How do these look?

[DrunkenGiraffe]

I am very passionate about horseriding, so it is something I really enjoy taking photos of. I am quite happy with these, but I know I still have lots to improve on.
(I don't really want comments on the name on the photos, it's because these get shared on facebook so it is a way to identify them as my photos. I understand that it is easy to crop out, but that isn't really a concern).


Nikon D5000 55-200 kit lens, taken about 2pm



1. f/7.1 1/320 sec ISO 500
I am annoyed that I cut the horses foot off here.

2. f/6.3 1/400 sec ISO 800

3. f/4 1/640 sec ISO 400

4. f/4.5 1/320 sec ISO 320

 

[DrunkenGiraffe]

Nothing?

 

[pgriz]

Guess that you're not communicating your passion through your photos. As a record of documenting what you like, then they are fine, but as photographs that can stand on their own, they need to be distilled. What are you giving the viewers that clearly communicates the passion? Good photographs either have strong graphic elements that draws in a viewer, or a story line that the viewer can recognize and appreciate.

 

[gsgary]

+ 1 above, shot one if you have gone to the right and got lower it would have been a more dinamic shot, look for different angles
This is one a shot a few years ago, i had a press pass but managed to get where nobody was allowed

 

[barleymalt]

The only one that works for me is the first one. I would like it better framed from a lower angle to give a more dynamic perspective on the horse and show a little more of that log thing. The background is boring and messy and the colors are a little nauseating. Also, the horse looks slightly underexposed.

Tried to fix it with some processing. I hope you don't mind. Nice shot gary ^

 

[MohaimenK]

Why so much on the ISO?? I mean it was 2pm. Was it a really cloudy day?

 

[DerekMellott]

There is some good advice here, you guys took the thoughts out of my head.

Next time your shooting horses don't take any shots with the camera 6 feet off the ground, get high or get low. These shots look like they were taken from behind a fence, get closer and shoot wide. #1 would have looked great, as said, low and to the right, get that horse above you.

I'm no pro so take this with a grain.

 

[DrunkenGiraffe]

Why so much on the ISO?? I mean it was 2pm. Was it a really cloudy day?

Yeah it was pretty dark and if the ISO was lower than the shutter speed got too slow


Thanks for all the advice! Good thing I am going to have a lot more opportunities to practice, so I am going to try some more interesting angles.

These shots look like they were taken from behind a fence, get closer and shoot wide. #1 would have looked great, as said, low and to the right, get that horse above you.

It was in a fairly large paddock so I kept back because I thought it would work better with the 55-200. I have the kit lens 18-50 but I thought that a wide angle would make the horse look a bit distorted?

 

[darkchild]

Why so much on the ISO?? I mean it was 2pm. Was it a really cloudy day?

Yeah it was pretty dark and if the ISO was lower than the shutter speed got too slow


Thanks for all the advice! Good thing I am going to have a lot more opportunities to practice, so I am going to try some more interesting angles.

These shots look like they were taken from behind a fence, get closer and shoot wide. #1 would have looked great, as said, low and to the right, get that horse above you.

It was in a fairly large paddock so I kept back because I thought it would work better with the 55-200. I have the kit lens 18-50 but I thought that a wide angle would make the horse look a bit distorted?

i would have used a shutter speed of 1/125... that's just me though. ISO is kinda high. I agree with the angle, try different angles, get lower and try to get the horse at an angle, not directly on it's side... ya get me?

 

[Gaerek]

Of all of them, the first one is my favorite, but it still really needs something to make it stand out. I think if you had panned that shot, it would have looked fantastic. As it is, your shutter was set to 1/320sec which was enough to stop motion. But that takes any action out of the shot. Had you lowered your ISO a couple stops, and stopped down your aperture another stop, you would have a relatively slow shutter (around 1/30 or 1/40, give or take, not trying to do calculations right now). Then, you would follow the horse, and shoot, making sure to keep your camera moving. The horse would be sharp, but you'd have a nice motion blurred background. This would give a great sense of action and motion. To make it really work, you'd need to play around to find the optimum shutter yourself.

For further reading, and examples, go here.

Panning takes practice, but the payoff is worth it.

 

[Derrel]

ISO 500 seems quite reasonable to me, given the aperture used, the rather slow lens, and a cloudy day...nothing at all wrong with ISO 500 or 640 under such conditions.