Barrel Racing / Horses in Action

[DebraM63]

Hi:

I wanted to post some recent pics that I took at a local playday/gymkana this past weekend. It was a very non formal event with only about 20 participants. This was the first time I have shot action pics of horses like this. These photos were some of the better photos of the afternoon of a couple of the more aggressive riders. I am still learning to use my camera. I was using a Canon 50D with the kit lens 18-135mm.

I need to go back and see the settings on each of these photos but I was never completely zoomed in and my F stop varied between 5.6 and 8.0 on manual mode. It was a sunny day and after a couple test shots, I had adjusted my ISO down to 100. My shutter speed for these was 1/1000 because I was trying to get clear photos of the whole horse including the feet.

There wasn't really a spot to take shots that didn't have something distracting in the background so I tried to make the best of it.

I have another photo shoot lined up for myself on April 10 at specific barrel racing event that will likely have more serious riders. So was looking for critique on these photos because I am trying to get more involved with these events and need to get serious photos in my portfolio.

Also, was looking at renting a different lens for this next shoot. I was going to try a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 in case I can't get right next to the arena and have to zoom in more. And was hoping to maybe get a different depth of field to blur out distracting backgrounds so would need the wider aperture, right? Was also wondering if anyone had any suggestions about memory cards. I almost ran out of memory at this last event so want to be better prepared.

This next event will also be an outside event.

1


2


3


4


5


6


Thanks! Debra

[rpcrowe]

Nice captures... Some of these ladies are quite a bit more mature than the barrel racers I am used to who are mostly young gals

[dbmurrell]

Nice shots, Debra! I'd say you have the right idea with trying to blur the background. It's really your only option in venues like this. I shoot equestrian events with a wide aperture lens for just that reason. The 70-200mm f/2.8 is a favorite and does nicely on a crop sensor like your 50D (which gives it a little more reach than on a full-frame body).

I've also gotten some good results with panning, and with shooting from a low position to avoid the background clutter.

Shooting bursts is demanding on cards (and don't feel badly if you keep only 5% of them -- it's par for the course). I use SanDisk Extreme Pro cards (fast write speeds). I can usually get 900 or so RAW images on a 32G card with a 20M pixel sensor. I hear Lexar cards are comparable, but I haven't tried them.

[DebraM63]

Nice shots, Debra! I'd say you have the right idea with trying to blur the background. It's really your only option in venues like this. I shoot equestrian events with a wide aperture lens for just that reason. The 70-200mm f/2.8 is a favorite and does nicely on a crop sensor like your 50D (which gives it a little more reach than on a full-frame body).

I've also gotten some good results with panning, and with shooting from a low position to avoid the background clutter.

Shooting bursts is demanding on cards (and don't feel badly if you keep only 5% of them -- it's par for the course). I use SanDisk Extreme Pro cards (fast write speeds). I can usually get 900 or so RAW images on a 32G card with a 20M pixel sensor. I hear Lexar cards are comparable, but I haven't tried them.

Thanks for the compliments and technical advice! Looking forward to trying that lens. Has been recommended by a couple people. So much stuff to learn! Was planning on trying some panning shots at this next event. The rodeo grounds where this event is has a high chain link fence so I may have to get above the fence somehow since it likely won't work very well to try to shoot through the fence. I doubt they will let me inside the arena. I feel like I am just pointing and shooting like a mad woman when I am out there right now but its coming together. I really hope to get more involved with the horse photography in particular. At least I favor that kind of thing more than landscapes, etc. I checked out your website link from your profile - nice work!

[DebraM63]

Nice captures... Some of these ladies are quite a bit more mature than the barrel racers I am used to who are mostly young gals

Thanks for the compliment! Hey - you're never too old Always good to see Moms and Daughters doing stuff like this together.

[Donald]

Whether or not these are good pics (and they are) the really good bit is that you have provided your own critique and worked out how to improve them. That's called learning and that is the really brilliant bit. So, well done Debra.

If you can get 2, 3, 4 opportunities to photograph at events like this, I guarantee you will see tremendous improvement as not only your knowledge and skill level increases, but as you become more and more used to what's happening a become better able to anticipate and plan shots. I'm really looking forward to seeing the next shoot.

