Hi everyone-

Today's image was again shot at the rodeo in Choteau, MT. This time the image is of a barrel racer on her way back to the line.

Barrel Racing is a cool event to shoot because it gives you two opportunities to create very different types of images.

As in this image you can pan with the rider as she makes her way back to the start finish line or you can position near a barrel and shoot some great stop action type images when the rider is coming around the barrel.

When shooting the rodeo you have to pre visualize what you want your final image to look like because the backgrounds are very important. They tend to be very busy with people and fences and other components of the arena. So finding the perfect spot to either use the background to enhance the surroundings or to isolate the subject is important.

I decided to try and isolate the rider while panning in between the two sets of bleachers. It was a tough shot to pull off because of the speed involved with the horse and the settings I was using because of the harsh sunlight. only a handful of the images i shot worked out, but it was really more than I had expected.

This image was shot at ISO 200 at 1/30th @ f36. I used the D300 with a Nikon 80-400Vr at 120mm focal length. I really had to push the f stop up because of the bright sun in order to get an image that I could pull off the hand held pan. Going lower in ISO necessitated that I slow the speed even further and when doing that I started to see to much blur from camera shake.

In post I added a texture and two layers of border but toned it all down a bit. I wanted a bit of a softer feel to the image.

Thanks to everyone who commented to emailed about yesterday's image. I tend to agree with Barry that an image that is truly a great image can stand on its own. Often times however when I create an image with a lot of texture or borders I think of them more conceptually. Meaning that I see the image as part of a series or possibly in a layout of some sort. Occasionally, I just do it for fun.

It is always interesting to read or hear peoples feedback on the work I am doing. Thanks again to everyone who commented!

Have a great day!