Some portraits

Took the opportunity with a sunny summer evening to take Schantelle out to some different locations and try a few new things. Here's what I have:

Austin Jacobson

Seventeen-year-old Austin Jacobson is looking to put the results of the CN Future Links Western Championship behind him as he prepares for more upcoming tournaments.

Fire

Had quite the experience getting this shot.

From what I have learned, it's always better to catch bees with honey rather than vinegar.

I heard a call on the scanner about a hay truck that was on fire. After a 15 minute drive to the scene, I rolled up, made my presence known to the police and asked where they would like me to park.

After snapping roughly 40 frames, I was approached by a woman (on the left in the blue) who asked me to stop taking pictures because I do not have permission.

I then explained the law associated with photos on public property (I had to explain it to the officer there as well, but that's all for a different blog entry).

After that, she returned to the field to tend to her daughter, who was driving the truck when it caught on fire.

Both her and her daughter came back to where I was shooting from, visibly upset. I explained to them what I was doing and used the photojournalist-friendly saying 'just doing my job'.

That didn't make her happy. The mother then lunged at me, but was stopped by the police before she could do any real damage.

Contrary to the beliefs of many outside of (and inside sometimes) the journalism industry, I think we do have hearts. They're often covered up by deadlines and stress, but we do have compassion.

Every time I take a photo like this, I ask the question: Is this necessary? At the same time, I use the shoot shoot think approach to spot news. Shoot everything you can and think about it later.

No one was injured in the incident.

Removal from work

After a steady three months of working 60 plus hours per week, I'm beginning to understand what it's like to be burnt out.

I wish I could do more to remove myself from work, but being in a place where I know essentially no one makes it rather difficult.

It is very important to have a home life and work life, but they must be able to work together.

But, even though I'm burnt out on work, I still like to take pictures.

Stampede Wrap-up

Well, that was an experience.

Bareback rider Monty Koopman holds on and spurs a bucking horse during competition on June 30. (Notice how the spur is INSIDE of the horse)

Canada's largest seven-day pro rodeo has ended.

When I came here from Ontario, I had no idea how rodeo worked let alone the names of the competitions or the names of the rodeo superstars. In weeks leading up to the Ponoka Stampede, I filled my brain with every single piece of information I could learn.

I must say, I felt like a complete foreigner, especially with the fact that we had to wear a cowboy hat and dress Western while shooting and covering rodeo events. Wearing a cowboy hat while driving a 1998 VW Jetta with Ontario plates...definitely turned a few heads with that.

Overall, I would say it was a great experience. Put in a lot of long, hard days, but also had a lot of fun (and made some really cool photos).

Now it's back to the norm of Ponoka and Central Alberta, covering things that people care about.

Adam

More Stampede

Shot six hours of rodeo yesterday. Here are some edits. More to come.

Donalda, Alta. barrel racer Shannon Leguerrier participates in slack events on June 30.

Stettler native Scott Schiffner will perform a private bullriding session for the Duke and Duchess when they visit the Calgary Stampede in July.

Donalda, Alberta native Curtis Cassidy takes down a steer during the steer wresting competition on June 30.

Ponoka native Justin Gattey takes the lead during steer wrestling competitons on June 30 at the Ponoka Stampede.

Ponoka native Craig Guthrie takes down a steer during steer wresting competition on June 30 at the Ponoka Stampede. Guthrie would have taken the lead with his time, but broke the barrier on his entry into the stadium which added five seconds to his total time.