[Shadowman]

Nice series, you do have options on how these are presented and you could alter the backgrounds.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Debra,

As Donald says, you've done an excellent job working out why and where you might need to improve and are tackling the whole thing with a logical approach. Without knowing the competition you might face, I hope you'll succeed.

I thought it might be helpful to provide a couple of thoughts on each in turn, so I numbered the shots in your post for ease of reference; one of the advantages of being a moderator

#1 - Great action shot of the dust kicked up, although with the inevitable/unavoidable hiding of the rider's face due to the nature of the event. The sun angle in relation to the horse's face has led to it being in shadow, whether a little dodging could reveal more detail in front of the eyes and forehead is unknown. Personally, I'd straighten this with a small counter-clockwise rotation, but not everyone would agree with me. The amount of foreground below the hooves and headroom above the rider 'feel' about right to me. If possible, I might have cropped a bit off the left hand side and added a bit on the right (unless that brought in something heinous in the background).

#2 - Here the sun angle and shot timing has actually resulted in the cool effect of seeing the shadow of the horse on the barrel. The white spot in the horse's eye looks a little odd to me, not sure of the cause, may be natural (see also #6). This shot obviously addresses many of the issues raised with #1. I think #2 doesn't need this much foreground.

#3 - Definitely a shot in need of some dodging to reveal more detail in the shadows in key areas - or be shot from a different angle, or with a different sun angle. Feels a bit tightly cropped top and bottom, although I suspect you have done this to emphasise the speed. Perhaps needs a little more space on right to ride in to?

#4 - Again, some dodging to reveal the rider's face better would help, I feel. With regard to the background, this is noticeably softer than the others, although it is a different barrel and background I think), I wondered if you have had a go at this with a blur brush in PP? If so, while there, you might try a little cloning out and/or 'burning' of some irrelevant detail (e.g. hot spots) on some of the vehicles, for a better artistic shot, rather than 'documentary'.

#5 - The shadow on the drum is better here than #2. Would benefit from dodging to reveal a bit more detail in the shadow areas. A tad tight at bottom, compared to top(?).

#6 - Would also benefit from dodging to reveal a bit more detail in the shadow areas. Don't need all that headroom(?) - perhaps a tad more on right(?).

As you say, a wider aperture, to achieve a narrower Depth of Field is the best way to go, I'd consider making that a priority a perhaps varying shutter speed and/or ISO to cope with small lighting variations next time.

Overall, the series has consistent exposure and White Balance, the only recurring issue, due to the harsh light on the day, is a lack of detail in shadows, which could be addressed (with practice) in seconds in ACR/PS.

In each shot above, I have been ultra critiquey (not critical) to aid your already well developed thought processes, you should not accept everything I say as being correct/better though. I also got briefer in later images to save my typing time, that's all it is. Everything I said is open for discussion by you or other members.

In #4, I suggested some cloning, that comes with a caveat - the danger of cloning out stuff in a single shot (for artistic merit) is that across a series, if things are in the background of some shots and not others inexplicably, people may not trust your photos, so use cloning with caution, or not at all. Not to mention the time factor if this might be a commercial enterprise.


Thoughts for your next post here; it would be helpful for us to see larger shots (in order to assess technical quality better), so if you could upload ones that are at least twice this big in height and width, that would be great. My recommended maximums are; whatever the orientation 1000px height (max), thereafter, (if horizontal aspect, as these are) TinyPic will accept up to 1600 px width.

I note you're using PS CC 2014.

On memory card usage;

Were you shooting RAW + jpg? - If so, do you need to?
Or do you have a small size card? - Easily fixed
Or are you shooting too many in each burst (I do this!) - more experience will help here.

In summary, as a first attempt, these are very good.

Cheers, Dave

[DebraM63]

Whether or not these are good pics (and they are) the really good bit is that you have provided your own critique and worked out how to improve them. That's called learning and that is the really brilliant bit. So, well done Debra.

If you can get 2, 3, 4 opportunities to photograph at events like this, I guarantee you will see tremendous improvement as not only your knowledge and skill level increases, but as you become more and more used to what's happening a become better able to anticipate and plan shots. I'm really looking forward to seeing the next shoot.

Thanks for the encouragement! I am already working on lining myself up with more opportunities!

[DebraM63]

Hi Debra,

As Donald says, you've done an excellent job working out why and where you might need to improve and are tackling the whole thing with a logical approach. Without knowing the competition you might face, I hope you'll succeed.

