I have photographed bovines in abundance this summer, but the pinnacle may have come in early July when I went to Pamplona, Spain, for the San Fermin Festival and the running of the bulls. The spectacle of people running through these crowded streets alongside bulls that are being driven toward the bullring was made famous by Earnest Hemingway in his 1925 novel, “The Sun also Rises.” I read the book on the way to Pamplona and I have to say, I thought it was more about drinking and fishing than bulls, but I’m no literary scholar. The fact remains, because of Hemingway, everyone is now familiar with the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Which is a real shame, because I found other aspects of the San Fermin Festival to be at least, if not more, entertaining.
That said, when in Pamplona during San Fermin, you’ve got to see the running of the bulls, known locally as the encierro. And it is worth it. I was able to go three days in a row (the encierro is at 8 a.m. every morning from July 7-14) and would have happily gone again. As a photographer, it’s a difficult event to shoot in one try. The entire run takes just a few minutes and you can’t see the entire course from any one vantage point so the action literally passes by you in seconds.
For my first encierro, I had a spot on a balcony of the City Hall. It was near the beginning of the run, as the bulls are coming up a hill and entering a public square to make a sharp left. Here was my view from that vantage point:
Better yet, here’s a looping animation of several frames I fired off on that first day:
That was a great start, but I was really looking forward to my second day, when I had a pass to be in the barricade at street level. This is a narrow space between the temporary fence that holds the general public back and the fence that separates you from the route itself. The only people allowed in this gap are credentialed journalists, police and emergency medical personnel. But, you can’t just stand in there. To photograph the event, you need to be straddling the fence itself so that you leave the space below the bottom rail open. That way if (when) runners fall, they can roll to safety without your feet being in the way.
Here’s a shot from that vantage point as the route was getting one final inspection:
A few moments later, the runners — and bulls — arrived:
I love the telephoto compression that came from using my Tamron 150-600mm zoom here, but the runner’s bodies nearly obscure the bulls altogether. If was difficult to even tell if the bulls were in the frame through the viewfinder so I just continued to shoot and hoped for the best. Upon later inspection of the images, this one was among my favorite.
Once the bulls were too close for the telephoto, I had one last — quick — opportunity to grab a few wide-angle shots as they passed:
My third day and third encierro found me back on a balcony, this time one floor higher and on the street that makes for the longest straightaway during the run: Calle Estafeta:
This view allowed me a little more time as you could track the bulls approaching and passing by. It also appeared to be a fairly chaotic spot on this particular day, with lots of runners falling, but no serious injuries. One last shot from the balcony as the bulls pass by:
I have a new found respect for the photographers that get those great shots that you see of this event. It’s certainly a skill that must be honed with experience in order to know where best to be and how best to handle each location. I enjoyed myself thoroughly, though, and would have gladly gone back for a fourth day.
In the following posts, I’ll feature more of the events that make up Pamplona’s San Fermin Festival. As I mentioned before, there was so much more than just the bulls. Stay tuned and I’ll show you what I mean.
