Starting out with Nikon D3200

[ManyThingsPhotos]

I just recently began using a DSLR camera (Nikon D3200) and I am struggling on using the camera to it's maximum potential. I mainly shoot photos (action shots, portraits and candids) at horse shows. I do however shoot anything that I possibly can from close-up shots to landscapes and nature. I am struggling the most with my action shots, however. A lot of the events that I go to are all day, outdoor in direct sunlight. Sometimes the horses are moving slow, other times they are running and jumping. I seem to struggle with getting crisp, in focus shots with a nice bokeh background. I can either get the action and have the shot grainy and background just as focused as the rider or the whole image is blurry. I've been fighting imaged that are both under and over exposed. The lens that I use is the kit lens 55-200mm that came with the camera. I do use a collapsible silicone sunshade and alternate between a UV and Polarized filter. I've played with the settings and when I can get a decent shutter speed, the photos are too white and grainy. When I get a good background, it's washed out and blurry. What settings do I need to take great outdoor sport action shots? I can't go into the riding area at a lot of places, so I am stuck using the lens at maximum focal length.

 

[goodguy]

I assume you have the kit lens 55-200mm
Minimum F is 5.6 so I would put camera on shutter priority on 1/400 or maybe faster and have ISO on Auto, this way the camera will choose the ISO and you will not need to worry about getting an overexposed shot.
If you want to get better bokeh (blurry background) you will need a faster lens, one that go to F2.8, you can get a Sigma 70-200mm 2.8 for about 500$ used.

 

[Microbois]

First question that comes to mind : Do you understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO setting? If so, then the first thing to deal with when you are taking fast action pictures is to figure out the lowest shutter speed needed to freeze the action. This is your starting point. The only way to find out, is to try different shutter speeds until you get the result you want.

Then, you move on to your aperture. If you want blurry background, you'll need to shoot wide open, but as someone has already mentioned, you may have to consider purchasing a faster lens such as f/2.8 or so. That being said, depending of your own position, the subject position, and the background position, you may be able to blur the background a bit with your actual lens.

Finally, once you have nailed the correct shutter speed and aperture, you'll need to adjust the ISO setting to get the perfect exposure.

This is where you will see if you have the right equipment or not for the type of pictures you want to take. Shutter speed is never a problem for any camera, but a slow lens can be challenging, or a camera with poor low-light capabilities will sure make the whole thing more complicated, if not impossible. That being said, and from what you describe, I don't think you will have any problems to get great shots with the equipment you have right now.

Last piece of advice : While you may not want to use that technique all the time, you can give a chance to your camera by setting a lower shutter speed, like 1/60s, or 1/125s, zoom in closely on the horse, and follow it while you take the picture. It will help you on the aperture and ISO side, will blur the background in a way that convey very well the impression of speed.

Good luck!

 

[snowbear]

One more thing to consider: adding a uv, or any filter, can degrade the sharpness some.

 

[KmH]

What auto focus mode, and auto focus area mode are you using?
What shooting mode are you using? Auto, A, P, S, M?
What light metering mode are you using? Spot, Center-weighted, Matrix?

1. Lose the UV filter. You do not need it. UV filters cause more problems than they solve, and there effectiveness for 'protection' is minimal.
2. The polarizing filter is of limited use for shooting action, portraits and candid.
As the angle of the sun to the camera changes a polarizing filter has to be adjusted so it can be effective.
Once the sun is 30° or more above the horizon, or at more or less than 90° from the lens long axis a polarizing filter gives an uneven affect.

Bokeh is not adjustable and is not a blurry background. You can't make lens or shot set up changes that will give you more or less bokeh from any one lens. A fast lens is not required to blur a background, but when can help do that as long as some other factors are also controlled properly.
Bokeh refers to the visual quality of blurred portions of a photo, not the blur itself.
A blurred background results from the adjustable depth-of-field (DoF) determined by the lens focal length, the point of focus (PoF) distance from the camera and the lens aperture.

The 55-200 that came with the camera should have come with a Nikon lens hood.
Why are you using an after market silicon collapsible lens hood?