I thought it might be helpful to provide a couple of thoughts on each in turn, so I numbered the shots in your post for ease of reference; one of the advantages of being a moderator

#1 - Great action shot of the dust kicked up, although with the inevitable/unavoidable hiding of the rider's face due to the nature of the event. The sun angle in relation to the horse's face has led to it being in shadow, whether a little dodging could reveal more detail in front of the eyes and forehead is unknown. Personally, I'd straighten this with a small counter-clockwise rotation, but not everyone would agree with me. The amount of foreground below the hooves and headroom above the rider 'feel' about right to me. If possible, I might have cropped a bit off the left hand side and added a bit on the right (unless that brought in something heinous in the background).

#2 - Here the sun angle and shot timing has actually resulted in the cool effect of seeing the shadow of the horse on the barrel. The white spot in the horse's eye looks a little odd to me, not sure of the cause, may be natural (see also #6). This shot obviously addresses many of the issues raised with #1. I think #2 doesn't need this much foreground.

#3 - Definitely a shot in need of some dodging to reveal more detail in the shadows in key areas - or be shot from a different angle, or with a different sun angle. Feels a bit tightly cropped top and bottom, although I suspect you have done this to emphasise the speed. Perhaps needs a little more space on right to ride in to?

#4 - Again, some dodging to reveal the rider's face better would help, I feel. With regard to the background, this is noticeably softer than the others, although it is a different barrel and background I think), I wondered if you have had a go at this with a blur brush in PP? If so, while there, you might try a little cloning out and/or 'burning' of some irrelevant detail (e.g. hot spots) on some of the vehicles, for a better artistic shot, rather than 'documentary'.

#5 - The shadow on the drum is better here than #2. Would benefit from dodging to reveal a bit more detail in the shadow areas. A tad tight at bottom, compared to top(?).

#6 - Would also benefit from dodging to reveal a bit more detail in the shadow areas. Don't need all that headroom(?) - perhaps a tad more on right(?).

As you say, a wider aperture, to achieve a narrower Depth of Field is the best way to go, I'd consider making that a priority a perhaps varying shutter speed and/or ISO to cope with small lighting variations next time.

Overall, the series has consistent exposure and White Balance, the only recurring issue, due to the harsh light on the day, is a lack of detail in shadows, which could be addressed (with practice) in seconds in ACR/PS.

In each shot above, I have been ultra critiquey (not critical) to aid your already well developed thought processes, you should not accept everything I say as being correct/better though. I also got briefer in later images to save my typing time, that's all it is. Everything I said is open for discussion by you or other members.

In #4, I suggested some cloning, that comes with a caveat - the danger of cloning out stuff in a single shot (for artistic merit) is that across a series, if things are in the background of some shots and not others inexplicably, people may not trust your photos, so use cloning with caution, or not at all. Not to mention the time factor if this might be a commercial enterprise.


Thoughts for your next post here; it would be helpful for us to see larger shots (in order to assess technical quality better), so if you could upload ones that are at least twice this big in height and width, that would be great. My recommended maximums are; whatever the orientation 1000px height (max), thereafter, (if horizontal aspect, as these are) TinyPic will accept up to 1600 px width.

I note you're using PS CC 2014.

On memory card usage;

Were you shooting RAW + jpg? - If so, do you need to?
Or do you have a small size card? - Easily fixed
Or are you shooting too many in each burst (I do this!) - more experience will help here.

In summary, as a first attempt, these are very good.

Cheers, Dave

Thanks, Dave for all your feedback and suggestions and encouraging words! So will try to address everything you covered.

1. It almost didn't post the one with the dirt flying with the girl's face turned the wrong way, but I still thought it was kind of a cool shot. Generally most of that day, I was using the high speed continuous mode on my camera, just worrying about getting as many shots as I could and seeing what I got later more than I was slowing down a bit and paying more specific attention to what I was seeing and trying to get my timing down better. I think on the next shoot, I will not use the continuous mode or at least just the low speed continuous mode and try to really "watch" what is going on more even though its pretty quick. Maybe if I do this, I can control the shot more myself versus just hitting the button and letting things fly.

