Team Penning - A family Sport

Of all of the photos I took this weekend, the above is my most favorite.  Yes there is action, skill and excitement coming in some of my upcoming photos, but this one particular photo speaks to me of what this sport is all about.  Here is a Dad and Son, talking together, waiting their turn to go into the ring together and work as a team to accomplish their task. 

Yes, there are lots of sports where a Dad and Son would talk before the game, there are very few where both go together and compete alongside each other.  Wow, what a bonding experience.

Moms with Daughters, Brothers with Sisters, you get to see all combinations during the youth competitions.  It was great to watch and personally, this was my favorite part of the competition. 

Sorry Marilyn, it was fun to watch you but the Kids were the best!

Next we visit the action of the Big Money competitors.

Presenting.... The CowGirls of Team Penning

While at the Team Penning event I had the pleasure of meeting some of the cowgirls.  What is great about this sport is that it is a family event and everyone is involved.

This cute rider is named Emily and she was almost as happy getting her photo taken as was her  Mom.  We'll see photos of her later.

And it just wouldn't be fail to take photos of one sister and  not the other.  This is Charlotte and if memory still serves me well, I believe Charlote and her Penning Team managed to get all their cattle Penned under the alotted time.  Believe me that is no small feat!  Congratulations!

While everyone at this event were experienced horse riders, that didn't stop my youngest daughter from getting on her Aunt Marilyn's horse for some photos.

More action photos and information about the Ottawa Valley Team Penning Association in the next post.

Should anyone see photos of themselves and wish copies all you need do is email me at frostgd@hotmail.com  and I will gladly send you the original copy.



My Sister, Her Husband and their Horses

This is my (Baby) Sister Marilyn,

her Husband Kutris,

and obviously they are into wester horse riding.

For the next couple of posts (or more) I am going to post photos of the event Marilyn and Kurtis were participating in this weekend.

It is known as Team Penning.  For those who do not know what this is (and I am amoung you) I will attempt to explain a little about it along with the photos of the event taking place. 

First and most important, as from what I could see today, you can't just act like a cowboy/cowgirl, but you also have to dress the part.  I think the horses know the difference in your attire and if you are not dress correctly the horse will know it.  These are some very smart animals, at least that is what Marilyn tells me.

Next post.... A very special little cowgirl named Emily, and my youngest Daughter Kayla takes to a horse.

A Walk on the Banks of the Ottawa River

Tonight we had dinner at an Indian Restaurant followed by a walk along the banks of the Ottawa River.  We decided to take Grandson #2 and judging from his complaints he was somewhat less than impressed.  He did settle down long enough for me to take this photo.

Here are the photos I took of the river.  Next time I take on the challenge of the sunset itself.

Branching Out - just a little

While I love, and still have a steep learning curve concerning 3D photography, I thought I might just try something new since getting my new camera.

Tonight Linda and I went for a walk with our dog and I took the camera with me.

First I tried a Panorama Photo, hoping to capture the subtle colours of the evening sky:

Next, my first attempt at an HDR photo.  HDR stands for High Dinamic Range.  You take a number of photos at different shutter speeds resulting in a set of photos ranging from very underexposed to very overexposed.  You then take these into a photo manipulation program and it take the "Best" parts of each photo to give you a result which contains detail in both the high and low light parts of the scene.  Here is my first result.

Of course, I just couldn't go out and not take 3D so here are the photos I took on our walk.

Comments always welcome.