Its Texas Time...

    February is Rodeo month in San Antonio, so we headed on down to the AT&T center to check it out.

Unfortunately, the actual rodeo part didn't start until that night, but there was plenty going on beforehand to keep us entertained. A variety of Petting zoos, crazy rides and all sorts of food stands covered the area.

Not to mention all kinds of interesting characters.

There were enormous bulls out the back of the carnival area.

These animals were huge and the strangest looking things I had ever seen. Each of them had saddle shaped humps coming out of their backs with crazy looking faces. Considering the size of them and the odd look on their faces they were all pretty docile.

The photograph below came out really interesting. There was a large group of marines wondering around the carnival, they were letting loose and playing all the games. I crouched down and took a photograph looking up towards them. The angle it was taken from makes the soldiers seem so small compared to the over sized 'Shoot Out The Star' game.

Sometimes it is nice to get lost in this fun, childish world for awhile.

 It was Brent's first time at a petting zoo. This was the closest either of us had gotten to deer before.

The photograph above came out really cool. I was watching this guy slowly pull the cow across the pathway. I waited until he was perfectly positioned in the black space ahead of him and snapped away. You can almost feel the weight of the animal from the stance of the man and the cows beady eye looking not so enthusiastic about moving.

The stars & stripes rubbish bin adds an interesting focal point to the shot.

I found this scene quite interesting. It shows a line of bulls with numbers branded on their thighs. A worker with bold letters down his shirt reaches for the animals tail. Your eyes can't help but bounce back and forth between the two types of branding.

Which would you prefer to wear?

 

 Red, White & Blue

Its Cowboy Country

 

Even the coppas below were decked out in their cowboy gear!

Fun fairs, carnivals and amusement parks always seem to have the same ongoing theme...

shadows, bright colours, reflections, repetition, repetition and more repetition

       

 

I have always found close up photographs of art, signs and advertising so interesting.

The two below were part of a huge party scene painted on the side of one of rides. These two characters caught my eye, since they actually look a lot cooler by themselves.

    

Traces of glue, text and images signify time and change. The sign below really enhances this idea.

Above was another interesting character that we came across.

Repetition of shapes, text, colours, lines and symbols could be seen all over the fair.

Everywhere you looked screamed consume and buy!!

          

A real cowboy!

The sun shines down on this little boy modeling his cowboy hat, perhaps his very first one.

The soft lighting gives the scene a real dreamy effect as if this will be a proud memory.

The way this little boy is sitting really makes me smile.

He is full of confidence and attitude already filling his cowboy boots so very perfectly.

We didn't make it to the actual rodeo but hopefully next week we can stop by. I'm sure there will be plenty more fascinating people and scenes to capture on camera.

Check back often, Texas is an interesting place.