Rodeo photo shoot - anyone with thoughts on setup?

[skiphoto]

Hi Folks,

I am off to shoot a rodeo in a few weeks and was wondering if anyone has any experience with setup for floodlit arena shoots at night for this sport. I will be in the arena, up close and personal, and shooting a 1D MK11 with a 100 400 L lens.

I am assuming that flash is out as the effects of a bright burst of light might be somewhat undesireable to the competitors holding on to an already p**sed off animal :shock:

If anyone has experience in this field or has some comments or suggestions I would greatly appreciate them.

Cheers

[Phil Hall]

You can set the ISO as high as possible 1250-1600 and use Noise Ninja to reduce noise. Most professionals use Norman 400 systems with radio triggers.

[ron chappel]

I hope it works out-the floodlights may not be bright enough :shock:

I tried some night shots at the local rodeo and it was waaaay too dim :shock: .I did get some shots but they are all arty image blur ones or the odd dumb luck ones where the animal wasn't moving much at the time of the shot
The main lenses i used were the 50/1.8 and 85/1.8 .I had several zooms but they didn't even come remotely close to being usable.

My settings were -lenses wide open,ISO800
but even that didn't give high enough speeds.The shutter was usually around 1/25th-1/60th

Also AF was dodgey at those light levels :?

See if you can test the light levels before the event-they may well be fine,it depends alot on the individual arena.
Or look seriously into using a decent flash

Here's the best pic i got :)

http://members.dodo.net.au/~l8r_ron/pages/026.html

[AzzKicker]

Like others have said Rodeo's are just way too dim to really get a good batch of photos. Its almost very frustrating LOL...

[lime]

Here's a link to drip's rodeo gallery. He has some samples taken with 300D, 1D & 20D, with exif info.
Depending on the venue, your slow lens might be a problem.

http://www.pbase.com/drip/rodeo

[GenEOS]

Unfortunately, your 100-400 f4.5-5.6 is not the right tool for this subject. It is just too slow. Depending on the size of the arena, you will use the big end of the focal range quite a bit.

Under ideal conditions, like a major stadium, you will have good light, but still need an f2.8 piece of glass to get the shutter speeds you need.

Add flash?

Rodeos and flashes are another tough combo. A bulls eye or horses eye will give you quite a reflection.

I shot the Houston Rodeo with a D60 and 70-200 f2.8 IS last year. I was able to get 1/250th to 1/320th ISO800, under the stadium lights.

The mark II will give you usable 1600 ISo, but your lens is the problem. If it is important, rent or borrow a f.8 lens.

If you must use a flash, use an off camera cord and get the flash as high in the air as possible, have a remote flash? Use it.
Getting the light source above the animal ad indirect, will help with the animal eye reflections.

To see my rodeo stuff, go here:
http://www.tunstall.cc/galleries/04HLSR01/index.htm
http://www.tunstall.cc/galleries/04HLSR02/index.htm
http://www.tunstall.cc/galleries/04HLSR03/index.htm

[skiphoto]

Hi Guys thanks for the input..I guess I have been spoiled so far with Boats and skiers normally having great or at least good light to work with. I guess that I need to find a different lens and am considering the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM as my only viable option althought the 200 end may be a tad short.

By the way GenEOS, awesome rodeo pics 8)

Thanks again

Jeremy

[Digital Prophet]

Hello there. I am sorry, I will have to admit that I didn't read the whole thread because I am on my way out to a meeting. But I shoot horse photography in the same manner, up close and personal.

And I agree that 100-400 is not the right tool.

First of all there is the appeture. Granted the arena is lit. But that f4 is going to render some dark images. Second I would not set the ISO any higher than 400. I have found that the coloration of the animal at high ISO's becomes mottled after extensive manipulation to the images' brightness. I have never really been able to save a color image that was too dark to start and at ISO 800+. But some of them have made nice B/W conversions.

Second, the wide end of that zoom is going to limit the proximity to your subject. Now I shoot riders that are in lesson or pleasure riding. So they are A) on thier own horse (or one they know from previous lessons) B) not solely focused on the objective of the competition (meaning they won't get so focused they run me down) and C) the animal isn't pissed or scared already. But all of those are going to be the opposite in a Rodeo. Stay at least 20 feet from the animal for safey and the focal range of your lens.

Lastly, you are right, no flash heads what-so-ever. And it has nothing to do with "red-eye". I will say that 99% of the time it is perfectly safe to shoot a flash. It really doesn't bother a rider or animal as much as one might assume it distracts them. But that 1% is too much to risk. A startled 1,500 to 2,000 pound animal is going to hurt or kill it's rider and maybe you. And I don't even want to think of the lawsuits. There are some horses I have worked with for months that I will use my pop-up flash for. But even though I know them, they know me and I only do it with expert riders I am still taking a gigantic risk. I DO NOT reccomend you do the same under rodeo conditions.

I shoot in a 100'x300' covered arena that has no walls. And even with the ambient side light I have had some REALLY dark shots. That is tough, but compounded with the dark tones of most horses and the fact that these animals' hair has a naturally blue-ish sheen from thier natural hair oil, sweat and what ever soap is used can really make for some tough shots. I have switch to a 50mm 1.8 and have been getting much better results which require far less manipulation. The 1.8 (and even more so for the 1.4) does wonders for bringing the rider and animal into a better brightness. But this too has problems because A) with no zoom you are going to be doing ALOT more foot work, B) the shorter focal length will limit the number of shots you can take due to distance and C) that appeture is going to give you a shallow DOF that means you might miss the rider by a foot before or after the focal plane and end up with a slightly blurred rider and a sharp focused horse ear.

My recommendation is to take both lenses. Use the the 50mm as much as you can and just resign yourself to post processing the brightness on the rest of them.

I hope I haven't repeated too much and that your shoot goes well. I would sure love to see the shots since I don't meet alot of photographers that will get in the ring with the animal like we do.

And now I am late.

- Digital Prophet -