Last weekend we went out to Tehachapi, where Julia's parents have a home, for the annual Tehachapi Mountain Festival and the Tehachapi Rodeo. I've never been to a rodeo before and had only a vague idea of what to expect. It was a fascinating experience, in many ways not at all fitting my preconceptions. For the most part, I think notions of animal abuse are at least overstated - I certainly don't think the majority of the audience was there with a thirst for abuse - by and large it was a macho sporting event, and the animals were treated as well as could be expected. In any case it was an excellent event to shoot with my new Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L lens, and we had a lot of fun and only a little discomfort.

I've posted two galleries - a complete gallery with lots of shots from the weekend, and a gallery of selects.