Indoor rodeo, 30D, where to sit and what lens

For the best shots an amature can get where would be best to sit at an indoor rodeo and with the available glass on a 30D what to take?

Any other tips appreciated!

Glass available 70-200 2.8 IS
24-70 2.8
85 1.2
85 1.8
1.4 TC (both canon and Tamron)

I got the 100-400, but for indoors figure I should leave it home--correct?

thanks for any help you can be
Dan

Where to sit is going to depend on the arena. Either sit first row with a wider lens or towards the top with a longer lens.

The biggest issue is going to be shutter speed. You will need at least 1/200 to stop most of the action. Faster for a lot of events like barrel racing and calf roping. Shot in raw and don't worry about white balance or set it based on the type of lights. If you can get close I would suggest the 85/1.2 with and without the TC.

You've got good glass. Don't be afraid to use ISO 1600 if you need it.

Where to sit is entirely up to the venue and the access allowed, sometimes one can get next to the livestock gates and shoot through the fence, other times you might be limited to the stands. So it is a decision that can only be made by being there and asking.

On the glass I wouldn't be using the 85mm f/1.2 but rather the f/1.8, the AF on the 1.2 is considerably slower than the 1.8. And adding a TC behind it will only add to the limitations by slowing AF more and the lose of another stop.

The 1.2 is a beautiful piece of glass but in no way is it considered a lens for sports photgraphy where the 1.8 is one of the favorite indoor sports pieces of glass for its quick and accurate AF not to mention the great image quality.

But again I would not put an extender on either of the 85mm's. Doing so adds a stop to the glass and only gets the focal length to about 119mm, so for the cost of a stop you are limited to two focal lengths where the 70-200mm f/2.8 has a much larger focal range and is already setting at almost an equivalent stop without the inherent limitations of using a TC.

The 100-400 will probably to slow of an aperture even wide open for an indoor rodeo so I wouldn't be bringing it along.

Also I think the recommended shutter speed of 1/200th is about half of what you will really need to freeze action, consider you need at least 1/400th to capture basketball with high school kids, I can promise a horse or bull can move considerably quicker than those kids do.

As mentioned if you are shooting jpeg set a custom white balance for the venues lighting, it will save a lot of post processing and headache later.

If it were me I would be shooting manual or maybe AV, center AF point, AI Servo, center weighted metering, ISO set to keep my shutter speed above 1/400th, and at the arena floor level if I could, and as mentioned if shooting jpg's a custom WB; these would be my basic settings before a single frame was clicked.

Have fun, good luck and be sure to share some shots.

Thanks for the replies, I looked thru some old pics (blurry) and am thinking 1/400 is about the least I will try for. I also need to learn how to adjust the white balance. (I think thats what the camera calls "white")

I am considering bracket pics also, however if I shoot raw---is there any point to bracketing?

Is jpeg is there a way to look at the camera info. like raw that will show what lens and if the IS switch was left on or off from these former pictures?

Thanks for all your help

Dan

No point in bracketing. Your subject will move long before you get the second or third shot. I'd say Brad is right. The first rodeo I shot the fastest SS I could get was 1/150 because of lighting and equipment limitations. I got lucky with a lot of the shots but it was only because the bull paused to jump again etc.

I don't know about the 1.4 TC, but the 2X won't fit in the f/1.8 lens.

No. Try to get a shot of a white shirt or sign & chimp that to the right. Set the exposure in manual.
This might help if the lighting is fairly even:
Need an exposure crutch?
More on how the subject affects the exposure in Post # 47

Other than what has been already said the only thing could say would be sit on the opening side of the gate.

Good point!

The 70-200 2.8 IS will probably be your best bet.

Sit low and directly across from the chutes. I usually sit basically on the ground and shoot through the fence. Of course watch for flying hooves and dust as the animals run by

Here's some of my rodeo stuff on flickr....all these shots will say in the description what lens was used....but these are all at outdoor events:
http://www.flickr.com …n/sets/72157603​901306789/

OK---I shot th erodeo Saturday night, haven't looked thru all the pics yet, for some reason the 85 1.8 had some focus issues, however the may have been operator error (not sure if I focused, recomposed by accident then shot) the 70-200 got some good shots, but not at less than ISO 3200---I have alot of studying to do on these to determine what works best.

This was at the MN State Fairground collisiuem if anyone has shot in that building and has any hints..
Thanks everyone
Dan

Mostly you will just need a big flash or strobes. Hope to see some of your pictures.

After looking thru these, I suspect a problem with my 85 1.8, all are blurry. I went with Daughter to horses yesterday to do some experimentation and found this (I realize its not quite the same as shooting the rodeo from several yards away)

In doing close up's of the horse's face/eyes/body (to experiment with shallow depth of field) I find when I center spot focus only (I was shooting AV set at 1.8) from close the actual part that shows in the picture as being sharp and in focus is about 6 inches further (or behind) where the actual spot of focus was to be at----it was a very sharp pic where it was focused, however it doean't match where the camera shows the focus point as being.

I am thinking this translates to the shots of the rodeo with this lens --none-- of them are sharp shots---I think Canon get a chance to adjust the auto focus on this and hopefully it will be as sharp as it should be.

My 70-200 shots all came out good, with the effects of what ISO 3200, which I had to do to get the shutter speed in the 1/400 range.

Thanks for the input and if I can ever figure out how to post I will post some of how this came out.

Thanks again
Dan

How can I post an image with the red focus point in this forum? (I think I have seen that before), I am suspecting a bad lens and these rodeo shots show it but would like a second opinion.

Thanks
Dan

Screen shot from zoombrowser would be the easiest.