Photos

Western America's Heritage- Rodeo.
This is the Dodge National Circuit Finals Rodeo, held in March every year for four days and nights at Holt Indoor Arena, on the campus of Idaho State University. It seats about 12,000 if you pack them in.
These cowboys come from all over the United States from twelve circuits (districts) to compete. They are the best at what they do in their circuit. This is the "Big Event" of the year for them: some are lawyers, others ranchers, mechanics, even doctors. All walks of life are represented, generally speaking.
This shot depicts calf roping, or as it is now referred too- calf tying. Winning times are 8 seconds and faster- this ecompasses chasing the speeding calf with a lariat (lasso), roping said animal, jumping from the still running horse (although the trained horse is stopping- see tight rope in shot), throwing calf to ground and tying it's feet. Then he has to remount his horse and walk his horse forward to relieve the tension on the calf- if the calf can get off the ground, he is disqualified- no time. This was the winner the night I was there- 7.8 seconds.
Shot at ISO 1600 to offset bad lighting to enable high shutter speeds. Notice shallow depth of field (2.8).
I really like rodeo and plan to attend some local outdoor events this summer.