Horse Trials

[Mark1616]

Hi Guys,

Something different from me again, I decided to shoot some horses today as there was a trials event not too far and I would like to open up new avenues for future work so need to get some practise in to work out angles/settings. These are OK for the first time out but there are improvements that I need to make so more practise needed.

Please let me know what you think and any suggestions that you have so I can add them to the things I already want to work on next time.

Canon 30D with Sigma 70-200mm f2.8. Settings vary so please check out exif if want to know more.

Mark

1



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6

[JohnG]

2&3 are great captures. 2 really shows off the power of the horse and 3 I love the look of the rider.

For whatever reason, 1 looks off to me. Not sure if it's oversharpened or just the fact the branches in the left are in the focal plane and thus sharp. Also maybe a bit bright - maybe that's it.

Great stuff!

[Mark1616]

I think I over did the PP a little on the first one, just pulled up the original again to check and with less USM it seems a lot nicer.

I think number 2 was my fave. It took quite a while to get settings that seem to be OK, I wasn't used to needing the extra dof so both horse and rider are in focus so that will help next time.

[TCav]

A horse and rider are almost exactly as tall as they are wide, so you can frame portrait or landscape without much consequence, but the horse will usually be moving from one side to the other, so I prefer landscape (except, of course,for shots like #3.) So I think that portrait for #4 & #5 was a mistake. I like to capture the entire image of the horse & rider, and these just clip too much.

I agree that #1 looks odd.

I think you might have waited just a little bit too late in #1, #2 & #5. The image of the horse propelling itself over the jump is more appealing to me than the image of the horse simply flying over it. And that would require you to be in a slightly different position, so you could capture the flexing of the muscles of the hind legs.

My wife had some unflattering remarks about some of the riders, but that's beyond the scope of this topic.

Good luck with equestrian photography. You will find that these people will spend incredible amounts of money. (My wife's horse cost more than both our cars.)

[lesmore49]

Excellent equine shots. Never seen a horse with the interesting colour combo that # 1 has.

[Mark1616]

Thanks TCav, if you some example shots that you have taken that would be good as it is easier to get an idea from seeing other work.

Lesmore, the colour was due (I believe) to the way the hair was cut, I had a look as it was interesting and it was too regular for it to be natural..... anyone got any ideas?

[TCav]

lesmore49 wrote:

Never seen a horse with the interesting colour combo that # 1 has.

Horses, like most animals, grow longer, thickerfur in winter. Ifa horse is stabled at night, the long fur can cause the horse to overheat, especially if the horse is exercised regularly. The solution is to clip the fur and use horse blankets when it gets really cold.

The pattern you're seeing is from the horse being clipped.

See http://www.horsequest.com/journal/educate/clipping.html.

[JohnG]

TCav wrote:

Horses, like most animals, grow longer, thickerfur in winter. Ifa horse is stabled at night, the long fur can cause the horse to overheat, especially if the horse is exercised regularly. The solution is to clip the fur and use horse blankets when it gets really cold.

The pattern you're seeing is from the horse being clipped.

See http://www.horsequest.com/journal/educate/clipping.html.

What a great place! Only 9:15am and I've already learned something today. I can now justify to my wife the fact I've spent 45 minutes on the computer - it was for educational reasons!! That really is a great thing about these forums - there's always someone that knows the subject.

[airbrushjohn]

hi mark, great pictures, i used to be a blacksmith and did alot thoroughbreds for racing. you must have had a great day, that is an exciting sport! and you thought stunting was dangerous! hahahaha

[TCav]

airbrushjohn wrote:

and you thought stunting was dangerous! hahahaha

Hey, this is what killed Superman.