[Keith Alan]

On Sunday, the last day of San Antonio's annual Fiesta! celebration, we went to the Charreada.
These monthly events (except during winter) are held by the SA Charro Association.

The grounds around the keyhole-shaped arena (lienzo) were completely open to the public, so I wandered around looking for interesting scenes.




Texas Cowboy meets Charro:


During the opening ceremony a stallion became excited to the point where it was obvious, if you know what I mean. He attempted to mount a mare whose rider was holding the flag of Mexico. Quick action by the riders prevented an international incident.


We really enjoyed the Escaramuza, where ten young girls wearing traditional dresses and riding side-saddle gallop their horses in intertwining patterns, barely avoiding dangerous collisions.
In fact, one girl was thrown from her horse, but she was helped back up and the show continued.
Here she is mid-fall, with concern starting to show on faces in the crowd:


A pretty young rider:



One of the senior charros took a liking to me and Sylvia, and we were brought through some gates into a room right behind the wall of the ring, so we were much closer to the action than any other spectator or photographer!
I could reach out and touch the animals as they passed by, if I were stupid enough to try it.
Passing bulls and horses threw dirt on me, a rush of wind would blow my hair--I could smell them and feel the ground shake. It was dangerous and exciting!

Since I spent the day playing with aperture and shutter priority modes, it was a quick adjustment to get motion-blur when I wanted it:



Or I could choose to freeze the action:





A thunderstorm suddenly began, so everyone headed for cover:


I gave up my spot to the charros, as they watched the dirt turn to mud and enjoyed a cold cerveza:


It was too dangerous to perform the Paso de Muerte (Pass of death) in the mud so the event ended early, but we had a wonderful time.

[Banded Drake]

Great story , and wonderful shots thanks for sharring them ...

.... Shawn

[Toad]

Yes - great story. Also some great pictures to go with it. The portrait of the pretty young rider and the rope trick on horseback would be my favs...

[essaljay]

fantastic pictures.

[matthew]

Great shots, great story, and well told in both mediums. You know me, I really like that first shot, and the last one is a perfect way to wrap it up. I'll be so bold as to say that the shot with the charging horse blurred and the pursuer sharp is a heartbreaking "miss" -- more space on the left to balance the shot would have made it a winner. It's awesome work, and I can imagine how hard it was to get, but it's not quite there.

It rains in Texas???

[Keith Alan]

Actually, the first photo was for you, since I know your tastes.
The girl and especially the last one are my favorites--the mood generated without even seeing his face is cool.

Here's a few more:


After falling, everyone is relieved that she's okay.


Matthew, this is the shot I was after (although it's a little crooked)--the blurry horse photo was only for illustration of using shutter-priority when shooting action.

[EnglishBob]

Great series, my town rodeo was this past week-end, I didn'y go, again!

[Russt]

enjoyed this series Keith..........well captured.

all the shots have something to offer.......but one standout for me is the guy drinking the corona, a good story in that one!

again well done

[Wedding Shooter]

Thank you for the photo essay - I loved it.

[Irma]

These are the best pictures I have seen of a Charreada, Keith!
Bravo!! ....

They are all splendid!

I love the little series of those two pictures of the girls... it was great that you took the whole event because after seen the concerned face of the girl in the first one watching her friend falling, it is a great happy ending when you see her smiling again because her friend is up and everything is fine... That is a sweet episod in this great story.

The one making the Suerte charra, very nice capture I like it a lot too. I know that they start since they are so young practicing this.

The one pulling the vaquilla, that is great too. You capture the expression of the charro nicely. The charro in the rain... that is so sweet. I love it too!!

And not because I think it is the best one but because it says a lot of the story. The charro with the corona... Wow!! That is a great picture!! Excellent, just perfect!!

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience and your pictures.

[Keith Alan]

Thank you everyone.

Thank you, Irma!
I'm so glad you like them.

I have not been out taking pictures for weeks it seems, so maybe I had lots of 'mojo' and luck stored up.
It was a great day for me, despite back problems that had me in great pain the whole time (I'm better now).


The charro/corona photo is really connecting with people everywhere I show it.
I was expecting criticism for not including his face, but I knew as soon as I saw the scene that it would work anyway.
In fact, it took 6 attempts over three minutes to get that photo--everytime he turned his head to the right I would frame up the shot and a woman would get in the way. She would move and the charro would have turned away. Then a horse would block the background. Then the woman would do her thing again.
I was angry and frustrated but had to keep trying, because deep down in my heart I just knew that it was a special moment and the best thing I would do all day.