More from the showjumping - CnC requested

Overread · Oct 21, 2014

A few more shots from the showjumping that I did a few weeks back. Any feedback or input is greatly welcome. Also a question - when one has two primary subjects (horse and rider in this case) which have opposing directions of focus which one does one follow compositionally.

At a jump the horse might be heading onto one side of the frame with its head direction, ears and motion of body, whilst the ride might well be looking in totally the opposite direction. So which does one "follow" and leave space for in the composition? I shot most of mine like that in portrait aspect because of the hight of rider and horse, which really only leaves space to follow one subject - landscape would get more room to allow for both, but its starting to pull back a lot from the event itself - ok in an outdoor shoot, but indoors this can mean introducing a lot more distracting elements into the shot in the form of background or foreground content.

tirediron · Oct 21, 2014

The images are nice enough, 'though to be honest, not overly exciting. That said, it looks to me like the venue would pretty much preclude any award winning shots, so I think you did well. With respect to the question of 'which to follow'. In my experience, horsey people are all about the horse, so I would tend to gravitate to what the horse is doing more than the rider, 'though I always hope for symmetry.

bigtwinky · Oct 21, 2014

Any chance you could of shot from a different angle to not have those empty chairs in the background? Something cleaner would help improve the image and focus the attention on the jumper

chuasam · Oct 21, 2014

Need a faster lens so get reduced depth of field. Horses mid stride are awkward. It's more about the horses. Also shoot straight on or from the flank. The ¾ view is awkward.
My GF is a professional equestrian photographer so sometimes stuff rubs off and I pick a thing or two up.
She uses her 300/2.8 mostly for these kinds of shots.

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Overread · Oct 21, 2014

Twinky - aye I could have shot from the other side and next time I think I will if I can. There was a rough anti-clockwise pattern to the runs so they were oft coming toward me on the left side - but away on the right (if I recall right). The right side still has a wall, but its just your average building wall rather than the more detail heavy balcony.

Chuasam - interesting thoughts there. Aperture wise I was on f4 already, f2.8 I didn't fully trust myself with depth of field wise with horse and rider - however even then I suspect it would have made little difference to the background. I was on a 70-200mm for the day - I could have used the 120-300mm f2.8 as well and next time I might try that lens more often - its AF isn't quite as fast as the 70-200mm but more than suitable for this I think.

Your comment on the angle of the horse is interesting, Straight on I've found is good for the horse, but:
1) Can mean that the riders head gets lost behind the neck/mane
2) Can mean that if the timing isn't perfect the horse has that "leaning on the bar" look - the back legs have to clear the ground just otherwise it looks odd.

It was something I spotted with the previous series of shots I processed (from the same shoot) here Show Jumping -CnC requested | Photography Forum

I was leaning more toward going for the sight 3/4 type approach, getting an angle on the side so that I could more clearly show the riders face/head without it being hidden fully by the horse and getting an easier to work with angle on the horse.

It would be interesting to hear what your GF's thoughts are and/or to see her equine shots.

chuasam · Dec 20, 2014

Her work is here cara.photoshelter.com drop her a note if you have any questions

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Overread · Dec 20, 2014

Ahh my thanks Chuasam!

Had a quick look, she's got some great photos - very clean look to them to! Did a tiny bit of snooping back to her main website and flickr as well.

I'll tell her you sent me her way when I get a moment to contact (which I hope won't end up putting you in the dog-house as a result

).

gsgary · Dec 21, 2014

This is the difference you get shooting a 300F2.8 at F4 getting closer with a long lens and a crappy 4mp Canon 1D

F4.5

Overread · Dec 21, 2014

And being in nice out-door lighting too ^^
Though the backgrounds in yours still have the same "busy" area effect, but looks like the spectators were further back than the wall in mine - which of course helps blur them out even more so.