Dear SoHillGuy and gwendooine63 on Pixabay...Please share how the standing rider could possibly keep his two horses in the back under control and behind the three horses in the front then there is no wooden pole going down the middle of the horses to hold them together in the desired pattern when running. (The two back horses would turn to one side or the other with the rider standing on their butts, causing him to fall off. The three front horses would then go wherever they wanted after the rider fell off. Please share with us if this image was a fantasy composite image put together that could never happen in real life, due to the lack of a center wooden pole used to hold the horses together in their desired positions. Shooter41

Sympathy! I'm there, too. I have the RX10iv and some of my best birds and wildlife shots were taken with it. It even has animal eye recognition (cats for sure, not certain about birds).

But I'm still addicted to the higher quality raw shots from my SONY 𝜶6500. I am going to try an A-mount 70-400 on it (I have the required adapter already). Bought used, of course. I can recommend. either that lens or the FE100-400. I've used both and they are excellent with that small, lightweight camera.

I've used the Nikon-mount 150-600 and also found it too big and heavy for walking around shots.

One was taken with the 𝜶6500 and Sony FE70-200. The other with the RX10. I am fond of both. The best camera is the one you can actually carry and use.

Very cute photos!!

This is just my opinion and what I see. I have to say neither. Without any context, I look at these photos and see a man, a girl and a boy that had a really great time doing something. I would want to assume that it's a father and his children having a great time on an outing.

If I were looking for a photo that conveys love, I would be looking for a quieter and more intimate interaction. i.e. the man hugging the kids and both with their arms around him. There is a certain look on the face that conveys love, rather than a happy occasion such as the look between father and daughter as he takes her arm to walk her down the aisle.

One of the best moments I've ever seen was a video of a young man's parents coming into the hospital room after the birth of a baby and the son introducing his newborn to his dad and the child was named after the grandfather. The look of love between father and son was unmistakable.

As I stated, this is just my opinion and how I see your photos. I do like the second photo over the first.

Dodie

There are several things you can try.

First, Auto ISO can get you in trouble. Changes in the subject and background brightness can go all over the place. The image you posted was taken at ISO 12800 which almost guaranteed you would end up with a noisy shot. You should probably stay at about 6400 or below to get a couple of more stops of DR and less mid-tone noise.

Next, don't let your camera determine the exposure, use manual aperture and shutter speed. You appear to be shooting wide open so the only thing you can do to control the exposure is to lower the shutter speed. Take a test shot and look a the camera's JPEG and histogram. Don't feel you have to absolutely stop the motion. Nobody cares if there is a little subject motion blur so long as the camera itself is not causing it. Even 1/500s @ f/3.2 and ISO 3200 would have gotten the same exposure as you posted with a lot less noise. If that test exposure looks right, leave it there for the rest of the images.

Rather than crop, use a longer lens. Cropping means a lot of magnification is needed for the final image. The noise will get magnified along with it. The image you posted was heavily cropped, down to about 7MP. A 300mm lens instead of the 200mm you used will reduce your temptation to crop. You will just need to be more careful framing the shot.

Noise reduction during post processing might still be needed but doing less will keep the image sharper.