Horse Show - finally outside

[m3gator]

I am so happy to be shooting outside again ..... a couple of pics from girls from our barn, all constructive comments welcome .... most shot with ap priority - thanks!

[PhotosGuy]

Good ones!

[CanadianKitKat]

Very nice. I really like the second one. What an adorable little horse :-)

[m3gator]

A couple more from this weekend ... really wish backgrounds were easier at horse shows :)

[m3gator]

Just could not resist this one ..... perfect progression from large to small .....

[PhotosGuy]

really wish backgrounds were easier at horse shows Crop in?
And these last few are a bit dark. You used Exposure Program = aperture priority (3) which I don't like in the situation that you were in. Why?
Post #47 (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=5191658&postcount=47)
Click the "Thread: Need an exposure crutch?" link at the top-right if you'd like more info on exposure.

370055

[tracknut]

You've got some wonderful backgrounds to deal with, I'm not sure there's a valid complaint here! The composition is real nice on these, but I agree with Frank you've got some issues with exposure. You can certainly bring up the lighting and contrast a bit in PP, but something (I would presume related to metering) is not working too well in-camera.

Dave

[m3gator]

Crop in?
And these last few are a bit dark. You used Exposure Program = aperture priority (3) which I don't like in the situation that you were in. Why?
Post #47 (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showpost.php?p=5191658&postcount=47)
Click the "Thread: Need an exposure crutch?" link at the top-right if you'd like more info on exposure.

370055

Thanks for your comments and your direction to information about exposure. Your edit brought out the colors much better. I am trying to learn more to take the leap to manual everything and when I get nervous about missing a shot I use AV or TV as a crutch. I you have thoughts on a setting to ue next time that would be appreciated ..... thanks again!

[m3gator]

You've got some wonderful backgrounds to deal with, I'm not sure there's a valid complaint here! The composition is real nice on these, but I agree with Frank you've got some issues with exposure. You can certainly bring up the lighting and contrast a bit in PP, but something (I would presume related to metering) is not working too well in-camera.

Dave

Thanks Dave ..... you are right, these were the better ones as most had cars, trailers and other "busy" things in view. I appreciate your comments and I am going to read how to do a metering test to check the camera ..... I did have a circular polarizer on the lens so I don't know if that had an impact ......

Thanks again!

[PhotosGuy]

thoughts on a setting to ue next time that would be appreciated I used 1/1000. 1/1500 might have been better:
Horsies" - A CMHA Equestrian Event (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=343472)

[m3gator]

I used 1/1000. 1/1500 might have been better:
Horsies" - A CMHA Equestrian Event (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=343472)

Frank,

I love your candid remarks at the begining of that thread. I am going to shoot a higher shutter speed with a lower iso next time and focus on exposure and not as much composition. We have one show every weekend this month so I hope to make progress. Thanks again and I love shooting cars too!

[matonanjin]

all constructive comments welcome .... most shot with ap priority - thanks!

Well, if you don't mind I will make a couple comments about what has been said. All comments are intended to be helpful and are in no way meant to be critical of your work.

Just could not resist this one ..... perfect progression from large to small .....

This is a really cute, fun shot. As has been said it and some others are underexposed. I don't think you mentioned anywhere what camera you are using. Does it have spot metering and what metering mode do you have it set to? You have a very contrasty scene here that will fool in camera reflective meters. If you have it set to spot metering it would have metered off the white ponies and therefor underexposed. Another thing that will happen outdoors is in very bright sandy arenas your camera meter will get fooled. Consider a cheap, 18% grey card. Meter off it in manual mode and set it and forget it. Some equine photogs will similarly meter off a medium tone patch of grass and set it. I just always use a hand held incident meter and set my exposure in manual mode (primarily because I'm lazy) and leave it. But that's the most accurate.

Another thing that has happened to me with a nnD series camera is I have accidently bumped the exposure compensation on the rear wheel. Double check that you haven't done that.

You've got some wonderful backgrounds to deal with, I'm not sure there's a valid complaint here!



I have to agree with Dave here. Your backgrounds are great. Sure, there are a some cars, etc. in a few of them. But you have them out of focus. If anything burn them in but I am not sure you even need to do that. Images like this will sell in a heartbeat.

