Where should I be?

I'm just getting started in Rodeo Photography and I love it. I've been getting some good pics but was wondering about positioning myself in the best place for different events. How close do I get?

Stacy

I guess is depends on your selection of lenses and what shots you are looking for. For rodeo, I'd set myself up close enough for a 70-200/2.8L (outside) or an 85/1.8 (indoors).

I'm looking at getting another lens right now I am using my 75-300/4-5.6 but my images are too dark and grainy. I've gotten SOME good pics but would love to have a lot more. Some of the bigger arenas are a nightmare during the roping events.

yeh... problem with that lens is you are really limited to like 200mm and f/8 in order to get a sharp image. It'll be real soft past 200mm and under f/8. Its slow so you are forced to use iso800-1600 in order to get your shutter speed.

the dust is a problem to makes eveything look kinda dull. but I can't rid of the dust any filters that would help?

heh heh... yeah there's little you can do about that. Dust is your enemy! Really there's nothing you can do about it. You can play with the contrast slightly to help minimize it, but in the end its just going to make the photo look washed out. Go to outdoor events, and hope for a nice rain the night before and a steady breeze the day of. I've shot all day at no-wind dusty outdoor rings. I really pushes your patience.

Thanks for all your help.

How close you get most of the time will depend on the size of the arena and what event you are shooting at the time. Small arenas allow for shorter lenses. I myself like to use a 100-400L lens although a lot of people will tell you its too slow for rodeo. I beleive my work says thats not allways so. The biggist problem I find with this lens is the push pull zoom.

I find two problems with that lens... one being that its push pull and you are sometimes working in very dusty air. Thats gotta suck in some massive dust!!! ... and yeah... I think its a slow lens although I typically shoot f/5.6 for horses. If you get down to 2.8-4 either the rider or horse is soft...

Im just saying that that lens though it has its short falls has enough range for me to move around an arena from event to event without needing to change lenses. Many times in a big arena 200mm just is not enough reach, on the other hand I wish the 100-200 was a 2.8 lens but I have learned to work around that.

remember... i can still toss a 1.4x teleconverter on a 70-200... and it'll get me out to 280 f/4. The image quality is good enough that you can crop your way down to a 400mm shot and you're still at least a half stop faster than the 100-400L at that range.

do you use AF? I'm finding it very hard to focus in a dark arena.

Thats another problem with that lens... it doesn't focus well in low light. It'll hunt a lot, and it takes a real long time because its slow, and because there is no 1.5m-3m selector.

I know that the 2.8 70-200 is the standerd in most cases. I also know how well it works in the rodeo arena because I own one and use it. I dont know how big rodeo arenas are in NJ. But here in the west they can get pretty big. I have never tried useing a teleconverter myself but the guys in the arena I have seen use them say they dont like how fast they focus for the speed of the action. Its probably a matter of preferance and your style of shooting and I am not trying to sell anyone on this lens, I just know it works for me and I thnk my work as a rodeo photographer and only as a rodeo photographer speaks for its self.










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Some of the jumper arena's I shoot are as wide as a football field... it takes 300mm with a 1.6x body to frame a jumping horse at that range.