Equestrian with a different lens..

[wilgk]

What is the old saying? Necessity is the mother of invention, or something like that?

Anyway Ive been in for my knee arthroscope (wear & tear is a constant companion to my joints!)

So I was at the inter school champs & had enough trouble worrying about my knee & balancing myself, to bother with a monopod & 70-200 blah blah...

So I grabbed the 100 macro - able to hand hold & off I went.
Maybe the shots aren't close enough, but I like to think they have a different appeal, particularly this first one, I like the 'landscape' nature, then ooh look there's a horsey.

Thanks all for commenting, & Im back on deck - searching the Internet for advice for our NY trip, so hope to drop in more regularly.



The one show our team coach with 1 of the students



then just some others...






Thanks for looking.

[Shadowman]

Nicely done on capturing the rider and horse mid air.

[Digital]

Kay, nice captures.



Bruce

[dbmurrell]

Very nice, Kay! Oddly enough, I was planning to shoot my daughter's ride tomorrow using that lens so I could also practice getting some detail macros (tack, boots, etc.)

Especially like the vibrant colors and the two "classics" forward over the rails. The candid at the end of your post captures the moment nicely, showing anticipation. (Was he in the lineup waiting for judging results?)

[IzzieK]

I knew there must be some other uses for the macro lens! Now you just showed me it isn't a bad proposition. Thank you Kaye...now for my preference: #1, #4 followed by #2, #3 and #5. I like the exposure of your #2 girl. She has a very beautiful young face. #3 seems to have a bit of trouble there but that has a good separation too. The curious look of #5 is engaging. #4 is the most beautiful shot of all here that I like -- really nice...sorry for the late response. I saw this yesterday but I was falling asleep on my keyboard...

[rpcrowe]

I have a pair of titanium knee joints that sometimes work fine and at other times are cranky as heck. I have recently purchased one of these to ease my stress when shooting.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/322035259054...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I can get a lower angle and a better hold on the camera. When I sit, I can rest my elbows on my knees. I opted for this model since the extra height (it is 3" or ~76mm taller than the other stools of this type on eBay) helps me get up again. IMO, getting up counts over 50% of getting down for the shot

The stool only weighs 1.9 pounds (~.86 kilograms) and easily slings over my shoulder. I can be quite mobile when using it. I borowed one of these from a fellow club member when I shot the Auto Sports a short while ago Auto Sports With 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II

It works well when I use my monopod also! I could take my camera of the monopod when the knees are cranky and use the pod as a walking stick.

On a really bad day, and when I am walking a long ways but, shooting from a pretty well fixed position when I arrive, I could place my camera and lens (I love the 100-400L II but, it is heavier than the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 series lenses) along with a second camera and any other equipment in my Lowepro rolling camera case. I could strap the stool to the case also. I haven't shot this way before but I can try it this weekend when I am experimenting shooting an airshow...

[Rebel]

These are nice shots Kay, the last three are the strongest for me.

I can see what you were trying to do with the first one but a tighter crop would improve it in my opinion

[John 2]

Nice series Kay. They tell a story. A little over in exposure terms but as memories, it hardly matters..

[wilgk]

Thank you all for looking and your kind comments & advice/suggestions.
The team are very happy as results from the event have just come out & our school riders placed 3rd in the State.
A very big deal.

[Saorsa]

I like the next to last. The rider has set up the jump and is leaving the horse to do it's part while her mind and gaze has already moved to the next fence.

I've shot more rodeos than hunter/jumper recently but the better barrel racers are alwaysthinking one step ahead.

[NorthernFocus]

Nice set, Kay. The two portrait shots are really nice. Particularly the last one is excellent. And the last jumper shot is really nice. Perfect position on the horse, intensity on the look of the rider, and a relatively clean BG. The way the tree line worked out was unfortunate (I hate it when that happens) but those are the breaks sometimes. Overall a nice set. Well done.

[wilgk]

Thank you Brian and Dan
I could have used a bigger aperture with this lens, to blur out the tree line, but didn't want to run the risk of sharp horse, unsharp rider or vice versa, so I closed it down enough to be sure to get those 2 sharp, as you say them's the breaks sometimes.