ProRodeo Sports News - September 21, 2018

Westfall’s Colorado roots, rodeo father led to passion BY MATT NABER W hen Greg Westfall isn’t photographing rodeos, you’ll likely find him working on his 5,000-acre ranch in eastern Colorado. Although he sticks close to home with rodeos in Denver and Estes Park, Colo., he also shoots in San Antonio and Pendleton, Ore., and has photographed the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. Westfall started shooting photos in high school for the yearbook and What were some reasons why you wanted to submit this photo? I’ve never seen anything like this. The lighting is good, the reaction of the people is priceless and the fact that nobody was hurt, and he got a re-ride. It caught my eye so much that I have a registered copyright on it. A picture like this is worth it to protect it because it is so unique. Once-in-a-Lifetime Shot BEHIND THE CHUTE

What settings did you have on your camera to make this shot possible? My strobes were never pointed in that direction, and I have no idea how the light hit it like it did, I guess it was just meant to be. It’s at night, so I was shooting on the manual setting with a Nikon D5 at 1/250th of a second, because that’s what my camera syncs at with the strobes. I was probably at f/8

newspaper, then concentrated on journalism while attending Colorado State University, Fort Collins. He moved on to shooting local rodeos in Colorado in 1983 before getting his PRCA card in 1990. “I think it’s in my blood,” Westfall said. “My dad, Gilbert Westfall, was a saddle bronc rider in the Turtles Association. I think it’s in my genes to take rodeos pictures. I enjoy it, and my favorite event is saddle bronc because of my dad.”

and around 1,000 ISO. At this rodeo, I used four, 1,600-watt white lightning strobes crisscrossing each other, but not pointed this way. I don’t know Photoshop a whole lot, but with this photo all I did was lighten it up and crop it. I just used dark room techniques, digitally. How has your photography developed over time? It’s improved over time – if you don’t improve you might as well quit. You can learn from other people and use some parts of their techniques and apply them to how you shoot, so you grow and it keeps getting better. The equipment now is amazing. I shoot with a Nikon D5, and it’s amazing what the camera does. You have to know the camera to get shots like this. It’s just perfectly in focus, and I just love it. You can see the action in the mane, tail and the dirt. Cave Creek used it for their poster last year. What do you think the future holds for rodeo photography? There’s a time and place for every type of photography, and people are leaning more toward the artsy photos. But, we also have to keep the traditional part of it too to document each person in the rodeo. I think there’s going to be both, but it’s leaning more to the new age photography and Photoshop. There’s definitely a place for the types of photos I take and there’s room for everyone.

Who is in this photo, and when and where was it taken? Tate Owens at Cave Creek, Ariz., in 2017. What was happening before this photo was taken? It was a wild ride, and he had a re-ride after this ride. It was a typical saddle bronc ride, and it turned into this. I didn’t know I took this photo, because when you take a photo you can’t see what you’re taking. Your mirror on the camera comes up and you can’t see what you took. If I would have seen this picture, that means I wouldn’t have photographed it, it would have been too late. I use strobes, so I can only shoot every second or second-and- a-half, so it was a once-in-a-lifetime shot to get this shot. Why does this picture still hold such sentimental value? It’s saddle bronc riding and my dad rode saddle broncs. It’s interesting to see how the crowd reacted to it, and I’ll never see that kind of picture again. The guy in the right corner is hiding and ducked down, and the guy above Tate’s head is like, ‘No big deal,’ and there are gasps.

Greg Westfall has been shooting photos for the PRCA since 1990 and won Photographer of the Year in 2013. Phil Doyle photo

ProRodeo Sports News 9/21/2018

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