Equine Photography

I am hoping that someone can help me out. I want to become better at equine photography. It seems to be harder than just shooting our house pets.

I have a Canon Xti with the 18-55mm, the 28-70mm and the 70-300mm lenses. I just got the last two for Christmas and the camera I got at the end of October so I am still learning it.

I wanted to get the telephoto so I could shoot them at a distance better but I seem to get quite a few blurry pictures when they move. I use the sport setting on auto focus because it is impossible to keep a camera manually focused on a fast moving subject. At least for me it is.

Are there any tips or tricks I can use to help me get the shots I am looking for. I want a really shallow depth of field so that my subject stands out.
Also, how do you get well lit shots on an outdoor animal? When the sun is bright and pretty, they have harsh shadows and I cannot run around a pasture with an reflector umbrella, even though it would be humorous to see. When it it cloudy, their coats look very dull. So how do I find that perfect light I need? I usually shoot later in the afternoon when the sun is not as harsh or directly overhead.

Any help would be appreciated. Here are a couple of examples of what I have done so far while trying to learn the camera.

I love to shoot horses also. Make sure you are using a fast enough shutter speed if you are shooting a moving horse. Also at 300mm it takes a very steady hand. Cranking up the shutter to at least 300-325 along with a steady hand (or mono pod) & panning depending how fast the horse is moving.

As far as getting the right exposure, you should try spot metering just the horse, use exp. lock, & then you can recompose your shot.

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If you don't mind hearing from a fellow horse loving newbie, I have learned a couple of things. One is just to take pictures of horses, another is to "zoom" my lens all the way out and move myself to the distance needed. I am trying to download a couple of pictures now. They are not great, but we are both learning, right?

Why not call them horses?:P

I shoot a lot of horses and like to use a nice wide open aperture to keep the background nice and blurred. I find that I usually end up shooting 2.8 to 3.6 and usually try to keep the shutter up around 1/1000 for action shots. I like to keep aperture wide open and then just up the shutter speed as much as I have to for proper exposure.

To get the nice shallow depth of field, a wide open aperture, and a long focal distance, between 200-300 will serve you well if you are fairly closer to the subject. The less distance between you and the horse with the longest length on your lens and largest aperture will give you the shallowest DOF.

If you use the search function and type in horse or horses in either the pet, sports, wildlife and even landscape sharing sections you will see lots of examples of some excellent equine photography come up.

As it's been said already, long focal length is good, use the 70-300 when the light is sufficient. However, you can still get nice portraits with the shorter zooms, since the XTi is cropped. Multiply 1.6 times your focal length and that'll be your true length. Then just stand closer. Also increasing your shutter speed will usually require opening up the aperture and that'll get you the bokeh you want.

One thing we do most of the time is shoot late in the afternoon and around sunset. The light and colors are best then. Sunrise is nice too, but who likes to get up so early!

For action, we tend to use Tv rather than the sports mode and set the shutter to at least 1/500 and let the camera do the rest. If you're not getting enough light, adjust the ISO accordingly. I know you can probably drop the shutter to 1/320, but the faster the better I think.

Finally, save up for some better glass. Get an "L" series and the quality of your pictures should improve.

Also, keep shooting and trying all functions until you're familiar with your camera and can consistently get what you want out of it.

Have fun!

--Oh yeah, when you can, brush up the beasts and give them a good clipping, then get a friend out in the pasture with a long whip or a paper bag or something to get them moving, then stand by for some great action shots!

Here are a few shots I've taken lately that might give you some ideas...taken with the 80-210 with either the 30D or XT...

Though I haven't used it more than once myself, I have been told multiple times that the XTi's auto-focus is poor and can produce out of focus "blurry" subjects. The solution? Shoot manual whenever possible. Understandably this can be bothersome and impractical when shooting horses at liberty, but for all of the images you shared, manual shouldn't have been too hard. Being able to manually focus an image with ease is a good skill to have regardless.

As for the lighting, you seem to know the answer. On a sunny day, mornings and afternoons, without the sun directly overhead, will probably give you the best results if that's the look you're going for. Don't totally dismiss a stormy sky though. It's an entirely different mood, but it can produce great moody pieces. The key here is just to think about the images you want in advance, the feeling you want to convey, and plan the time of your shoot accordingly. Going out and photographing the moment is great and can work, but planning ahead of time definitely has its rewards. Also, contrast and what have you can be adjusted through an image editing program which may help some of your shots where the light and shadows feel too dull.

Equine photography isn't necessarily harder than pet photography, just different. (To be honest, I love shooting my equine kiddos but my dogs are the bane of my existence.) Browse around equine photos and pay attention to what makes them good in your eyes, then just get out there and experiment. Always look for new angles. You'll catch on to what seems to work and what doesn't!

Of course, I'm a mere highschooler learning the ropes myself, so these are just my two cents that may or may not have been any help at all.

Kajuah wrote in post #7033740
Why not call them horses?:P

Blasphemy! Hahah.

If you are interested in shooting competition, check out our galleries and email me your specific questions. Glad to help all we can.

In response to "thesilent" I agree that single shot-single focus is better than shooting servo...you can also manual focus....pre-focus on a spot and then just wait for the horse to get there...

CanadianKitKat wrote in post #7036555
I shoot a lot of horses and like to use a nice wide open aperture to keep the background nice and blurred. I find that I usually end up shooting 2.8 to 3.6 and usually try to keep the shutter up around 1/1000 for action shots. I like to keep aperture wide open and then just up the shutter speed as much as I have to for proper exposure.

To get the nice shallow depth of field, a wide open aperture, and a long focal distance, between 200-300 will serve you well if you are fairly closer to the subject. The less distance between you and the horse with the longest length on your lens and largest aperture will give you the shallowest DOF.

If you use the search function and type in horse or horses in either the pet, sports, wildlife and even landscape sharing sections you will see lots of examples of some excellent equine photography come up.

kitacanon wrote in post #7540904
In response to "thesilent" I agree that single shot-single focus is better than shooting servo...you can also manual focus....pre-focus on a spot and then just wait for the horse to get there...

Agreed on everything here. My wife competes, so I head out when I can to practice. There's plenty of time to move between the times they are at the jumps to frame and then focus.

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Check out my portfolio.. I am an Equine Photographer.. If you have any questions.. ask away

The best lens IMO is 70-200mm 2.8.. it's very versatile!

MysticalPhoto wrote in post #7598967
Check out my portfolio.. I am an Equine Photographer.. If you have any questions.. ask away

The best lens IMO is 70-200mm 2.8.. it's very versatile!

2nded!

handyhaver wrote in post #7033645
I love to shoot horses also. Make sure you are using a fast enough shutter speed if you are shooting a moving horse. Also at 300mm it takes a very steady hand. Cranking up the shutter to at least 300-325 along with a steady hand (or mono pod) & panning depending how fast the horse is moving.

As far as getting the right exposure, you should try spot metering just the horse, use exp. lock, & then you can recompose your shot.

Great shot. As someone who rarely attends horse races but has a track nearby, do they normally permit you to enter with a camera to take photos? That's something I've never done and would be fun to try.