Show Jumpers

JSPhotography

Let's hear it, C&C please. Taken with a Sigma 70-200 2.8 on a 40D. Aperture priority, F4, ISO 3200, around 1/500
#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

HoofClix

Well.. the shutter speed and noise level exhibits how dificult it is to shoot indoors with bad lighting, but I suppose up there in Michigan you don't have any other choice this time of year! It's a great job under the conditions.

#3,4,5, and 9 show the best timing on your part, but different riders will have different likes.

For the jumpers especially, but not for the hunters, for the jump in 5,6, 7 where they are looking at you, I suspect that they are getting ready to turn sharply to their left upon landing... For that jump, you might even try to do a landing shot, getting the fore-hooves just before landing. They will likely already be setting up for the turn before landing, and it can be really good...

Keep it up!

JSPhotography

Thanks HoofClix, I was hoping you would stop by. I have been shooting this winter series monthly and it has been a challenge. This was my 4th event. We will be outside soon.

What do you look for as perfect timing? As you say, riders have different preferances. I try to give them a good variety.

One of my problems is where the horse seems to be fairly sharp but the rider is not. I thought it was a DOF issue but I am also seeing it in side shots. It will be so nice to get outside.

I get a kick out of the pony in 2 and 3.

HoofClix

These are jumpers here, so keep in mind that they think of themselves as athletes, like a speed skater, rather then a performing artist, like a figure skater.. So, with these you can go for more athletic shots.. For instance, in the hunters your only angle that they want or will buy is pretty much the one in number 3, except as it is all about form, they are supposed to be still looking straight ahead, regardless of where the next jump is, almost a follow through.

Look at this hunter round:


vs. this jumper round where, if it were a hunter round, she would need to be looking straight ahead:


This is the landing shot I was talking of:


As for timing, all you can do is really time the fold of the front legs, and the lower you go, stay away from side shots so the jumps will hide the fact that the legs unfold (bascule in horse terminology) even before the rear leaves the ground.

The larger horse needs more jump to bascule correctly. For example, in your number 7 the horse is really big so needs to be out over a large jump to make the best picture..

The blur you speak of is likely slow shutter speed combined with not following steadily. It can even be camera jerk. Follow the horse, take the single shot, and follow through. When you get outdoors, this will all be better. Even see if they'll let you use a flash at a show, but NOT close up on a jump. you can even put a notice at the gate to just tell you to turn it off if the horse is spooky..

It'll all be second nature to you someday...

(ps, Diva don't rake me on these shots.. I just went for them quickly to make my points...)

W.W. Webster

JSPhotography wrote:

Let's hear it, C&C please.

Are these cropped a little too tight?

JSPhotography

W.W. Webster wrote:

Are these cropped a little too tight?

Ya think? Hmm, been cropping tight because that is what I do on the rest of my action stuff. Are equestrian shots generally wider? I see HoofClix shots are wider. Less crop will help with sharpness.

divamum

They definitely look cropped tight to me - I'd love to see a little more airspace in them so they don't look like they're about to jump out of the frame.

For timing, I like 5 and 9 - 2 might have been nice without the poles from the other jump in the way.

Do you run any external noise reduction on these? A program like noiseware may help clean them up so you can boost contrast etc a bit. The purchased version lets you do batches as well (the freeware version only one at a time).

HTH!

Hoofie, do you triage the shots you get for form etc, or do you just wait and see which the rider chooses from the ones you've taken? Just curious.

Snowgirl

I empathize completely with rotten indoor lighting. I handle the PR for a horse show facility near home and that includes the photography both for media releases and the website. In addition, I sometimes function as the event photographer for various shows.

Even in summer, the shows are held in the indoor arena. I get to deal with bad halogen lighting complicated with back lighting from the series of open rolling garage doors on all 4 sides of the arena which allow air (and sunlight) to enter the ring.

Here's an example:


This is SOC - and included just to illustrate the lighting dilemma:


This is the other end of the arena in the morning - facing east - with the sun high and bright - and virtually no light in the arena to fill it in. Oh - and at dressage shows - no flash permitted.
I'm using a Canon 40D, 70-200f/2.8 lens for these shows.



If you can catch your subject against a darker interior wall AND have the person lit by the open door behind you, you can get some nice and decent lighting such as this:



But, you definitely need faster shutter speeds for jumping or even the canter in dressage. That means, in lousy lighting, wide open apertures and / or much higher ISOs - and coping with noise - something I struggle with regularly.

I'm thinking 5DMkIII might help in this lighting situation.

Thoughts?

JSPhotography

"Do you run any external noise reduction on these? A program like noiseware may help clean them up so you can boost contrast etc a bit. The purchased version lets you do batches as well (the freeware version only one at a time). "

I use NoiseNinja but I don't like how much it smoothes everything out. #1 was run through NoiseNinja. I was wondering if anybody would notice the differance.

HoofClix

@ Diva, It depends on the discipline. I am definitely chimping for triage at ringside, but once it's on my computer for them to see on the view-stations, I don't remove it. There was a day when you'd want to hide shots with any imperfections, but these days, especially in the hunter world, they want ear fixes and the like, so I keep all of them in case I need to copy on from another..

I feel for you Snowgirl, to have to deal with a covered arena all year long. I don't think any fancy camera will handle the blown out backgrounds that can't be avoided, but the better your camera, the better at exposing the horse and rider properly without noise. I use either a D3 or a D300 in these cases.

JS, as for cropping, I do think that you've cropped these more like might be found in newspaper or magazine, where they really crop in with no regard to any paper size. Cropping is very personal sometimes, but I see no reason to crop so tightly..

A comment about your #2, I avoid shooting through one jump to get to another. In this case zooming in and taking a tight shot cuts that out. Try bringing along a bench or empty toolbox, a chair.. so you can stand up just a simple foot, and you eliminate that rail in the foreground.