2023 Recap
Let’s take a little look back at how the year has been! Its been a pretty busy one! From travel, to joining new photography teams, and all the little events in between.
Wow, where to even begin? If you had told me everything that happened at the beginning of 2023, I would have laughed at you. I remember the beginning of January when agreeing to work at the National Junior High Finals in Georgia, and being so anxious to work for a different photographer. I had never worked under anyone before, and I had never traveled that far for an event.
Fast forward a couple of short months and I connected with the Andersen C Bar C Photos team, and what a pleasure that has been. I got a phone call at 6 pm on a Friday and I was in Oklahoma by 9 am the next day for the Bob Feist Invitational. I was also pretty nervous about this trip (seeing a trend yet), but I’m really happy that I booked a 6 am flight and met up with the team. Not going to lie, seeing all the ropers whom I had only ever seen on TV roping for that much money left me a little in awe. I mean, Cody freaking Johnson was there for crying out loud??
But, I’m not here to recap all the events I worked at, I’m sure that wouldn’t be the most interesting thing to read. So let’s hit some highlights.
My Favorite Event of the Year:
Of all the events I got to be a part of this year, the one I most enjoyed was the American Cowboy Team Roping Association Finals in Reno, Nevada while working for Andersen C Bar C Photos. I was honestly second-guessing this trip a bit just because of how much travel it was. I left the Pensacola airport at 7 am and after three flights and 14 hours of travel, I arrived in Reno. I was pretty exhausted, but I arrived on the night of an auction and banquet so I got dressed and headed downstairs to meet the rest of the team. After meeting the team for the week, it became pretty obvious it was going to be a fun event to work.
Working the event itself wasn’t anything crazy. It was a lot of usual long team ropings. But, the team working is really what made it so much fun. Several of the girls on the team were around my age and it’s always so fun to talk to other women rodeo photographers around my age.
An Event I Struggled With:
An event that I found really challenging this year was the 2023 Mississippi High School and Junior High State Finals in June.
I wasn’t the most proud of how this years state finals went. I started the week feeling sick and a little defeated, and it just got worse as the week went on. Since there isn’t a media policy at these high school rodeos, there was several other photographers there, which is usually fine, but I let myself feel really insecure about my photography skills compared to the other people there.
Not anyones fault I was feeling this way, the contestants and parents were amazing as usual. I was just already not feeling 100% at the start of the 5-day long rodeo and I let that get me down. I ended up sitting out one day of the rodeo entirely, which I hated to do since the junior high portion of state finals is only two days long and I missed the final day…
Overall, I used this rodeo as a learning experience for the future. I was putting a lot of pressure on myself and it made the creative process of shooting a rodeo fall flat.
Let’s talk social media…
I mean, I can’t let the year go by without talking about the INSANE GROWTH that I had across multiple platforms this year. It blew my mind every time I hit a new milestone, still does when I think back at it. Here are some rapid-fire statistics:
Instagram: Over 40 million views and a growth of 100,000 followers
Tiktok: Increase of over 30,000 followers and 700,000 likes
Facebook: Growth of 65,000 followers and 50 million views
That was… intense. The primary way I was able to grow so quickly was through creating viral videos. I was starting videography and I was posting a LOT of the videos I was taking at rodeos. It was also really draining to monitor so many accounts with such ferocity, however. People who don’t understand rodeo or horses voice their confusion in the form of “hate comments.” These comments, while seldom based in fact, were just downright mean. Reading that negatively multiple times every day was tiring. I was also deleting and blocking thousands of accounts because I didn’t want any of the riders to see such distasteful comments and get upset.
I don’t post as much content these days as I did when these numbers were made, but I post content that I enjoy and don’t get hundreds of messages about how “abusive” goat tying is.
Looking forward for 2024:
I’m so excited for what’s to come this year! I have so many career related goals and I cannot wait to share them with you. I’m hoping to travel some more, see new rodeos, and take a lot of pretty pictures. I do intend to start up my “vlog” channel, finally, if that’s something you’d be interested in! Here is a link to my channel!
I also hope to continue posting blog posts more often, as they are a great place for my brain vomit to occur after a big event, lol. Thank you for reading and I hope you have an amazing year! <3
