The SA Stock Show & Rodeo is a huge well-oiled machine.
Everything happens according to schedule, and it's very impressive.
The Charreada is anything but.
Things happen when they happen and nobody gets their panties in a bunch over delays.
Kind of charming and certainly true to it's roots, since everyone is there to have fun instead of trying to win big money.
The young girls are the true daredevils--the intermingling patterns they ride are more dangerous than trying to stay on a bucking horse or steer (most of the time).
All the more amazing when you finally notice that they ride side-saddle! I got the impression after 2 visits that only teenage girls ride--no children or adults.
But males of all ages, from 6 to sixty-six it seemed, are on horses and throwing loops of rope.
More to come...
Technical Detour:
At the very beginning of the day I took off my favorite 50mm lens and used the 55-200mm zoom throughout.
When you're stuck ringside during the action, a zoom is the only way to go.
What surprised me a little upon seeing the photos is how much I still really like this lens, after not using it hardly at all over the last year. There's a smoothness to it's pictures that is very pleasing to my eye, yet when things get gritty it manages to hang in there and capture that contrast.
For an inexpensive zoom lens, it performs well enough for my needs and the results remind me so much of the 50mm's that they sometimes seem to be a matched pair.
(Sony's curved aperture blades are surely a big part of this).
I'm hoping that the 35mm F1.8 that I plan on buying next will exhibit the same qualities so I can extend my range into tighter spaces and maintain a consistent "look".
1 comment:
Those are some really good pictures. I like the second from the bottom the best. So stately, so serious, so focused, he don't care about no fly on the back of his shirt.
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