The Place Where Vision, High School Rodeos, & Being Vegan Collide

I'm reading Visionmongers: Making A Life And A Living in Photography, an amazing book about photography and vision and passion and choices and direction. I love how the author describes photography and passion. "You don't do it because you can, but because you can't not." I can completely connect with the drive, the urge, the need to photograph, to strive to be better to constantly ask the question, "am I good enough."

And then today I found myself at a High School Rodeo. I was there to watch my niece and of course I took my camera. Because I always take my camera. Everywhere.

Did I mention I'm vegan? I don't eat meat. I don't eat anything that came from an animal. The leather products I own are from my pre-vegan life as it now seems wasteful to simply throw them away. I'm going to at least use them up before I replace them.

And there I was. In the heart of beef eating, cattle herding, PETA loathing rodeo land. With my camera. So I took photos. A lot of photos. And although there was part of me thinking, what kind of hypocrite am I? The photographer in me was amazed at the movement, the light, the beauty I could capture.

Ok. So my calling isn't in rodeo images. I know that. It would suck the very life from me. But for one day, for a few hours. I completely enjoyed it. And in so many ways it was easier than photographing 4 year olds!