Apple Butter and Cowboys

[rexbobcat]

Some more photos from from an assignment for my university paper. It was basically "Go and photograph these two festivals", the two festivals being the National Cowboy Symposium and the Apple Butter Festival, so that's what I did. lol

At the symposium I met quite a few interesting people. Most were older and had quite a bit of history behind them, and they're not shy about telling you about it, which I thought was cool . The Apple Butter Festival, in contrast, but mostly comprised of younger families with small children.

Jean Hastings, a 56 year resident of Idalou, TX, enjoys the festivities at the Cowboy Symposium. She was raised on a ranch in Wellington, TX, and will be 82 in November. She rented out chuck wagons for the event.

1.


Mrs. Peggy pippin is cooking some chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, apple cobbler, and green beans for visitors of the symposium.

2.


Two dancers, both of Comanche Indian heritage, celebrate a powwow of various Native American tribes.
3.


This is Roy Baugh, who is half Caddo Indian and half Cajun. He was telling me all about his heritage and about the Native American culture of the area and several gatherings (powwows) in the area. It was so funny, because he said that the feather that he's wearing down the side of his face symbolizes that his tribe is still at war with the white man, but he, himself has served over 40 years in the US military.

4.


Three year-old Gabe and two year-old Mitch pick apples with their family Saturday at the Apple Butter Festival in Idalou.

5.


Whatchu talkin' bout Willis?

6.


I know this isn't a "people" shot but I thought I'd include it anyways as kind of a contextual photo...and I didn't want to start a one photo thread. lol

7.

 

[LaFoto]

From what little we can see here, I must say you did a very fine job for your university paper + you learned a lot!
What fun - and good photography to boot. Coolest! (Envy here... )

 

[tirediron]

Good shooting Rex; the cowboy shots worked well, but I'm not so sure about the second set. What I get from them is fall, picking apples, family, but NOTHING about a festival, apple-butter, or anything like that.

 

[rexbobcat]

Yeah I realized that about the second set. I have some other shots that are more relevant in a photojournalistic sense than the ones I posted, but they're kind of just...meh. They tell the viewer/reader more about what's actually happening at the festival, but on an aesthetic (or a just darn adorable) level, these were better...If that makes sense. Heh.

I'm really not very good at documenting really relevant moments (like the festival in its entirety) on a level that is both journalistic and aesthetic. It's something I need to work on.

 

[tirediron]

...but on an aesthetic (or a just darn adorable) level, these were better...If that makes sense. Heh.

:thumbup: Gotcha!

 

[amolitor]

#4 is fantastic. Great subject, obviously, but what you've done with him is great. Luck or great timing, either way you got his hair flying, and a fantastic aggressive no-bull**** expression.

This is a perfect example of where technical perfection is absolutely the wrong answer -- you've let a lot of highlights just go. Go be pure, flat, white, guys, have fun. And that was exactly the right thing to do, for several reasons. You needed to, get the tones of his face to place right, AND you needed to to nail down the sense of brightness and light, and to get the whiteness of his hair properly white, and all that stuff.

 

[rokvi]

I liked it. good read, telling pictures. Would like to have seen a overview shot of the festivities though.

Well done. :thumbup: