juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Shot these today at our agricultural center. Lightning was poor to dismal. Was shooting with auto ISO and manual mode. Most shot at 4000 iso, 500 ss at f8. Then shot some at 100 and 200 SS and 500 iso at f5. Not real happy with results. I should have programmed my iso and played with my f stop and shutter speed. Oh well, here are a few of the better ones.

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juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

I was also shooting in matrix. Not sure if that was some of my problem. Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks for looking!

jrb1213 Loc: McDonough GEorgia

Since it seems you had variable lighting situations I would have used the auto ISO but would have started with a wide open aperture to blur out the background. Arenas have the ugliest backgrounds. This would also allow the subjects to stand out from the background.
Shooting in matrix also caused the rider to be out of focus when you had a high contrast background. The signs were in focus the rider was not.
May be this is just me, but some of the photos feel claustrophobic because the horse is running into the edge of the photo. The third photo is the one that illustrates this the best.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Thank you for responding. So, should I have been shooting in auto area focus? I agree also on the aperture setting. I was at f8 and dropped to f5 and should have gone wider yet. Thanks again for the tips. This was my first time shooting in these conditions and with quick action.

jrb1213 Loc: McDonough GEorgia

I would use center single point focus. The only time both the horse and rider might not be in focus is if they were coming at you head on. But be very conscious of making sure both the horse, particularly the face, and rider are in focus. Riders always want their horses to look good. Musicians are the same way about their face and hands.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Thanks again; will give that a try too!

abc1234 Loc: Elk Grove Village, Illinois

All things considered, these are pretty respectable given the poor interior lighting. Do not be too harsh on yourself. You can always make small improvements by being more thoughtful about exposure and focusing and some post-processing tweaks. Without knowing what gear you used, you may have to spend more money to get the results you want.

Good luck and keep shooting.

juicesqueezer Loc: Okeechobee, Florida

Thanks! I was shooting with my D700 and used the 70-200 2.8 on a monopod.