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- #16
I've tried different focus spots for vertical and horizontal and it made me want one thing - a focusing point adjuster on my battery grip (the one on the camera is just a bit too far up to reach easily when in the vertical position). That's because I'd want to make small changes to the focus point - can be a pain at times.
f2.8 is where I tend to be up to around f5.6 sometimes (if the light and scene allow); and find that the horses shoulder tends to work at a practical level for a good focusing point; at least if the horse is mostly side-on to kind of side on to you. The shoulder/neck area is kind of between horse and rider and ideally you want both in focus; plus the shoulder is a bigger area that moves around less than rider or horses head so is easier to track
Backgrounds are a nightmare with indoor events like this - a real nightmare. Getting a good background is very hard and, as you've found, its near impossible to blur them out. So they are something one has to work with, though I found I had to stop treating them as a distract them and approach them with the view of the wildlife photographer - in this case the background is part of the moment; not necessarily one you want sharp and in focus, but part of the environment and the event and thus not as huge a distraction as one might think - or at least not something that totally spoils a shot even if we'd rather wish otherwise.
Not sure but some of these look a touch soft - might just have been light and the result of high ISO and noise reduction - however I found that 1/640sec is the slowest you can go for a sharp shot - at 1/500sec hooves and mane/hair start to blur and any slower and it tends to get a bit of a blurry mess.
Compositions seem good and you got some funny moments and some "OMG WE are not jumping this" moments (I tend to miss them as a get a sudden pang of guilt thinking the failed jump is the horse seeing/hearing the massive camera making a noise- even though its likely nothing to do with it at all).
You might think about shooting a little wider to get a bit more of the actual jump in the shot - or just to give you some room when shooting - I find that a horse going up with a ride atop often gives one very little room to work - esp when shooting as some horses will really go up high or some riders will sit very high on the back.
I do agree that a bit more colour and punch to the shot as Lew suggested would help - although I think he went a little too heavy with the editing (possibly to show the point); and gave it a colour more akin to what I'd expect to see outside in stronger sunlight.
f2.8 is where I tend to be up to around f5.6 sometimes (if the light and scene allow); and find that the horses shoulder tends to work at a practical level for a good focusing point; at least if the horse is mostly side-on to kind of side on to you. The shoulder/neck area is kind of between horse and rider and ideally you want both in focus; plus the shoulder is a bigger area that moves around less than rider or horses head so is easier to track
Backgrounds are a nightmare with indoor events like this - a real nightmare. Getting a good background is very hard and, as you've found, its near impossible to blur them out. So they are something one has to work with, though I found I had to stop treating them as a distract them and approach them with the view of the wildlife photographer - in this case the background is part of the moment; not necessarily one you want sharp and in focus, but part of the environment and the event and thus not as huge a distraction as one might think - or at least not something that totally spoils a shot even if we'd rather wish otherwise.
Not sure but some of these look a touch soft - might just have been light and the result of high ISO and noise reduction - however I found that 1/640sec is the slowest you can go for a sharp shot - at 1/500sec hooves and mane/hair start to blur and any slower and it tends to get a bit of a blurry mess.
Compositions seem good and you got some funny moments and some "OMG WE are not jumping this" moments (I tend to miss them as a get a sudden pang of guilt thinking the failed jump is the horse seeing/hearing the massive camera making a noise- even though its likely nothing to do with it at all).
You might think about shooting a little wider to get a bit more of the actual jump in the shot - or just to give you some room when shooting - I find that a horse going up with a ride atop often gives one very little room to work - esp when shooting as some horses will really go up high or some riders will sit very high on the back.
I do agree that a bit more colour and punch to the shot as Lew suggested would help - although I think he went a little too heavy with the editing (possibly to show the point); and gave it a colour more akin to what I'd expect to see outside in stronger sunlight.
