PDA

View Full Version : Barrel racing, first time. (Advice needed)

Merciez
24th of August 2008 (Sun), 09:09
Attended my first barrel racing show lastnight and was able to take quite a few pictures. I have a couple of questions associated with the photographs that hopefully some of the professional photographers or riders for these types of events may be able to help.

1. Nothing fancy here, horse and rider exiting the last barrel and racing back towards the start/finish line.
http://757sportspics.com/img/v1/p276130885-4.jpg

2. With barrel racing, when is the ideal time to talke the shot, what are the riders looking for in a photograph?
http://757sportspics.com/img/v1/p411954168-4.jpg

3.
http://757sportspics.com/img/v1/p183289930-4.jpg

4. This image shows a common problem I had last night (dust in the air). Any tips on dealing with all the dust to minimize its presence in the images?
http://757sportspics.com/img/v1/p102626998-4.jpg

5. This image shows the dreaded white eyes for the horse. I did use an attached flash (with bracket to try and eliminate the problem with potential red eyes for the riders and white eyes for the horses). Is it common to use detached strobes for events such as this or is the problem fixed in post processing? I was surprized at being able to use a flash (concerned about spooking the horses). I have some alien bees 800 strobes and stands which I can easily setup at the corner of the rink which I am guessing would be the ideal solution.
http://757sportspics.com/img/v1/p474908641-4.jpg

6. When is the desired time to take the photograph for this event (can't remember the name of the event)?
http://757sportspics.com/img/v1/p486450354-4.jpg

7. This event was keyhole racing I believe.
http://757sportspics.com/img/v1/p177209530-4.jpg

8.
http://757sportspics.com/img/v1/p100162723-4.jpg

Thanks for looing and providing any advice.
HammerCope
24th of August 2008 (Sun), 11:40
The time the riders like you to take the pic is at the second barrel (left one). It's the only one I have ever sold. You need to be on the timmer side of the barrel. As for the white eyes the only way to get ride of that is in PS or get strobes that can be put up high. As for the pole bending and the other one I have never shot that. Hope this helps.
Merciez
24th of August 2008 (Sun), 12:34
The time the riders like you to take the pic is at the second barrel (left one). It's the only one I have ever sold. You need to be on the timmer side of the barrel. As for the white eyes the only way to get ride of that is in PS or get strobes that can be put up high. As for the pole bending and the other one I have never shot that. Hope this helps.

Thanks,

On the timmer side of the barrel, I assume this is as the horse is entering the turn on the second barrel with you being on the side of the rink with the horse running directly at you? The problem I had with being on the side of the rink next to the second barrel was the distance to the side of the rink from the barrel requiring a wide lens. What lens would you use for that shot?
HammerCope
24th of August 2008 (Sun), 12:53
I use a 70-200 f4. And yes you should be between the timer and the barrel or just on the back side of the timmer.
HammerCope
24th of August 2008 (Sun), 12:55
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=524063

This is not a great shot I posted but it's more of what they want. All I used was an AB800 full power.
Merciez
24th of August 2008 (Sun), 13:16
Excellent (a picture is worth a thousand words) :)
HammerCope
24th of August 2008 (Sun), 13:56
Anytime there are many more rodeo photographers on here than me. Hopefully they might be able to give you more pointers also. Use the search tool and enter barrels or rodeo you should find several more.
SpanishLustre
24th of August 2008 (Sun), 16:40
Hey!
I barrel race and also photograph rodeo.
As for when to take a picture in barrels, HammerCope's idea is a lot of what barrel racers want to see. When the horse is coming around the "backside" of the barrel and dropping it's inside shoulder to make the turn. Although, I like your 2nd shot. And as a rider, I would probably purchase it.

#6 is pole bending and
#7 is keyhole, yep!

Sorry I'm no real help for pole bending. I don't photograph pole bending. Some friends of mine run poles though, and they usually look for a shot where, the photographer is almost "lined up" with the poles and you catch the horse and rider as they duck out of each pole. If that makes sense.

GREAT photos though! Well done!
eddarr
24th of August 2008 (Sun), 23:09
Nice Merciez and welcome to the forum SpanishLustre.

They did a good job explaining the location. Try to be as close as possible to where the rider starts the run from. This gives you the horse coming around the first two barrels and also the sprint back after the third. But don't discount other angles as well. Some from the horses side while deep in a turn can also be great. It really shows the muscle structure of the horse and it seems to show a lot of dirt flying. That being said I'm still learning as well.

We are starting to get a quite a few people here shooting rodeos. It's great to see more people involved.