Cutting horse stops & turns

[Playm]

A few photos from the 12 hour cutting that I shot last weekend.
The early morning sun is my preference. The last photo was shot around 7:45 pm. almost sunset (dark) .. I was having to hide behind a wall to keep sun flare out of the shots (even with a hood). ... anyway, I hope you enjoy them. Comments are always welcome.


http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z246/Donalyn06/Cutting%20Shots/sN7189ONP-8116.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z246/Donalyn06/Cutting%20Shots/sN7189ONP-8121.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z246/Donalyn06/Cutting%20Shots/sN7189ONP-8135.jpg
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z246/Donalyn06/Cutting%20Shots/sN7189ONP-8152.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z246/Donalyn06/Cutting%20Shots/sN71893KN-8452.jpg

This last horse is in a beginner class. (2 handed class). .. sort of an interesting horse: appy/tb mix.
http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z246/Donalyn06/Cutting%20Shots/sN718500R-8915.jpg

[CanadianKitKat]

Great cutting shots as always :-) Boy I bet that appy stands out in the crowd! I love his face. I like how the light is hitting the steer in that one too. Very nice!

[Playm]

Thanks Kat. It was a tad usual to see such a *beefy* appy show up. I mean, every now and then someone will show up on an appy.. but this guy had a massive neck on him. ... almost looked like a draft cross or something. The advantage, however, was that he was easier to photograph in the DARK (LOL) than the bay horses. The sun had almost set after I shot another three or so horses.

[eddarr]

Great as always. 2,3,4 and 5 really stand out to me.

[butterfly2937]

Great shots! What lens did you use for these?

[fmphotos]

great shots!!!

[tracknut]

Nice as usual, and good job dealing with that afternoon sun!

Dave

[carshop]

Great shots.
What setup did you use?
And what app for the frames, they look great too.
Good job.

[bjoynes]

Love the detail, and crispness of the first couple, the last two you can see the problems you where hiding from. The last but one I still like, it has a sort of Cowboy Film look to it. I also like the last but one for the way you seemed to isolate the rider from the cattle in the back, as well as the one in the front...

Bryn

[matonanjin]

Great shots. 1, 4 & 5 you really caught the horse in the dirt. Great job. 5 is especially cool. The sorrel is really "eye to eye".

The owners have to be happy with every one of these.

[poppie guy]

I like all of them, the last horse looks really neat!

[Playm]

Thanks y'all. .. on those last two shots, I had to use levels to try to recover them from *dust* haze. .. It gets really bad just before they water down the arena.. The appy shot was hazy and underexposed.. so the quality suffered. (my fault)

matonanjin - three of those are trainers... they never buy photos. (well, maybe I can't say that.. the guy in the blue shirt bought one to use in a magazine ad last year). Most of the trainers are eyeball deep in photos .. so unless it's a client's horse, and the client buys it, there's not usually many sales of the trainer shots. (dang it) Most of my sales are from the new cutters.

butterfly & car: I shot these with a 5D & Canon 70-200 f2.8 IS (but at 1/1000 sec, I don't use the IS)

Hi Dave. thanks.. .. always good to see you. :) (why aren't you posting more dog events? ! )

[Playm]

oh. 'thought I'd post this shot to give an idea of how dusty it got before they watered and groomed the arena (it was in the neighborhood of 106 that day.. so the arena dried out pretty quickly). This shot had potential, but in the end, it really didn't ring my chimes. It's a trainer thanking his horse after his work.

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z246/Donalyn06/Cutting%20Shots/sN71893KN-8476bw.jpg

[carshop]

i like the framework.
what app?
thanks

[Playm]

oh - sorry . .. that's just a drop shadow from PS Elements.

[matonanjin]

playm,
If you got these w/a 5D I am even more impressed. I gave up on the incredibly slow AF and long shutter delay on the 5D. Great, great camera and I love mine for portraits and landscapes. But for sports I went to a 1DMkII.

Again, great shots.

And for those dusty shots all you can really do is really adjust the contrast in curves or levels. I still like the guy petting his horse. I think the dust adds something to the feel of the image. But that's just me.

[Playm]

I always had trouble with hot quits (- the cow turning flat just as I raised my hand) .. so maybe I ought to start showing again now that I've gotten better with timing the shots, huh? LOL

I could probably afford a 1DMkII if I didn't own horses.
.. however, I just did a ranch call over the weekend of Tomcat Chex. (will post them in the pets section later today). More ranch calls will get me closer to better equipment. (I hope)