Saturday was a busy day for us with lots of fundraising. First we spent most of the day shooting Christmas Pet Photos to raise money for UCAPS in El Dorado. Next we headed to the Hogskin Arena in Hampton, AR to shoot a Fundraiser Barrel run for Jackson Thurman and Brody Ivy.
These young cowboys are headed to Las Vegas to compete Junior World Finals and proceeds from the barrel run will help them with some travel expenses to get them there.
It was a little wet and cold, but the skies were generally clear which made for some good outdoor daylight barrel run photos and we had a great time shooting the run.
Check out the link below to view and purchase some of the photos from the run.
This weekend, we teamed up with the girls from Roaming Paws Retreat and Union Kennel & Farm Supply for a day of celebrating our furry family members and helping the Union County Animal Protection Society by shooting Christmas mini sessions.
Boone Thurman
Roaming Paws Retreat & Home Care is a pet boarding group that helps take care of your pets when you have to leave town. These girls were a lifesaver in putting this shoot together.
Meanwhile Union Kennel & Farm Supply graciously allowed us to host the event at their store in El Dorado, AR and served as a drop-off point for additional food donations to the UCAPS animal Shelter.
In all, $190 plus additional food donations were raised from this event to benefit UCAPS. Thank you so much for helping us with this event. It was a lot of fun.
To view or purchase additional photos from this event, boop that adorable nose.
Would You like to see more of these types of events???
The State fair of Louisiana is going on this week in Shreveport, LA. I’m honored to have been chosen as the official Rodeo Photographer to capture the moments when these Cowboys and Cowgirls of the Louisiana Rodeo Cowboy Association decide who’s going to come out on top. After the first nights performances, its obvious the competition is tough.
Here you’ll see my photos from this three night event. If you like my photos, I have digitals and prints available. We’ll be set up by the announcers stand behind the bucking chutes each night.
Please, contact me for commercial use or if I can help you in any way.
Note: If you are looking for your run number, A few of the runs may be out of order starting around 80-106. So you may have to look through a few photos to find your run. Sorry for the inconvenience
Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) annual conference in Lincoln, NE. I first became aware of POMA about a year ago which was around the time of their 2017 conference. Since Lincoln is an 11-12 hour drive for me, it would have been much easier to have made the hour and 45 minute drive to shreveport last year, but other commitments and issues prevented me from attending or joining POMA2017 conference. Instead, I began to watch POMA from a distance.
What I saw was some really engaging images and writing coming from other industry members who were involved with POMA. I saw them interacting with clients similar to some I’ve had and others I was eager to pursue. I also saw the diversity among the members. While the common denominator among the members is the outdoors. Some are more heavily involved in hunting vs fishing. Hiking, shooting sports, and General conservation efforts are also heavily represented.
As the 2018 conference came near, I knew I wanted to attend this year. I had hopes of meeting some other industry peers and since I’ve seen this group interact over the year, I knew forming some relationships was a real probability here. Plus, I’m almost entirely self taught on many of the skills that i’ve gained as a photographer and videographer. So a chance to learn from others in the industry was really important. In the weeks leading up to the conference, I honestly didn’t have the money to attend. I’ve had some other expenses and things come up over the last few months that I just had to take an honest look at weather I should attend or not. So I prayed about it and left it in God’s hands.
Within a few days is when I got a call from Kevin Orthman, POMA’s executive Director. After a brief conversation, he said he liked some of my work and wanted to know if I was still interested in coming. Of course I was, but just couldn’t really make it work. Thats when Kevin offered me a sponsorship. Someone was planning to attend and due to some family issues was not going to make it so there was a spot available. I don’t know if I really contained my excitement on the phone but I jumped at the chance. I truly felt that God had answered my prayers on this issue. We don’t always see immediate answered prayers but this time I did and it was so awesome to have been blessed with this opportunity. Kevin, thank you for the invite.
The conference itself did not disappoint. While I was expecting a little larger attendance I think the number of people there was actually perfect. I felt like I was able to begin to form relationships with several who attended and not just swap cards and move on. The seminars were well attended and the speakers were very knowledgeable on their given area of expertise. I can’t thank the corporate partners and sponsors that helped put the event on enough. I learned some new things and I highly appreciated the opportunity to meet other people in the industry.
So what did I learn. Well one thing that I’ve felt for a while and i’ve seen some signs of is that our industry is struggling. Hunters and Outdoorsmen are declining in numbers. This notion was repeated multiple times over the week with statistics to back it up. God’s country has different meanings to different people. To some, its the rocky mountains. For others, its the Mississippi delta river bottoms. No matter your interpretation, our culture is changing and without new hunters and outdoorsmen, coming in and taking the reins, our outdoor heritage and the conservation of “God’s Country” may not fair very well in the future. I guess, the main take away is that POMA is a great organization in a great industry. It’s doing a lot to help bring a positive light into this industry and It’s one that i’ll be joining for sure. I hope that others in this niche of the outdoor industry will consider joining POMA as well.