I used 1/1000. 1/1500 might have been better:
Horsies" - A CMHA Equestrian Event (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=343472)

I have found that 1/1000 is plenty fast enough to stop any action at horse shows. In fact, for a number of years I used a medium format leaf shutter camera which had a fastest shutter speed of 1/500th. I used it on barrel racing and never had a problem with stopping action.

Frank,

I love your candid remarks at the begining of that thread. I am going to shoot a higher shutter speed with a lower iso next time and focus on exposure and not as much composition. We have one show every weekend this month so I hope to make progress. Thanks again and I love shooting cars too!

higher shutter speed and lower ISO is contradictory. Outdoors, as long as it is not cloudy, you should always be able to get an ISO of 400 which will provide plenty fast enough shutter speed without noticable noise.

Again, these comments are meant to be constructive and I do hope you will post some more after those future shows. And I hope you will comment on mine that I post from time to time.

Ron

[PhotosGuy]

If you have it set to spot metering it would have metered off the white ponies and therefor underexposed. Another thing that will happen outdoors is in very bright sandy arenas your camera meter will get fooled. Consider a cheap, 18% grey card. Meter off it in manual mode and set it and forget it. Some equine photogs will similarly meter off a medium tone patch of grass and set it. I just always use a hand held incident meter and set my exposure in manual mode (primarily because I'm lazy) and leave it. But that's the most accurate. While I agree with you, I try to resist suggesting buying a meter when the one in the camera will do the job with a little help. A gray card would work if you remember to take it with you, but my hand is always with me & ready to set the exposure, which is why I posted the link in post #6. I have found that 1/1000 is plenty fast enough to stop any action at horse shows. In fact, for a number of years I used a medium format leaf shutter camera which had a fastest shutter speed of 1/500th. I used it on barrel racing and never had a problem with stopping action. Good for you! But I used 1/1000 in the thread I referenced & still feel that they weren't as sharp as they could be. higher shutter speed and lower ISO is contradictory. Outdoors, as long as it is not cloudy, you should always be able to get an ISO of 400 which will provide plenty fast enough shutter speed without noticable noise. I tend to agree. But granted he uses a 1D Mark III, Gavin shoots a lot at high ISO with the sun behind the players, & provides EXIF & fun captions as well.
A Cricketing Compendium... (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=510320)

Some from Christan at ISO 800 using a 40D: New Pee Wee (11-12 yr old) Baseball (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=694385)

ISO 1600 @ 20D. EXIF is included in: The Johnny Headband Band (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=372180)

So if I need ISO 1600 outdoors, I don't worry about using it. The correct exposure, maybe pushed a tad more to the right than at a lower ISO, will still be good after RAW processing to bring the exposure (& any noise) down to acceptable levels.

[m3gator]

OK .. another weekend and just got in from a long day at the show .... day started out overcast and then intermitent cloudy sun in northeast philly. 40D with 70-200 2.8 IS - these are straight out of the camera!

I so appreciate all your previous comments .... I checked and sure enough the exposure was somehow set to -2 for previous shots ...duh :)

Fun Day .......

[m3gator]

Just today part two ... all comments greatly appreciated ..... on the learning journey

[Playm]

Good for you for sticking with the challange of shooting horse events. Your second set shows that you're watching the action more closely. How did your full sun shots from your second show compare with your first show? (didn't you imply that only the morning was overcast?) It's nice to have the more even lighting of overcast days, but (around here anyway) it's not usually the case. It's sort of the difference between apples & oranges shooting full sun vs overcast. A nicely lit bright-overcast day with even lighting would be wonderful!

It still appears that your white jump standards and white horse are affecting your metering. .. they're still a skosh underexposed. (but take that with a grain of salt, I just like mine brighter - might just be personal preference)

Most of my shooting is horse events. .. Here's a link to the last event I shot: http://shootmypix.com/f653685054 . I run everything through Lightroom and usually end up adding some fill because of the high contrast conditions. I've got the contrast setting on the camera turned down. Because working cow horses move faster than jumpers, I try to never shoot slower than 1/1000. .. and because of what I'm shooting - usually head on shots - the dof needs to be at least 5' to get the horses' heads and the rider in focus. .. which, because of the distance, I can usually get away with f3.2 - f4.6. I only shoot on Manual unless there are a series of clouds passing by that keep changing the lighting conditions. That's the only time I'll shoot on AV. (and I really Really do not like auto modes!)

