Michael1079 Loc: Indiana

Not that it means much but my first thought was the same as Orphoto. If this was indoors, then you may have needed to set the anti-flicker to on to compensate for the lighting. Even happens outdoors under some stadium lighting. Then again, most cameras have an alert that warns you of flicker in lighting, so this may not be the case at all. Best of luck to you on your search for the truth!

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

Please keep in mind that the function of Flicker Protection is to synch the shutter release to avoid the dark interval present between voltage cycles in LED and discharge (sodium, mercury vapir, fluorescent) lighting. It is not intended or designed to do anything about random changes in brightness levels.

Basil Loc: New Mexico

I think I have concluded that those who suggest there was a sudden increase in light in the arena (whatever the source) are likely right. I probably just didn't notice it because I was too focused on tracking the subject.

WILLARD98407 Loc: TACOMA, WA.

Just a few observations from an old guy---
The two pics have different light sources. First image is overall lighting from above and obviously multiple-sourced, general, leading to soft shadow in the arena. There is a general, diffuse shadow under the horse. Also observe the light source on the spectators in the background, coming from above. Looking through the gate, the cowboy in the white hat shows camera motion and has a diffuse shadow under his hat and no shadow from the gate.

In the second shot, the light is mixed-sourced, the majority of the (over)exposure was from a flash (or maybe more than one). The obvious shadows that are the telltale are: 1. the shadow of the girth strap on the side of the horse, indicating a light from above and to the left of the photographer. 2. the light direction on the people in the background is also coming from the left of camera. 3. the cowboy behind the gate has a sharp shadow line below his hat and shadows from the gate on his shirt. 4. there are two horse shadows; under and to the camera side of the horse.

The grate and bunting on the wall show camera motion in the first, as do the spectators.
In the second, all is sharp because the flash(s) has overpowered the ambient light, and has so much shorter duration it has eliminated the effects of camera and subject motion.
The person firing the flash must have some powerful heads to fill the arena like that.

Pretty obvious that the ambient light source and the flash were two different color balances.

I have experienced this unfortunate bit of timing myself at events such as weddings, car races, concerts, fashion runways, and ball games.

Bad luck in this instance, but the photographer can console himself with the knowledge that he did nothing wrong, and neither did his camera.
Might want to use a faster shutter speed in the future, though.
Also, obviously, if he would shoot in RAW, he could fix the color and exposure in pp.

photosfromtexas

Shorty answer: mechanical shutter malfunction? Long answer: I had an issue like this on my Nikon D750 about 8 years ago. It occurred in one of about 400 photos. I shot manual with mechanical shutter. That model had issues with the mechanical shutter and many were recalled. Nikon said my serial number was not affected and would not take it back . Finally about 4 years later I got an email that my serial number was recalled. By then it had 99,000 exposures. They took it back, replaced the shutter, cleaned it up so it looked new. It never had the problem again. I gave it away to my daughter at 160,000 exposures and she has not reported it as a problem since she got it.

WILLARD98407 Loc: TACOMA, WA.

Good that you got it taken care of.
Not this issue.
Wouldn't explain the shadows and color temp. change.

btbg

I don't understand why we are on page four of this thread. I have shot 10s of thousands of night and indoor rodeo shots and this is what it looks like when you shoot at the same time as strobes placed near the ceiling or top of the grandstands go off. It is not a camera malfunction. You are 100 percent right about the shadows and color temp change.

WILLARD98407 Loc: TACOMA, WA.

👍

Basil Loc: New Mexico

LADIES AND GENTS, I THINK WE CAN STOP ANSWERING THIS THREAD NOW. It has long ago been concluded that there was a brief increase in stadium lighting, exact source unknown but that’s what I’ve concluded (with input from hogs).

WILLARD98407 Loc: TACOMA, WA.

Okeydokey, then.

CPR Loc: Nature Coast of Florida

Cowboy hat in the foreground fooled the meter.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

The hat is in both photos. Why would it fool the meter in one shot, and not the other? At any rate, there are other good explanations in the thread. Did you read the entire thread?

Leinik Loc: Rochester NY

If the settings were the same (ISO, aperture and shutter speed) and you were working in manual mode (I suppose so otherwise there is a real problem with the camera or you accidentally moved the exposure compensation dial/wheel) 3 potential explanations:
1- the light changed (there was a cloud in from of the sun during the first exposure and none for the second-three seems to. be more marked shadows in the second exposure).
2-the aperture blades blocked and did not quite close before the image was taken (then lens needs to be cleaned)
3-the shutter slowed down and it needs to be checked.

marcelfilmfoto Loc: Westchester County, New York

This has happened to me at large events with a bunch of Photogs vying for "the" shot...someone was using a flash with a long exposure that you happened to sync with the timing of the trigger. I can tell by all that magenta fill. No technical reason for it that is evident other than that.

24Megapixseal Loc: Kansas

This! ☝️☝️☝️