held a fundraising fun show at Grizzle Ridge Arena. It was a chilly day, and a very long day, but it seemed like a good day was had by all.
As a professional photographer there is not much I have not photographed in my fourteen years, but Ranch Rodeo is one of those things. Which is crazy when when you take into account I as a rodeo photographer for 10 years!
Back in November I had the opportunity to photograph a Ranch Rodeo at Grizzle Ridge Arena. It was my first time seeing a Ranch Rodeo that kicked off with performances from drill teams, mounted shooters, trick riders, and some crowd participation events like stick horse barrel racing.
Taking on the challenge that is sorting I was back out at a Grizzle for their November sort. Sorting is a challenge to photograph not because of the number of bodies in the pen but because of the size of the pen which limits the option for what lenses can easily be used.
2024 was an exciting year for me as a photographer, from remembering to enter photography contests to actually doing well in them. One of my dreams as an equine photographer is getting my images used by Horse’s Illustrated and 2024 made that dream a tiny reality in a contest that they ran.
Gosh, it has been roughly 3 years since the last time I did a quick hello this is who I am blog or social media post. Mostly because it never occurs to me to do them, and because for the most part I dislike talking about myself. But a las it is time to bit that particular bullet.
In the beginning of November I got to attend and photograph my first cow cutting, boxing, and ranch riding show. It was a learning curve in some respects because I have never photographed many of these events but I have watched some of them before. Added to that the lighting was especially tricky that day paired with the movement of the horses and cattle. However that made it fun and I got to make some amazing images.
With the New Year comes new pricing and not because of the cost of living and survival. I have been debating changing from the standard packages to All Inclusive Pricing for several months to eliminate the guess work for my clients.
This year to ring in the New Year, I charged the camera, loaded the car, and trekked out to Grizzle Ridge for an early Barrel Jackpot which ended early enough for me to get home and start the editing process.