Calf Roping by John McKnight
GROUP A - SCORE 90.5
JUDGES: Pat Ford 89 | Sandy Levy 92
This was taken at the Homestead Rodeo. I was using the burst mode on the camera to capture the moment of peak action. I shot over 1051 images this day. Each burst would take 8 to 15 frames in a few seconds. This image was chosen because of the action of the rider, horse, and calf. There is action everywhere. The calf is totally airborne. The rope is flying through the air. The horse is running a full speed kicking up the sand in the arena. The cowboy has the lariat end in his teeth and is throwing the lasso end with his arm. The lasso is just around the neck of the calf, and it is about to be tightened for the takedown. I was panning when I took this image to freeze the subjects and to blur the people in the grandstands in the background. The live-action is over in mere seconds, but a photograph freezes time so we can study all that is going on in those fleeting action-filled split seconds. The rodeo is a magical place to capture animals and humans in a daredevil ballet of life, possible injury, and maybe even death.
