Nice shots, the only thing i would have done different is set the aperture to F4 to give a bit more DOF because of the distance between the horses head ane riders face
The first two images are very well done. The timing is excellent. Number 3 is a bad angle on the horse and rider and the resulting image does not reflect well on either one of them. It is taken too far to the side at close to a 90 degree angle. Number 4 is taken too late in the horse's jump. He has already unfolded his legs and they are below the top rail which is a no no in hunter/jumper horse show photography. Number 5 is taken much too early. The front legs should be up at their highest point with the lower legs tucked under. Speaking from experience since I am a horse show photographer, No 1 and 2 would sell to the riders. The rest just miss the mark. Most people don't know what the hunter/jumper riders look for when they buy photos. These comments are no reflection on your skill as a photographer--they just show lack of knowledge of this very particular market.
Thanks for all the comments.
I shot at f/2.8 to try and blur out the background as much as possible.
It is tough to shot for clean backgrounds in a confined area such as the horse show ring.
2.8 is fine to use. F Stops from 2.8 to 5.6 work best in general. You rarely have good backgrounds at horse shows. Blurring the background is a good thing most of the time. We just finished shooting 2 weeks of horse shows in an indoor arena and had to use our 200mm 1.8 lenses and 135mm 2.0 lenses at 1600 ISO and 1/1000 seconds at 1.8 and 2.0. There was just not enough light and the horses we were shooting are not used to flash and riders ask us not to use it. Yes, we have to use a good bit of noise reduction. And yes, the images are sharp enough from head to tail for our customers.
I forgot to mention earlier that a 45 degree angle to the jump gives the best image for hunter/jumpers. Other horse competitions like horse trials and eventing are much more accepting of different angles and less than perfect timing. However, dressage riders are very concerned with the photography capturing the best moments of their horses' gaits. Each equestrian discipline has its own standards about how they want their horses to look in photos.
At the Devon Horse Show you are going to see the best hunter horses in the country. It really is a good place to practice.
Jan Krisle...
2.8 is fine to use. F Stops from 2.8 to 5.6 work best in general. You rarely have good backgrounds at horse shows. Blurring the background is a good thing most of the time. We just finished shooting 2 weeks of horse shows in an indoor arena and had to use our 200mm 1.8 lenses and 135mm 2.0 lenses at 1600 ISO and 1/1000 seconds at 1.8 and 2.0. There was just not enough light and the horses we were shooting are not used to flash and riders ask us not to use it. Yes, we have to use a good bit of noise reduction. And yes, the images are sharp enough from head to tail for our customers.
I forgot to mention earlier that a 45 degree angle to the jump gives the best image for hunter/jumpers. Other horse competitions like horse trials and eventing are much more accepting of different angles and less than perfect timing. However, dressage riders are very concerned with the photography capturing the best moments of their horses' gaits. Each equestrian discipline has its own standards about how they want their horses to look in photos.
At the Devon Horse Show you are going to see the best hunter horses in the country. It really is a good place to practice.
Thanks for your tips and advice.
I have been going to the show for years and recently started shooting it.
I tried using a 300mm F/4, but found myself not being able to get the shots that I wanted. It was probably not having enough experience shooting jumping and using that size glass.
