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Kay Levie has loved photography since she was old enough to hold a camera. She says that was a long time ago. Her first camera was a Kodak Brownie Box Camera. She stated it was very limiting to use and challenging to capture images it wasn't made to capture - like cats jumping in the air or horses running. It taught her a lot about timing, which is what sports photography is all about.

She earned a degree in photography and has been a professional photographer for about 30 years. Her greatest love is photojournalism. She works at a newspaper in Borrego Springs, California but says she would love an assignment to Iraq.

Her career in rodeo photography started when a friend who was the committee chairman for a rodeo, expressed a need for a photographer since the regular PRCA photographer was retiring. She gave it a try and was hooked. That was six years ago. It took 10 months to get her PRCA card and she has been building the rodeo photography business ever since. She is also affiliated with a gallery in Borrego Springs, CA where her work is being shown.

PRCA rodeo photographers are sports photographers that work in an arena with large farm animals that can kill or maim you. You also get a lot dirtier than other sports photographers. As a rodeo arena photographer, Kay says you must always have an escape route because you never know when the animals will turn on you. Having a good background in animal behavior helps Kay stay safe. She and her husband have a horse ranch where she works with them every day. She has spent many years on the rodeo circuit as an official PRCA rodeo photographer. She photographs about 16 to 18 rodeos a year including the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas - the Superbowl of rodeos.

Hear her interview with me, Jack Warren, "The Voice of Photographers" on the Shutterbug Radio Show on wsRadio.com the world wide leader in Internet talk at www.shutterbugradio.com.