2. I will have to work on adjusting the settings to accommodate the changes in the sun on these outside events. For instance, the girl in the pink - the barrel shots were earlier in the day, and the one with her horse heading down the home stretch was later in the day during a different class/event. I can see how the different angles in the sun changes things quite a bit. The white in the horse's eye I think is the eyeball turning on this one. I could probably fix that with PS, as well as other minor fixes like you mentioned with reflective spots on trailers in the background, etc..

3. I will pay more attention to the cropping and think more about the effects I am wanting to get to enhance the photo. This was later in the day and I was still at the second barrel waiting for her to run by. If I want these "heading for home" shots, maybe I need to consider moving to the third barrel and catch these from there. Or if I wanted to get rid of the late afternoon sun shadows, take the shot from the front?

4. This lady was difficult to get a good shot of. She had a very peculiar riding style and I was trying all afternoon to get good action shots of her that were flattering. This was at the third barrel and I had zoomed in on this one. Toward the end of the day, due to my memory card filling up, I was having to very quickly delete photos I didn't want to keep in between riders so I was deleting pics and then quickly getting back on the fence to get more shots. So I may also have been moving a little myself making it a tad out of focus. I found this photo seemed a bit soft even before I tried editing it to make it a little clearer. Again, I think I need to work on not rushing when trying to get these shots. Thinking even further... I think for the day since it was so bright my ISO in the 100-200 range was appropriate, but as I understand it (and I do still get confused about this) the wider the aperture, the more light and you need a higher shutter speed - I was at the second barrel which was 100 feet? from the third barrel so would I have been better off not zooming in and keeping it at the most open aperture (more light, blurred background, accommodate fast shutter speed) and just more cropping in PS? I am thinking this is where the 70-300mm f/2.8 lens might work better.

5. When you say dodging, do you mean to try to move to a different spot to try to change the shadows?

6. When you talk about too much headroom, etc., would this be something specifically addressed with cropping or would it be better to zoom in from the beginning? In this particular horse, it had a blue eye on that one side.

I have noted everything you all have mentioned in your critique of my photos I will apply this to my next day shooting!

Regarding the white balance: I had it on Auto white balance. On sunny days like this would it be better to adjust the white balance manually or set it to the "sunny day" setting?

As far as the memory card, even if I don't use the continuous shot mode, I think I do need a different memory card, at the very least, to make sure I have plenty of room for photos so I am not having to delete before being able to take more... I have a 16gb card that came with the camera.

I have been taking pics in just RAW format and saving the edited version in JPEG.

I am learning the Photoshop editing as I go. It probably wouldn't hurt to take some sort of a class in that later as well, though there are quite a bit of YouTube videos, etc., out there.

With regard to Photoshop and the shadows in these pics, I did edit them some so maybe I inadvertently edited the wrong stuff out. I will pay more attention to that a little more next time.

I was in manual mode this time. I am wondering if I would be better off staying with shutter and aperture priority modes for a while.

Good to know about the size of the pics I can download. I thought I saw in the upload image feature that I couldn't upload anything over 700px so I had changed these photos down to 500px. I will keep them bigger next time.

Thanks again everyone for your input so far!

[DEAN01]

A very nice series, Debra. You have received lots of great information. Now enjoy shooting more such events.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Debra,

5. When you say dodging, do you mean to try to move to a different spot to try to change the shadows?

No, it is a post processing technique to use in PS CC.

I tried to find a short YouTube video to demonstrate, but discovered none that do it the simple way I do.

6. When you talk about too much headroom, etc., would this be something specifically addressed with cropping or would it be better to zoom in from the beginning?

I was thinking of either really, ideally at capture, but sometimes it needs a trim in post processing by cropping.

Regarding the white balance: I had it on Auto white balance. On sunny days like this would it be better to adjust the white balance manually or set it to the "sunny day" setting?

That's a tricky one to answer and if you're shooting RAW, it hardly matters as you can fix it in ACR. Arguably it might be better to start from a consistently balanced set of images, suggesting a fixed choice rather than Auto, but for what you're shooting, Auto will (and has) worked pretty OK for now. If the barrels are white, you could, in PP, sample off that, but depending whether you choose the sunlit side or the side in shadow will make a vast difference, as will choosing an area at the bottom where it will be lit by reflection from the sand too. Since it's not a problem at the moment, keeping going as you are until all the other issues are resolved and then deal with it if you need to.

