More of Our Canada – July 2019

I

had been taking photos for almost

an hour before I decided to look at

them on the monitor on the back

of my camera. Oh no! They were

all blurry! The rodeo action was

too fast and I would have to increase the

shutter speed to get crisp photos. I was at

the Williams Lake stampede and the ac-

tion was fast and furious. Cowboys and

cowgirls galloping in, lassoing calves,

hanging on to bucking broncos and trying

not to get bucked off onto the unforgiving

dirt. I loved every minute of it.

Actually, my love affair with B.C.’s

cowboy country, centred on Williams

Lake, had started years before. My dad, a

quiet, even-tempered Englishman, used

to get together with his buddies every fall

and head off to a ranch close to Lone

Butte, B.C., where they’d clamber aboard

sway-backed ponies, load their rifles and

go hunting for moose. To my knowledge

Photographer Mike Lane of

Saanichton, B.C., gives us a glimpse

into the exciting world of his home

province’s cowboy culture

COWBOY

COUNTRY