Taking Pictures at the Rodeo

Royce Nowlin lassoes images in the arena with his Tamron SP 90mm Macro, SP 24-70mm VC, and SP 70-200mm VC lenses.

Article by Jenn Gidman

Images by Royce Nowlin

Royce uses three Tamron lenses when he's in the arena: the SP 90mm Macro, the SP-24-70mm VC, and the SP 70-200mm VC. "The 90 is the sharpest portrait lens in my bag, which is great when I'm trying to take pictures of a child or a cowboy next to a horse," he says. "For action at close range, I'll use the 24-70, which is the Cadillac of lenses for that type of shot. But my preferred lens is the 70-200. It's versatile and has the range I need for action that's not up close. Plus, the Vibration Compensation feature gives me the ability to shoot more spontaneous shots in low light. A bull isn't going to hold still while I go back to my truck to get a tripod!"

There's so much action and excitement at the rodeos that photographers attending these events are never at a loss for picture-taking opportunities. "Besides the horse- and bull-riding you'd expect there, there's wild cow milking, which is exactly what it sounds like: Cowboys have to try to milk a cow and get a certain amount of milk in the glass," Royce says. "There are also the rodeo clowns, one of the untold stories about the rodeo. They dress in these funny clothes and clown around, but while they're being funny and grabbing the bulls by the horns to protect the cowboys, they're in big danger every second. They have the same moves as bullfighters I've seen in Mexico."

Rodeos can also be a style extravaganza. "I like to say it's a cross between grit and fashion," Royce says. "The cowboys show up in these $150 shirts, take them off and put on their old dirties, do their thing in the arena, then go back out and put on their nice clothes. The best part is the horses, though: Some of them have more bling than the people do. The women riding them have their nails and hair done and are dressed to the nines, but the horses are wearing this beautiful silver-and-turquoise jewelry."

Royce recently got an ICA press card, which means he can take pictures on the other side of the fence - an adventure that can be fraught with peril. "I definitely get better angles from that perspective, but I had no clue how dangerous it is being so close," he says. "My number-one rule for rodeo photographers: Never turn your back, and always know where the exit gates are. I was taking pictures in an arena in New Plymouth when a 2,300-pound white bull broke loose from its ropes as it was being taken to the gate. I had my back turned, and another photographer yelled, 'Look out!' I didn't know if I could still even run - I found out yes, I can still run. I'm more attentive now when I'm shooting."

If you want to get a crash course in balancing shutter speeds and apertures, rodeos are the ticket, according to Royce. "Many of these rodeos start at around 4 in the afternoon and go till midnight," he says. "Every 30 minutes the light changes, and therefore your settings will change. Every rodeo has different lighting, too. You might just have streetlights, where you can't figure out how the cowboys can even see anything. Or you might be attending one like the Caldwell Night Rodeo: A few years ago, ESPN and NBC came in and said they wanted to shoot that rodeo every year, but that meant the community had to pony up for elaborate daylight-style lighting in the arena. When you shoot there at night, it's this clear, beautiful light that's even brighter than daylight."

Royce usually starts out at a shutter speed of about 1/350th of a second and a wide F-stop, depending on the available light. "I shoot everything in RAW to give me sharper, more detailed results," he says. "I often bracket my shots and usually find that the image that's 2 stops down is the one I like best. It just tends to work out that way for me."

As with photographing baseball and basketball, rodeo often (though not always) allows Royce to prefocus. "I can usually assume where the action is going to be, so I can get my focus and keep my button down so it's locked," he says. "Then when the action comes my way, I just click. But there's also so much spontaneity in rodeo that you always have to be ready for those surprise shots, which is one of the reasons I love the 70-200 lens on my camera - I know I can just zoom in or out to get those types of images on the fly."

Sometimes Royce wants to freeze the action in the arena, but many times he wants to show the animals and cowboys in the heat of the moment. "It's much more interesting to show the action of the horse or cow's tail, or maybe the dirt flying and the dust forming," he says. "Photographers tell stories - some for factual reasons, some for art's sake. I'm often on the artsy side. Showing the action adds so much to telling the story the way I want to tell it."

One of the more challenging aspects to handle at a down-and-dirty rodeo: the dust. "I found this out the hard way when I had to have my sensors cleaned for a lot of dollars per pop," Royce explains. "Dust is not your friend, in either your pictures or your gear. What I do now is cover my lens with a plastic grocery bag with a hole cut in it and keep a can of compressed air in my back pocket: I'll blow all the dust off of everything before I even attempt to wipe my lens down with a microfiber or silk cloth. I also appreciate the 70-200 for that reason: I don't find myself having to change lenses too often when I've got that one on."

At press time, Royce was heading out to the Pendleton Round-Up in Oregon with his trusty Tamron arsenal. "This is the number-three rodeo in the world," he says. "I think I'm in for a shock: I've heard it's wild and crazy, the best of the best. I'm excited to see what pictures I get there. I always try to think through my images before I take them, but a lot of it is plain luck - just being in the right place in the right time to get that 'wow' shot that impresses the masses."

To see more of Royce Nowlin's work, go to http://lonesomepinephotography.com.