As far as the memory card, even if I don't use the continuous shot mode, I think I do need a different memory card, at the very least, to make sure I have plenty of room for photos so I am not having to delete before being able to take more... I have a 16gb card that came with the camera.

I have been taking pics in just RAW format and saving the edited version in JPEG.

Sounds OK, but 16GB isn't that big at all, might be time to get a decent brand of fast reliable card (e.g. Sandisk or Lexar, from a reputable dealer). I have seen someone playing that game of deleting on the fly accidentally delete the whole days shoot, not good practice (but we all do it sometimes).

I am learning the Photoshop editing as I go. It probably wouldn't hurt to take some sort of a class in that later as well, though there are quite a bit of YouTube videos, etc., out there.

Don't swap between sources, find someone you 'like' and stick with just them. Everyone has their own way of doing things and you'll get very confused if you chop between presenters and they do the basic stuff differently, also there's some poor stuff out there, you might want to consider something you pay for.

With regard to Photoshop and the shadows in these pics, I did edit them some so maybe I inadvertently edited the wrong stuff out. I will pay more attention to that a little more next time.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by 'editing the shadows'.

I was in manual mode this time. I am wondering if I would be better off staying with shutter and aperture priority modes for a while.

You don't seem to have a problem with Manual from what we see here, it is probably safest, although much depends on the conditions of the day; sun angles, horse colour, rider clothing, etc.

Cheers, Dave

[NorthernFocus]

You did good for your first time shooting this subject. No matter how experienced we get each new subject has its nuances to learn. Sounds like you're on the right track already. The 70-200 f2.8 should be a perfect lens for this. I guess the only thing I have to add to what's already been said it so try to position yourself so the horse/rider are looking at the camera. That's where the long end of the lens might come in handy. Even if you have to shoot all the way across the ring if you can catch them coming out of their turn looking toward the next barrel etc such that they appear to be looking straight at you. I think you will find the images to be much more dynamic with eye contact.

I don't shoot horses but shoot dog agility events with very similar behavior by the contestants. Knowing what they are doing and thinking about on the course you can anticipate where they'll be looking at different points on the course. Then you can set yourself up to take advantage of that. My only other advice is not to try to shoot every horse at every barrel. Figure out how to get optimal shots on one or two spots and don't get yourself distracted. Be ready when they get to your shooting zone, take your shots, and spend the available time chimping your shots and seeing if/what you need to adjust. You can also delete the obvious culls and save some card space.

Looking forward to seeing how you progress.

[dbmurrell]

Just a couple of quick thoughts to add to the discussion:

• Re: shooting through the fence -- Yeah, aren't these venues fun . Sometimes, you can bring a small step ladder/stool to stand on to get your head and shoulders clear of the fence. I've had to do that a couple of times, and surprisingly, no one objected. The 70-200 will make you look a little more "official", but your mileage may vary. Worst they can do is tell you to put the step away.
• Shooting wide-open in daylight -- if the sun is bright, you may find yourself having to shoot at a very fast shutter speed when using a fast lens (e.g. f/2.8 or wider), even with low ISO. I don't know what the 50D can manage, but I've had to shoot close to 1/4000 at times. You can use a circular polarizing (CP) filter in such instances to reduce the light to something your shutter speed limits will allow without reducing the aperture (i.e. keeping a nice background blur). If the sun is brutal, you might even have to resort to a neutral density (ND) filter to keep the aperture wide.
• Shooting bursts like a maniac is just part of sports photography. It's your only chance at getting the one shot in the series with the horse in a collected posture, horse and rider eyes open, tongues not hanging out, etc.
• Have a blast -- I also prefer sports shooting to anything else I've tried. It's kind of a sport in itself. Not many photographers specialize in this kind of thing, and so you'll have some nice memories to give folks who've worked hard to train and compete.

[Dave Humphries]

My only other advice is not to try to shoot every horse at every barrel. Figure out how to get optimal shots on one or two spots and don't get yourself distracted. Be ready when they get to your shooting zone, take your shots, and spend the available time chimping your shots and seeing if/what you need to adjust.

Yes, this is a really good habit to adopt if you haven't already realised - I remember discovering it myself - it relieves stress, saves memory and gets more consistent results; better to have fewer great shots than many good-ish ones.


