The Event at Rebecca Farm - Equestrian Eventing Pics

troutstreaming

Hi all,

First time I have posted to this particular board in dgrin as I am normally shooting 'Nature'.

I took a series of jobs earlier this month as an equine photographer 'apprentice' with Tim Poulsen and have been shooting jumping events like mad (20D has about 15k shutter actuations this month, just what is the MTF for the shutter as I am over 60k actuations now....) These four images are from 'The Event at Rebecca Farm' . I treated the post processing like I would for landscapes and am curious if I overdid the saturation (if I have to ask, then I likely did...) For most of my stuff I like processing for a 'velvia' look, just not sure if that is the way to go for sports images or if they should be played more 'photojournalistic.' Also, how do these work as potential portfolio images?

Thanks for looking and commenting!
David Koss on Ben Cruise During Stadium Jumping


Stepanie Montalban on First Impression in the First Water Hazard on the Cross Country Course


Therese Washtock on Bonapartes Nobility Entering the Frist Water Hazard on the Cross Country Course


Jennifer Taxay and Indego in the Practice Arena Perfecting Their Dressage Technique (while I work on my panning skills and try to find a way to capture dressage...)

The complete set of The Event at Rebecca Farm images from Poulsen Photography can be found at http://www.poulsenphoto.com , but there is no way to tell which photographer shot what, so hopefully the above is a good sampling of my work.

Thanks again for looking!

Andy

Image Use Courtesy of Poulsen Photography http://www.poulsenphoto.com Copyright © 2006 Poulsen Photography All Rights Reserved!

System

Although very striking there is a surreal quality to them that makes em question the authenticity fo the color and sharpness even at first glance. They might be just a touch overdone. I'd drop the levels very slowly until they begin to calm down a touch. Really nice captures though, these should be wonderful when you dial them in perfectly.

Seefutlung

#1 is great ... classic jumping shot w/good color. The rest seem a bit over done on the color ... obiviously PSed ... for me post processing is like a woman's make-up ... just enough to maximize a woman's natural beauty .. but not enough to be obivious.

troutstreaming

Thank you for the feedback on the saturation

Seefutlung wrote:

#1 is great ... classic jumping shot w/good color. The rest seem a bit over done on the color ... obiviously PSed ... for me post processing is like a woman's make-up ... just enough to maximize a woman's natural beauty .. but not enough to be obivious.

Thanks for the feedback on the saturation/sharpness. I like to try and push the saturation/sharpness as much as I can, but it is a fine line that I usually foot fault on. I recalibrated my monitor and backed off on the curves and sharpening. Hopefully these still have some eye catching pop, but are not quite as heavy handed... I replaced the images, rather than posting new copies as I do not want too many copies of these floating around so the new versions are visible in my initial post above and later viewers will just need to imagine them overcooked...

Thanks again for looking and commenting!

Andy

Antonio Correia

I like the 1.st very much for "the moment" and the last one for the motion and the sensuality.
Regards.

Steve Cavigliano

Hey, welcome to the Sports Forum Trout

Very nice shots I especially like the first one Excellent capture. I like everything about this shot I like the idea you are going for in the last shot too. I'd suggest experimenting with 1/60-1/200 speeds while slowly panning for this type shot. I think it would be kewl to have a sharply focused rider, horse head and body, with motion blurred legs and background

Good work and don't be a stranger,
Steve

Frog Lady

I'll keep the string going and agree that #1 is the best. Spot on focus, rider looking towards the camera (but the horse focusing on what it's doing), good action, good crop, good...

#3 is interesting w/ the reflected horse and rider, but, IMHO, doesn't make a good action shot (rider's too far away and you can't really see her face). The 2nd would have been better if the rider was coming towards you, but in any case, my eye keeps being drawn to the wall to the right

good overall start to your apprenticeship and can't wait to see more.

C.

troutstreaming

Frog Lady wrote:

I'll keep the string going and agree that #1 is the best. Spot on focus, rider looking towards the camera (but the horse focusing on what it's doing), good action, good crop, good...

#3 is interesting w/ the reflected horse and rider, but, IMHO, doesn't make a good action shot (rider's too far away and you can't really see her face). The 2nd would have been better if the rider was coming towards you, but in any case, my eye keeps being drawn to the wall to the right

good overall start to your apprenticeship and can't wait to see more.

C.

Thanks for looking and commenting! I appreciate the feedback. The water shot for #3 is there for something different and to catch the horse and full reflection that was what I had from this shooting angle. One of the classes had a more head on approach to where I was shooting from that might allow for a more intimate feel. I then zoomed in to get a horizontal of the horse without the full reflection, but those are just horses running through water pictures. Unfortunately the sun never was in a spot where I could get a good exposure on the riders face as they entered the hazard - don't know why they won't let us use fill flashes...

For #2 the going away shot - what I was trying for was the horse and rider turning to the next jump - with a full view of the next jump - which is in fact a carved duck of which can only see the tail in this image (the wall) so having your eye move there is intentional - the partial jump was not, but the captures with the whole duck and the horse/rider don't have the sense of urgency present in the image posted. In this particular case it was shot this tight only because that was what fit in the frame at 70 with the 70-200 on the line that rider chose to take. I am off to shoot again this weekend (only a two day event and much closer to home) so I will see if I can dredge up a more intimate reflection shot and the more view distant of the water hazard - going away shot with full duck jump upon my return.

Thank you again for the comments!

Andy

CookieS

I dont mind the saturation,They are all sharp and clear. but In all honesty the first jump isnt that Great as far as form, the horses form is most important and all thought eventers and Jumpers arent as Form conscious, the legs should still be tucked up and in front where his are hanging down. If you are going to do equine photography, learning the correct moments to capture and correct form and strides is of utmost importance. the dressage shot is also a bit on the forehand , so not a preferable shot for dressage. they are even pickier about form that jumpers . so I would not use those for portflio for those important reasons.