So recently did my first shoot at a horse show-jumping event and I think I've learned a few new things along the way.
Things I've picked up on;
1) Try not to get right in front of the jump - even if the riders head is up chances are the horses head is going to go up as well and with that and the mane most of the time the riders head will end up hidden. Instead try to position to the side a little more so that you can catch the head looking toward the next jump (seems to be the direction most look at once the horse is in full swing over the jump).
2) Riders make really strange facial expressions. Some of them very unfetching as they ride, which adds an added complication since all else might be ok with the shot.
3) A horse and rider are very tall in the frame, so portrait aspect is going to be very common unless your totally side-on to a jump or moving horse and rider.
4) I found I was shooting rather wide and that when I've been editing I've needed to crop away parts of the shot - partly as a result of the tall rider and horse aspect and trying to ensure all parts remain in the shot. Whilst its wasted frame its not too bad in my view - better to get hooves and tail and heads in than to have them clipped off.
5) 70-200mm f2.8 is a good workhorse for an indoor shoot; however 120-300mm can work as well giving a bit of a tighter frame for some shots in the 200-300mm range; but 120mm is far too long (esp on crop) to be the shortest working distance.
6) I shot most of the event at f4; which combined with the small area made for some very unfetching and busy backgrounds. Sadly even at f2.8 I suspect they'd have still been fairly busy backgrounds - not an easy thing to deal with inside (I stuck at f4 mostly to try and ensure horse and rider were as much in-focus as possible - rather than pull back to f2.8 and risk more blurred noses or faces).
7) Manual mode all the way in the mostly constant lighting inside; handheld light meter might be more use than test exposures and histogram review; but otherwise stick to a fairly staple series of settings that work. Saying that after editing I think I could have gone to f3.5- lost a bit of depth but gained that little bit of aperture for a little more brightness (I've been boosting by around 0.48 on exposure on most shots).
8) Knowing what direction riders will take on the course is easy once you've seen one or two do it - however that means the first few shots are oft a mess as you're playing catch-up and guess (small course so not too hard to guess what they were aiming for; but still one doesn't want to be running up and down trying to chase them).
Thus I think that next time I would be wise to ask and walk the course with the riders before they jump. That combined with a little quick sketch of the jumps means I can get a rough idea of the course they'll take and thus try and position myself where I can get a few good shots whilst also keeping in mind things like trying not to get them coming head on - or looking for straight side on shots.
That's what little I've picked up upon, I'd greatly welcome any input on my photos and upon the skill/method of working in such conditions that others have to give. I hopefully will get another chance this year to shoot another event so I hope I can go back with some experience and some new ideas/methods to try out and get improved results (esp as the year progresses and the light might get even worse - I was lucky that it was a bright day outside so the lighting+skylights gave enough to work with comfortably).
I've also found that with the conditions I'm not as used to working with such a noisy and high ISO shot - so any pointers on processes people use to work with these kinds of shots would be most welcome.
I would think the inside would be the norm. i.e. left side if you're about to turn left.
