Those kids just had brain freeze. Eating a snow cone too fast was the least of the problems most people had at the Wimberley VFW Rodeo last weekend. It rained most of the week last week making the rodeo arena a big sloppy muddy mess.
I went out there on Friday night for the bull riding and stayed for most of the evening. I wore mud boots (which are one of the greatest inventions ever!) and the mud came up to my ankles. It was fun watching everyone splash in the mud like the kid above whose dedication to winning the mutton bustin contest showed through the thick layer of dirt caked on her body. The kid below was pretty dedicated too. He won the first mutton bustin round.
The bulls were slow on Friday night because of the mud and it mixed up the results a bit, eliminating riders who would normally end up in the finals. Here are a couple of cowboys talking strategy before their ride.
To get that shot, I had to climb between the pins and try to stay clear of the bulls. During the mutton bustin and some of the other kid’s events, I was able to go inside the arena, but once the bull riding began, I stayed outside the gate. There was a platform above the arena that I shot from during most of the bull riding. I like shooting from above for rodeo because it gives a clean background.
I have to admit, that I liked the shot of the watermelon boots so much from the Luling Watermelon Thump that when I arrived at the rodeo, I immediately saw the chance to recreate it. Maybe I could do a series of boots? What do you think?
