In the middle of June 1975, Laurelei Mullens, Modesto Bee features editor, sent me to south Modesto to photograph Jess Tharp, an 80-year-old cowboy saddle maker. Mullens was doing an advance story for the big Modesto Independence Day Parade. She wanted to do the story about Tharp because he would be the oldest rider in […]
Tag Archives: spring
Cattle drive near Yosemite National Park
For over a hundred and twenty years, the Erickson family has been driving their cattle from the Merced Falls area to summer grazing near the border of Yosemite National Park. The drive takes the same route; of course there are three major highways now not to mention a bridge over the South Fork of the […]
Coyote Howl, Coulterville, California
Living in Greeley Hill, we have to travel six miles downhill to an 1850s gold rush town, Coulterville, California for our Post Office. Twenty-six years ago town folks were looking for an excuse to have a community party. They created the Coyote Howl. The story of the birth of the Howl is a little murky. […]
Spring Branding
I figured that before I blogged the Erickson Cattle Company’s cattle drive this year, I should show some of the work cowboys do before the drive. First, they round up the cattle from the ranch, and then separate the calves to brand. Catching the calves is just like team roping at the Rodeo. If you […]
La Grange Rodeo
A couple weeks ago I traveled down to La Grange to photograph the 64th Annual Rodeo. Â I was on my way to a banquet in Oakland that night but I had a couple of hours to shoot. Â These are a few of my favorite images from the day, and if you would like to see […]