If you'd like, I'll post a detail shot with the settings I described above. (this is your string, I have no intention of hyjacking it) .. Oh, as the light changes throughout the day at the arena where I shoot, the riders end up being completely back-lit by the end of the day. Instead of changing the shutter speed & lens opening, I end up bumping up the iso to get better exposure in the shadows. .. and, again, pp adding some fill to lessen the contrast.

[alessandro2009]

Nice series, in the second set i see a better exposure (
looking at the histogram is easy to see where the photo was exposed well and although the climate varies quickly at least a few minutes generally remains the same) but i like the most the second shot of the first series because is most deep on the action.

However the overview of the obstacle is nice too but I think is more difficult to appreciate in this resolution compared to larger images.

[matonanjin]

I so appreciate all your previous comments .... I checked and sure enough the exposure was somehow set to -2 for previous shots ...duh :)

Fun Day .......

Glad you got it figured out!:D Not like the rest of haven't done it.:rolleyes:

These are a lot better ones!

[m3gator]

Good for you for sticking with the challange of shooting horse events. Your second set shows that you're watching the action more closely. How did your full sun shots from your second show compare with your first show? (didn't you imply that only the morning was overcast?) It's nice to have the more even lighting of overcast days, but (around here anyway) it's not usually the case. It's sort of the difference between apples & oranges shooting full sun vs overcast. A nicely lit bright-overcast day with even lighting would be wonderful!

It still appears that your white jump standards and white horse are affecting your metering. .. they're still a skosh underexposed. (but take that with a grain of salt, I just like mine brighter - might just be personal preference)

Most of my shooting is horse events. .. Here's a link to the last event I shot: http://shootmypix.com/f653685054 . I run everything through Lightroom and usually end up adding some fill because of the high contrast conditions. I've got the contrast setting on the camera turned down. Because working cow horses move faster than jumpers, I try to never shoot slower than 1/1000. .. and because of what I'm shooting - usually head on shots - the dof needs to be at least 5' to get the horses' heads and the rider in focus. .. which, because of the distance, I can usually get away with f3.2 - f4.6. I only shoot on Manual unless there are a series of clouds passing by that keep changing the lighting conditions. That's the only time I'll shoot on AV. (and I really Really do not like auto modes!)

If you'd like, I'll post a detail shot with the settings I described above. (this is your string, I have no intention of hyjacking it) .. Oh, as the light changes throughout the day at the arena where I shoot, the riders end up being completely back-lit by the end of the day. Instead of changing the shutter speed & lens opening, I end up bumping up the iso to get better exposure in the shadows. .. and, again, pp adding some fill to lessen the contrast.


Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and I love your site. I am sure the action is fast and furious with the cutting .... at least I know where they are headed. I would appreciate a detail shot with settings ... honestly, I am having fun learning the nuance and detail of a good shot, maybe one day my daughter will enjoy some of the effort :)

[m3gator]

Nice series, in the second set i see a better exposure (
looking at the histogram is easy to see where the photo was exposed well and although the climate varies quickly at least a few minutes generally remains the same) but i like the most the second shot of the first series because is most deep on the action.

However the overview of the obstacle is nice too but I think is more difficult to appreciate in this resolution compared to larger images.

Thanks for your comments ..... I want to get a wider lens for some of the closer shots .... was a challenge coming right at you shooting over the fence yet not spooking the horse .... I think you are right about the resolution ... looks even better on my full screen in original raw format at home ...

thanks again...

[m3gator]

Glad you got it figured out!:D Not like the rest of haven't done it.:rolleyes:

These are a lot better ones!

Thanks ..... I feel so darn dumb when it is something simple .... I must have taken 8 shots yesterday before I figured out I bumped the auto focus switch on the lens .... another case to be made for full manual :)

[m3gator]

Thank you all so very much for all your comments and giving me fruitful homework through your reference sites and examples. My head is spinning with the variables but somehow I think a little knowledge will stick :) The show we went to on Sunday was full sun and I did not get to shot to many pictures as my wife insisted I video our daughter's full class ...... I was surprised that it was a little more of a challenge than shooting overcast the day before ..... it's amazing how much difference the color of the horse and reflection from the sand can make ..... yes, I know the eyes are shut on the second but I really liked the horse

straight out of camera with some crop .....

[alessandro2009]

Yes on this size the impression is much better.

[m3gator]

Yes on this size the impression is much better.

thanks Alessandro ... I'm still learning on the file conversion (what's best) for posting .. thanks for your comment