A couple of other things I missed in my reply last night;

Generally most of that day, I was using the high speed continuous mode on my camera, just worrying about getting as many shots as I could and seeing what I got later more than I was slowing down a bit and paying more specific attention to what I was seeing and trying to get my timing down better. I think on the next shoot, I will not use the continuous mode or at least just the low speed continuous mode and try to really "watch" what is going on more even though its pretty quick. Maybe if I do this, I can control the shot more myself versus just hitting the button and letting things fly.

With regard to use of Continuous High or Low, when shooting wildlife; I use high (always) and rely on my judgement and a gentle finger on the shutter button, to take short bursts of 2 or 3 shots at key times, repeated as necessary while the subject is still presenting a photogenic composition. I'd approach sports the same way, just needs a little practice to really get the hang of where/when (in its downward/upward travel) the shutter button takes, and stops taking, pictures.

If you choose by CH or CL, you have relinquished control to the camera of artistic choices you should be making, so I suggest you continue with "paying more specific attention to what I was seeing and trying to get my timing down better".

I think for the day since it was so bright my ISO in the 100-200 range was appropriate, but as I understand it (and I do still get confused about this) the wider the aperture, the more light and you need a higher shutter speed - I was at the second barrel which was 100 feet? from the third barrel so would I have been better off not zooming in and keeping it at the most open aperture (more light, blurred background, accommodate fast shutter speed) and just more cropping in PS? I am thinking this is where the 70-300mm f/2.8 lens might work better.

Whether you crop and enlarge a wider angle shot or zoom in and shoot, if the result is identically framed scene, the Depth of Field will be the same*. So; for better image quality, you should (optically) zoom in while shooting, not make large crops in post processing.

* For a given aperture, it is the relative distances of camera to subject and subject to background that will impact the 'softness' of the background - focal length is not a factor.

So yes, you need to shoot at a wider aperture; the 70-200mm (not 300), f/2.8 lens should be used fairly wide open, this will require a low iso and high shutter speed and may, in (what I'd call) extreme conditions (e.g. California or Texas sunshine), as Dave (dbmurrell) mentions, require the use of a filter. Since the CPL (polarising) filter may have added benefits; e.g. deepening a blue sky (depending on sun angle relative to you and if it is even in shot) and/or reducing some reflections from vehicles behind.

Cheers, Dave

[DebraM63]

You did good for your first time shooting this subject. No matter how experienced we get each new subject has its nuances to learn. Sounds like you're on the right track already. The 70-200 f2.8 should be a perfect lens for this. I guess the only thing I have to add to what's already been said it so try to position yourself so the horse/rider are looking at the camera. That's where the long end of the lens might come in handy. Even if you have to shoot all the way across the ring if you can catch them coming out of their turn looking toward the next barrel etc such that they appear to be looking straight at you. I think you will find the images to be much more dynamic with eye contact.

I don't shoot horses but shoot dog agility events with very similar behavior by the contestants. Knowing what they are doing and thinking about on the course you can anticipate where they'll be looking at different points on the course. Then you can set yourself up to take advantage of that. My only other advice is not to try to shoot every horse at every barrel. Figure out how to get optimal shots on one or two spots and don't get yourself distracted. Be ready when they get to your shooting zone, take your shots, and spend the available time chimping your shots and seeing if/what you need to adjust. You can also delete the obvious culls and save some card space.

Looking forward to seeing how you progress.

Thanks very much for your pointers - I will definitely remember to do this!

[DebraM63]

Just a couple of quick thoughts to add to the discussion:

• Re: shooting through the fence -- Yeah, aren't these venues fun . Sometimes, you can bring a small step ladder/stool to stand on to get your head and shoulders clear of the fence. I've had to do that a couple of times, and surprisingly, no one objected. The 70-200 will make you look a little more "official", but your mileage may vary. Worst they can do is tell you to put the step away.
• Shooting wide-open in daylight -- if the sun is bright, you may find yourself having to shoot at a very fast shutter speed when using a fast lens (e.g. f/2.8 or wider), even with low ISO. I don't know what the 50D can manage, but I've had to shoot close to 1/4000 at times. You can use a circular polarizing (CP) filter in such instances to reduce the light to something your shutter speed limits will allow without reducing the aperture (i.e. keeping a nice background blur). If the sun is brutal, you might even have to resort to a neutral density (ND) filter to keep the aperture wide.
• Shooting bursts like a maniac is just part of sports photography. It's your only chance at getting the one shot in the series with the horse in a collected posture, horse and rider eyes open, tongues not hanging out, etc.
• Have a blast -- I also prefer sports shooting to anything else I've tried. It's kind of a sport in itself. Not many photographers specialize in this kind of thing, and so you'll have some nice memories to give folks who've worked hard to train and compete.

