Equine indoor event tips

theraven · Mar 11, 2014

Hello all, long time no speak! I did an event this weekend and it was indoor and outdoor full day horse show and I was the only photographer. Needless to say I was run off my feet!

Really enjoyed it and have had lots of purchases from my site of the oictures, but for my piece of mind I would love some tips on how to get the most out of the pictures in the evening performance.

I used a Sony A65 with Minolta Rs 50 mm 2.8 (I was in the ring so no need for zoom) roughly around 100th shutter speed and 2.8 average aperture. +1 Ev to get the horses exposed right.

Any way I could improve upon this? Here are the pictures.

http://www.ravenphotography.co.uk/event/Equine-Rising-Stars

Overread · Mar 11, 2014

Biggest tip I can say is cut out the waste shots in the gallery. You've several series of shots where the horse is going past you against a wall, the angle shifts, the background changes and the horses legs are moving but they are mostly solid shots. I'd cut out the waste - you don't need the distracting building on the left, keep to the plain white background - you don't need 5 different hoof positions - indeed focus on the ears forward aspect.

You want to cut down the choices so you're showing only the very best of a set. 5 Really good photos is far more impressive than having those 5 shots buried in 20 others of average quality.

At the size they show they appear to be good clean exposures - perhaps a touch on the dark side in some; but overall good for the dim lighting conditions and lack of capacity to use flash or boost ambient lighting.

1/200sec is risky and I can see a few blurred hooves - I wouldn't go wider than f2.8 (otherwise you end up with such a thin depth of field you create new problems) but taking the ISO higher would improve sharpness and much noise (esp when well exposed) will vanish in editing and printing.

theraven · Mar 11, 2014

A wonderful and in depth answer, exactly what I was looking for thank you!

I always have the fear or boosting my iso but as some of them are up to 3200 I can see that it isn't as bad as I feared! Not bad for my first lone show! Thank you again for the tips!

tirediron · Mar 11, 2014

Definitely agree with cutting down the # of images; ideally no more than two of any given horse/rider, and a maximum of three. This is a VERY challenging scenario, and you've done a pretty decent job. Overread makes some excellent points, and the only thing that I can see that would really improve them is more light. Ideally an off-camera speedlight in a small (24") soft-box hand-held would help, and the extra light would allow you to reduce background detail significantly.

Braineack · Mar 11, 2014

Personally I would have gladly given up more ISO to be able to increase the shutter speed (assuming the lens was already wide open). Shooting at 1/80 and 1/100 is just too slow and as a result, the majority of your indoor shots are blurred--even the stationary ones.

Overread · Mar 11, 2014

Flash is always a possibility and many a horse is more used to it now than they once were (heck many have point and shoot cameras with the flash on pointed at them only moments after birth) however its also a risky thing around horses you don't know and possibly less experienced riders I know many venues simply won't allow it because of that potential risk.

That said if you've time for posed semi-formal shots of rider and horse that's a perfect time to try and encourage them to step outside or bring the horse up to some lighting gear and get a few more posed more clean shots - whilst talking to the rider/owner and finding out the horses temperament and working with the animal.

tirediron · Mar 11, 2014

Overread said:
Flash is always a possibility and many a horse is more used to it now than they once were (heck many have point and shoot cameras with the flash on pointed at them only moments after birth) however its also a risky thing around horses you don't know and possibly less experienced riders I know many venues simply won't allow it because of that potential risk.

I've never found diffused flash to be an issue; I could see where, in rare instances, shooting bare-tube might spook an animal, but I've never had a problem when shooting through a soft-box.

Overread · Mar 11, 2014

Aye most animal don't bat an eyelid at softbox flash - heck even regular flash most ignore it. But sometimes animals can spook at the most random of things and horses people tend to be a touch more careful around. Like I said most times it shouldn't be a problem; but many venues might still err on the side of caution. Simply ask and find out what the situations and just be careful - otherwise use whatever you can

theraven · Mar 11, 2014

Nope. Flat no on lighting. Especial around horses and especially at an event like this. Most horses I shoot stationary are not happy with soft boxed and they are definitely not ok at an event like this.

It has to be the iso up. No flash is allowed at any events like this.

Overread · Mar 11, 2014

Might want to have a chat with gsgary - I know he's used fairly large softboxes with horses in the past. One thing I recall him mentioning was to bring the horse to the lights not the other way around. Ergo let the horse approach the softboxes rather than advancing toward them.

gsgary · Mar 11, 2014

theraven said:
Nope. Flat no on lighting. Especial around horses and especially at an event like this. Most horses I shoot stationary are not happy with soft boxed and they are definitely not ok at an event like this.

It has to be the iso up. No flash is allowed at any events like this.

Take a look at Tim Flach he uses lots of studio lights with horses, but at shows they won't allow flash

theraven · Mar 12, 2014

No no sorry you misunderstood. When I do individual shoots I do go to the yards and shoot with strove and use giant reflectors etc. However at an event like this its a no no. They don't allow flash in the arena as it spooks the horses and is extremely dangerous.

At high end professional shows yes, the horses are uses to it, but this is local level and some of these people and horses are in there first year. Sometimes just being in an indoor arena is scary for the horses. Also there is no time to arrange individual shoots. Not with two rings working at the same time and me covering them both.