Rolex Three Day Event Horse Show - Cross Country
Hey all, I went to Lexington last weekend for the Rolex 3 day event. It's kind of a big deal for horse riders apparently 
it was my first time going, and here are some of my pics! C&C definitely welcome
1. Bruce Davidson, Sr. Age 59, and still amazing.
2. Bruce again
3. Jumping out of a small pond
4. Bolting after the jump
5. running through the pond
6. At the starting gate
7. Jumping the fray
8. jumping the corner
9. Superhorse!
10. low angle
it was my first time going, and here are some of my pics! C&C definitely welcome1. Bruce Davidson, Sr. Age 59, and still amazing.
2. Bruce again
3. Jumping out of a small pond
4. Bolting after the jump
5. running through the pond
6. At the starting gate
7. Jumping the fray
8. jumping the corner
9. Superhorse!
10. low angle
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Comments
I gave up on Rolex in '03 I believe, looking forward to NOT going to an event for a weekend..
www.HoofClix.com / Personal Facebook / Facebook Page
and I do believe its true.. that there are roads left in both of our shoes..
Great to see a new face take on sports shooting.
When you look at the various shots you posted here, the one big thing that should jump out is the importance of lighting and your position in regards to it. In your initial shots, the rider and horse are both in deep shadow. An important part of sports photography is capturing detail. You can't capture detail with so much shadow. So, you have a couple options - the easiest option is to select a shooting position where the ligth will be behind you as you face the rider. This is going to have the least amount of shadow. If you must shoot from a location where that isn't happening you need to expose for the rider/horse NOT the sky. SHot 4 is a great example - sky is exposed wonderfully. But the sky isn't very interesting - the rider is. In a perfect world you would be able to use a flash to get rid of the shadows and have both subject and background exposed properly. But when you can't do that - always expose for the subject. Shots 8 & 9 are the closest to properly exposing the subject - unfortunately they're also BEHIND the subject which is going to be less interesting because you don't see the faces.
Last comment is on the panning shot. Showing motion can make a shot interesting - but the key is to keep the most interesting part - the face - in focus. In this shot, everything is blurry so the shot doesn't work. Try to keep the pan smooth so the face stays level. Now, I don't shoot this type of sport so I'm not familiar with how much up/down motion there is and whether a good pan is even possible (or if the up/down will always blur the face).
Good luck and thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the comments!
Any tips on how to expose a face correctly on a clear day from about 75 feet away? I'm shooting in manual with spot metering, because i don't think that the camera will expose correctly in aperture priority/matrix metering. I tried zooming in on the lcd but the harsh lighting made it difficult to see. How would you deal in that type of situation? other than just get the damn exposure right, haha
Also i think the blur shots might not work (easily) with horse riders now that you mention the up/down motion.
Yep I had to put some of em up, it was my first trip up there and I had a great time! Thanks for the comments.
What made ya give up on Rolex? Do ya mean give up on competing in it or on seeing it?
I shoot equestrian sports and Johng has some good points for you to remember- for any sport. For the blurred shot the face will be blurred because of the path the rider's head takes. My problem with the shot is you showed so much of the leg then cut the hooves off. That's a no no. You will find more people like the pictures when you get all the legs off the ground. Watch what the front leg closest to you is doing for your timing.
Another thing is your aperture, I just checked a few of your pics and you're at F8. I don't know what lens you use but try and shoot wide open and you will isolate the horse/rider from the background as much as your lens is capable of.
And your vertical shot over the coop, the grass and sky are even, if you try to put the rider's head at the top more and you will make it look like a more impressive jump. HTH
thanks for the pointers! yeah i used f/8, i wanted to use something to make sure the whole horse and rider were in focus. I was using a nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6, I had shot wide open with that lens before at the long end and found it produced a lot of vignetting, so since then i've gone up a couple of stops... I'll have a 70-200 f/2.8 sometime within the next year so hopefully that won't be a problem any more
No no, I'm not a rider. For the past few years I have been photographing all of the horse trials in "Aiken," which means I see all of these riders at all of the shows where they're trying to qualify to go to Rolex. I've already done 14 of these shows so far this year, so I'm just worn out from horse trials by the time Rolex comes around. I'm sure I'll be back again..
Don't give up on the slow-speed panning shots. Set it at shutter priority at about 1/50 or 1/60, center-weighted metering if you have it. Pan steadily with the focus target on the rider's knee, panning with your hips getting with the up-down rhythm of the stride. You'll be surprised at how many nice shots you can get where the rider is nicely clear, or the horse's head. Try to make sure to get the whole horse in the frame. Don't give up on it. It will just take practice.
Guys, give him a break about the backlighting. This is a huge event, and in a lot of cases there aren't a lot of options on where to stand. Your start box shot is back lit, or top lit, and I think it's rather good, a place that most wouldn't bother to take shots... But yes, get the sun behind you as often as you can. The suggestions on opening up are correct. As far as you are from the horses, even at f3.5 or 4, you have plenty of dof to get the whole horse, and the shutter speeds will get quicker and eliminate some of the fuzziness that is there..
www.HoofClix.com / Personal Facebook / Facebook Page
and I do believe its true.. that there are roads left in both of our shoes..
.DAVID.
Take nothing but pictures. Leave nothing but footprints
That was the reason for the suggestion to make sure you expose for the horse/rider and NOT the background. Unless you intentionally want a sillouette.