Thanks for this additional information! I ordered the filters and lens from the rental company a few minutes ago. Can't wait to try things out! I will remember to bring a stool. Can't hurt to try.

[DebraM63]

Yes, this is a really good habit to adopt if you haven't already realised - I remember discovering it myself - it relieves stress, saves memory and gets more consistent results; better to have fewer great shots than many good-ish ones.


A couple of other things I missed in my reply last night;



With regard to use of Continuous High or Low, when shooting wildlife; I use high (always) and rely on my judgement and a gentle finger on the shutter button, to take short bursts of 2 or 3 shots at key times, repeated as necessary while the subject is still presenting a photogenic composition. I'd approach sports the same way, just needs a little practice to really get the hang of where/when (in its downward/upward travel) the shutter button takes, and stops taking, pictures.

If you choose by CH or CL, you have relinquished control to the camera of artistic choices you should be making, so I suggest you continue with "paying more specific attention to what I was seeing and trying to get my timing down better".




Whether you crop and enlarge a wider angle shot or zoom in and shoot, if the result is identically framed scene, the Depth of Field will be the same*. So; for better image quality, you should (optically) zoom in while shooting, not make large crops in post processing.

* For a given aperture, it is the relative distances of camera to subject and subject to background that will impact the 'softness' of the background - focal length is not a factor.

So yes, you need to shoot at a wider aperture; the 70-200mm (not 300), f/2.8 lens should be used fairly wide open, this will require a low iso and high shutter speed and may, in (what I'd call) extreme conditions (e.g. California or Texas sunshine), as Dave (dbmurrell) mentions, require the use of a filter. Since the CPL (polarising) filter may have added benefits; e.g. deepening a blue sky (depending on sun angle relative to you and if it is even in shot) and/or reducing some reflections from vehicles behind.

Cheers, Dave

Thanks again to you and everyone who has responded thus far! Lots of great information and pointers. I ordered the rental lens and filters and purchased the same filters for the 18-135mm lens I own. I can't wait to try again! Will let you know how it goes and share the images.

[DebraM63]

the event got changed to April 20 so a little delay. Also got myself lined up for another local Gymkhana and in May, a mule show with a great variety of events including cutting and other cow work. Looking forward to lots of opportunities to get some good stuff to share!

[DebraM63]

1.

Hi:

Got most of the pics I wanted to save downloaded and edited. The big lens was great! Since there was an event photographer there I was pretty much up in the top of the stands pretty far away so even though most of these edited photos were shot at maximum zoon, I still had to crop everything which of course decreased the quality of the pics a bit but for the most part, I think these are a definite improvement on my last pics. The photographer who was there was very helpful as well and I may get a chance to work with her again as a helper at a couple local events coming up if her regular apprentice isn't available to help. She did give me some advice on setting up for these shots regarding the shadows, etc., since I don't have strobes or anything and ended up on ISO 500, Shutter speed 640 and F stop on F 8 and I used a monopod. I had tons of photo time (was out there all day and got almost 1000 shots) and learned some things from her. Here is a link to my website as well if you want to see the rest of what I edited. http://www.debramontgomeryphotography.com/BarrelRacing

I downloaded bigger files this time. My next big event is May 7 at a local Mule Show - I am not sure if I will rent the big lens for that because I won't be as far away and should be able to use what I have for that.

I am happy with what I got but I still need to work on keeping the shot more level and I feel like even with the big lens, particularly on the third barrel shots, some of the pics are a little soft - not sharp. I was trying to focus on the top edge of the barrel. Look forward to your feedback!

Oh and I did get a couple of filters to combat the bright sun. I ended up using a CPL filter. And I used the hood. I need to get more information about filters and how to properly use them. The ND filter I got was an ND4 and it seemed really dark, so I switched to the CPL.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.