It's the in-your-pocket equivalent of those old point-and-shoot little cameras of days gone by.

But the talent to shoot a photo essay and catch the glory, and the agony, of life is a competely different skill set.

This week we saw that in actions with a series of bull-riding images from the Addy's Award-winning photographer Darren Howe.

We'd sent Darren and journalist Jonathan Magrath to Meatstock (a huge sucess and a new festival for the city) to grab some of the colour on Sunday.

We ran a gallery of images of Bendigoians enjoying the day out.

Then Darren quietly sent me an email with a series of 12 images from the bull riding.

When I opened the first one I realised we had something truly special.

Black and white. Utterly compelling.

Darren, who has won multiple awards, gave journalist Tom O'Callaghan an insight into how you take a series like this.

For aspirational snappers out there it's a must-read.

You can check out the series here.

We're heading into into the footy and netball season and our sports team is hard at work bringing you previews of leagues around Bendigo.

It's the perfect way to read yourself into the new season and get set for the action ahead.

Each day we're up-dating it with new teams, so keep coming back.

Have a great week.

Juanita Greville, Editor