Outdoor action shots

[ninjakatt]

Ok as I explained in another post I am struggling with my recent upgrade from a D50 to a D300... my fabulous camera is showing me up big style in my complete lack of knowledge in how to use the bloody thing!

Much stress and tears later I am mastering the very very low end basics...(switch camera on...lift to eye etc...) lol

I take a lot of equestrian action shots as I live on a stud and we breed horses/stand stallions etc so a lot of the pics I take are fast paced- think loose foals charging around, stallions being trained in dressage or the act of bonking itself! lol

So my issue at the moment it... I know the shots I want - I know what position a horse looks good in, where the legs need to be for 'the shot' and at what point over a fence do you take the shot of a horse jumping... that's all fine...! (good job I have something sussed!

But I want to get those shots at the right moment...AND be confident that they will be crisp, clear and stand out from a slightly blurred background...which I could do 9 times out of 10 on the D50 thanks to it's fab little Auto mode! lol

So how do I turn this pic here of my stallion in work...

Or my best foal and his mum

(which to me looks horribly noisy/blurred/non-crisp!)

Into one like this

Ok so actually that's a rubbish comparision since mine are moving and t'other is a portrait, but actually I'd like to know how you get such a great portrait shot too! Is it all post production do you think - I love the way the horse seems to stand out from the background... That's what I want from my portraits and action shots of them...

If you can be arsed look here It's a slide show - look at the 6th shot - the way the horse is so in focus and stands out so well against the background? Is it possible to capture shots like that or is it all a bit of post production tweaking? I'd love to be able to do that!!

Thanks for any insights!

Sarah

 

[Kev M]

Ok I'm no horse photographer but I think the biggest difference between the first two and the last is the light. Your first shot is a grey, dull, overcast day. Nothing you can do about that and it' not always a bad thing having nice diffuse light. I think the last shot would have been taken on a sunnier day, the small light of the sun has created some shadows in the muscles and the shadows give texture and definition.

your 2nd one looks a bit out of focus which is never going to help, it looks like your camera has focused on the fence.

I think you need to look behind the horse as well. It looks like there's some construction work underway and all the building materials look ugly, that telegraph pole in the first doesn't help either.

Background clutter and dull light aside the first shot has the horse in focus, nice and sharp but still some movement in the feet so well done for that


PS the pixel police might be along in a bit, that 2nd shot seems bigger than 800px.

 

[susie]

You are looking at the best when you are comparing to the German marketing machine!! What you have to remember is that they will take their stallion pics on what to us would be a manicured lawn, and in the middle of summer when there are leaves on the trees and flowers out!
They will stand the horse up on a stretch of good grass, with a fair distance between them and the trees that are going to be in the background, so its easier to show the horse and blur anything behind it.
Their action pics will be taken in an outdoor arena usually with no fencing and just a few shrubs around it (look for some of the mare show videos for ideas), or if they are indoor the lighting over there is a LOT better than most places we would consider to be good competition venues here!!
Imagine your stallion pic if you take out the fence and rubish, and substitute it with a flat railway sleeper to be the edging for the arena and nice green shrubs about 18" high as markers, then have a rider with show boots and a navy waistcoat over white sleeved shirt.....


NOTE WELL, I am not criticising the rider or her attire at all, just comparing it to what I have seen in Germany with their marketing machine!

Edited to add - they sometimes have the horizon slightly higher to the front of the horse to make it look as if it is sitting more behind makes a big difference to getting interested purchasers!! If you have look on HERE the video of Lemon Park is an example of what they can do with the horizons to show the horse at its best. They have him standing uphill, but the walk at the end is looking more downhill, the same sort of thing applies to the still pics they do.

 

[seriousrikk]

Down to the lens in those shots.
I would hazard a guess that the stallion shot used in your comparison was taken at a focal length of 200mm plus, at a relatively wide aperture. The light was good, the white balance bang on.
Long focal length, wide aperture and good background seperation are the key I think.