ProRodeo Sports News - June 15, 2018

BEHIND THE CHUTE

Hubbell brings five decades of rodeo experience BY MATT NABER L ike the Hubble Telescope, PRCA photographer Dan Hubbell captures almost everything. As a native of the Cowboy State of Wyoming, Hubbell’s been shooting rodeo since the 1970s and continues to photograph some of the PRCA’s biggest competitions. “I grew up around it and liked being around rodeo because of the excitement of it, and the bucking stock and the people you meet,” Hubbell said. After graduating from Pinedale (Wyo.) High School, Hubbell attended Casper (Wyo.) College where he picked up photography. This photo was taken 24 years ago. Do you recall what settings you had on your camera to make this shot possible? In 1994 we had lights in the ceiling (of theThomas &Mack Center) like we do now. So, I was shooting 200 speed film and probably shot it at f-4 with 1/250 of a second with the lights to freeze the image. Have any other shots turned out like this? There is another one where Aaron Semas is already on the ground and Bodacious is kicking up over his head, too. How has your photography developed over time? I was one of the first guys to shoot rodeo in color, along with Jim Fain

“I’d always been interested in pictures because we would get the Rodeo Sports News and I thought rodeo pictures were pretty neat,” Hubbell said. Hubbell and his brother often competed in rodeo, so Hubbell would bring his camera along and make prints to sell along the way. Hubbell’s rodeoing was put on pause while raising his daughter, Denise, until she got involved in barrel racing – then he was back at it with his camera. “One thing led to another and I was busy enough that it became my full- time job in 1989, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” Hubbell said. Headquartered in Casper, Wyo., Hubbell travels about 20,000 miles per year, hitting rodeos fromMontana, down into Texas and frequently the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. Of the millions of

and David Jennings. They (the competitors) liked that. You could see the guys with purple chaps or red or yellow, and they liked those color images, and some of the guys liked the black and white better. I look at some of those old images and say, ‘Boy, you were really bad,’ but I kept working at it. You’re not perfect, so there’s always something you want to do better. How big is your photo archive? It goes back into the ’70s, so it would be hard for me to say but my whole house is full.

photos he’s taken over the last five decades, Hubbell narrowed down his favorite shot to Aaron Semas riding Bodacious at the 1994Wrangler NFR. “I’m supposed to say it’s my favorite photo, but it’s hard to pick your favorite because there are so many awesome ones,” Hubbell said. “I picked that one because he was such a famous bull. It’s one of my most famous photos, it was even in Playboy for an article, and this photo was printed overseas.” In your professional opinion, what makes this photo so interesting? Rodeo people can see the power and fury behind that whole deal by looking at the image. The usage and notoriety of it makes it my favorite.

Of the millions of rodeo photos Dan Hubbell has taken since the 1970s, his favorite and most famous is of Aaron Semas riding Bodacious at the 1994 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.

ProRodeo Sports News 6/15/2018

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