Zoom, Click and Run

Armed with nothing heavier than a 35mm camera and a zoom lens, rodeo photographer Jon Millard stares grimly at the 2,000-pound bull slowly advancing on him. It’s a shoot and run situation, and the shot comes first. A couple of quick clicks of the shutter gets him his picture and only then does he think of saving his skin.

Squatting in a dusty arena just a tail’s length away from bucking broncos and thick-muscled steers and dodging the occasional Brahma bull isn’t the life Millard envisioned growing up in Omak, Wash. (pop. 4,721). He figured he’d put in his 40 years at the local lumber mill and retire. About 20 years short of that goal two things happened: the lumber industry went into a tailspin, and Millard’s uncle, Richard, was diagnosed with cancer.

The elder Millard had also been a mill worker. But he had a creative bent that eight-hour days spent trimming boards and pushing buttons couldn’t satisfy. An interest in photography flourished into a business, with the self-taught craftsman establishing a niche as one of the premier rodeo photographers in the Pacific Northwest.

“Richard was the best,” says Gary “Chick” Jackson, whose son and daughter rode the rodeo circuit. “He would pay attention to little things, like making sure the barrels were set so the name of the event always appeared in the picture. I probably have 10 boxes of photos that he took. They’re all great.”

As his uncle’s illness progressed and rumors swirled concerning the mill, Jon Millard contemplated his future. When people started asking, “Hey, are you gonna take over Richard’s business?” an idea was born.

“I went down to talk to Richard about buying one of his cameras, and he sold me everything—cameras, darkroom equipment, you name it—for about as much as I offered for one piece,” Jon recalls. Then another photographer offered to sell his color processing equipment for a good price. Jon, 45, and his wife, Dawn, bought it, converted a spare bedroom into a darkroom and turned their motor home into a mobile lab.

The senior Millard taught his protégé as much as he could in the time he had left. “Richard’s last words to me were, ‘Take lots of pictures,’” Jon recalls. “That was part of his success. He took more pictures than anybody. Those rodeo moms and dads (at junior rodeos) just ate it up.”

Jon added to his knowledge by taking various photography classes and using the state’s job retraining program to earn two business degrees. Since his first assignment—taking photos at the Okanogan County Fair in 1998—he has gone on to shoot numerous junior rodeos, open rodeos, Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) rodeos, professional bull riding competitions (including several world championships in Las Vegas), barrel racing competitions, horse shows and other events.

For the Millards, rodeo photography continues to be a family affair, with Jon’s wife also venturing out into the arena with a camera. “I begged her to help,” Jon explains. “But when she’s there, I’m almost too nervous to take pictures. She’s not out with the rough stock, but it’s still dangerous. A barrel racer who turns too wide can flatten you just as good as a bull.”

Dawn, on the other hand, has learned not to worry about her husband. She smiles as she recalls some of his close calls. “Each time, the first thing he said afterwards was, ‘Did you get a picture of that?’ So I decided, ‘Why stress? He isn’t.’”

Call Millard a hero and he shrugs it off. “Heroes are people like my brother (a policeman who was killed in a shootout several years ago). I’m just someone who wanted to keep living where I live and have some control over my future,” he says.

“But I hope I’ve taught my kids something about taking risks and not being afraid to dream. If I’ve done that, then I’ve accomplished something.”

Wendy Fayles is a freelance writer from West Valley City, Utah.

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