Warrington Horse Show

[CJR]

First attempts at photographing showjumping.

Manually focused on the middle of the jumps, and then waited until hopefully the right moment to press the shutter. With hindsight, I think I should have metered off a horse and rider beforehand, and then used manual rather than Av priority, as the contrast of dark horse/rider against the bright sky was a bit problematic.

Any C&C appreciated, as always.

Thanks.

Cathy

 

[Yv]

They are not that bad for first time, like you say, the 2nd is a bit ropey exposure wise, though some twiddling in processing might help, but they are sharp and capture the action well.
ONly really done showjumping once before but I found manual exposure settings and autofocus easiest rather than the other way round, but I am no expert [though again I find that best for me with racing cars too and I have done a lot more of that] There are several experienced horse togs here that might be able to give you better hint and tips for next time

 

[HIMUPNORTH]

Great stuff! You obviously were allowed into the arena which has allowed that great angle. I found last weeked with all the white I was better to shoot auto-exposure with a 2/3rd stop underread dialled in.

 

[CJR]

Great stuff! You obviously were allowed into the arena which has allowed that great angle. I found last weeked with all the white I was better to shoot auto-exposure with a 2/3rd stop underread dialled in.

Thanks very much! No, I wasn't in the arena, just sat on the grass almost under the rope barrier between the arena and the spectator area. There were several showjumping competitions going on simultaneously, in adjacent arenas, which limted where I could go; this arena only had two edges where we could stand, and only a couple of jumps where the horses were going in the right direction to be photographed.

Thanks very much also, LadyLens. I'm not very good with autofocus using AI Servo, so that's why I decided to try manual focus, hopefully a narrow enough aperture for good dof, and a high shutter speed. Lots to experiment with next time!

Cathy

 

[Blackwijet]

These are really good first first time! I do quite a bit of horse photography and recently went on a horse photography course with Steve Dawes of Real-time Imaging. He immediately told us to use manual focus for jumping in exactly the way you described and it made a hell of a difference, so well done matey!

Personally I find I have to meter off each individual horse as it enters the arena to make sure I get right exposure, even then it can go a bit wrong ........sun goes in/comes out, indoor lighting is patchy etc

 

[CJR]

Thanks so much for the encouragement, Blackwijet!

Good idea to meter of each individual horse. I would have had to be quick but perhaps I could have done this as they went past me the first time, and then been ready for when they approached the jump .... hmmm.

Cathy