No Brakes! CnC requested

Overread · Oct 29, 2014

f2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 6400

Went back for another round at the show jumping. Tricker all round this time, the light was much darker (overcast outside so far less light coming through the skylights) which forced me to drop the aperture and up the ISO very high. At 6400 I've found I even have to do a small noise reduction on the fully resized version for web upload to get it looking clean.

The other trick was that this time around the jumping was much lower heights - many of the early ones were almost a hop rather than a full jump. That made things a lot harder - far less clue from the horse and rider and when the event did happen it really was over in seconds (oft both fore and rear legs never left the ground at the same time the jumps were so low).

That said I think I've nearly mastered shooting with both rear legs on the ground - now I just need to time a few milliseconds later for the launch.

General points aside by the end there were some higher jumps and this pair shot around the arena like crazy compared to the rest. Youngest (I think) rider and smallest two horses on the day and shot around the fastest with the most spring in the jumps (which of course made for some neat shots!)

imagemaker46 · Oct 29, 2014

Nothing wrong with this image. Nice clean shot.

tirediron · Oct 29, 2014

Nicely done - perfect angle.

Overread · Oct 30, 2014

Many thanks guys!

a_auger · Oct 30, 2014

I love a good action shot! I like the expression on peoples' faces when they're in the middle of something and it gets captured!

paigew · Oct 30, 2014

I like it too [emoji3]. The expression on the girl is great.

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Designer · Oct 30, 2014

We're supposed to try to find something wrong with this?

Maybe too much foreground, and not enough space above the rider's head.

pjaye · Oct 30, 2014

Very nice shot. As someone who has tried to shoot horse jumping, I know how difficult it can be.

ronlane · Oct 30, 2014

Nice photo Overread. I like it.

sashbar · Oct 30, 2014

Very nice shot, I like it too. Since C&C with no brakes was required, I could add that the background is distracting, so I would like it more OOF. Also the horse is captured somewhere between the rise and descent which are two most dynamic moments. So, a fraction of a second later it would be a better shot. The girl is probably a bit too high in the frame and there is some visual misbalance between the busy extreme upper part of the frame and the plain extreme lower part that makes us wish to trim the lower part a bit. I would have also toned down the orange pot in PS or even changed it to match her sleeves/breeches. The front of the horse is lit insufficiently, in many parts it is just black with no details... What else... Ok I surrender, it is a daunting task to critique a good shot. Especially when the critic knows sweet FA about horse riding and never tried to shoot it himself. :suspicion:

I have to press the breaks now... Before it Is too late...

JacaRanda · Oct 30, 2014

Is it a 7D @ iso 6400?

sashbar · Oct 30, 2014

JacaRanda said:
Is it a 7D @ iso 6400?

6400 has become a working ISO. Here the first shot is at 6400 , 1/15 sec, handheld , SOOC JPEG, with no pp. On a cropped sensor:
http://www.thephotoforum.com/com/it-is-warm-again.371403/

Overread · Oct 30, 2014

Thanks all!

Jaca - yes ISO 6400 on a 7D. I had to run the noise reduction on it twice (once before and then once after resizing for web display). Normally even at 3200 on a good shot I don't have to do a second run for web posting.

Sash - I agree with the frame. I'm actually finding it tricky to work out how I want subjects to frame in the shot and also how to compose the shot initially. I think my desire to try and fill as much frame with horse as possible has resulted in me choosing AF points too far on the perimerter of the frame. Whilst that ensures a nice tight shot sometimes - it also means that I can end up with this miss-match of space (esp for the rider who adds a lot of height to most shots). On side on shots I'v also found that perimeter AF points mean that I've got a nice horse in the shot, but with all the empty space behind rather than in-front.

Lighting I agree is a nightmare - sadly I really can't do too much about that. Changing position is limited, but about all I can do as I can't use flash at these events - not even for fill lighting).

PS - I know 2 days worth of shooting these events so I know pretty much nothing else too