Indoor Horse Sports: photography's vortex of death

[Hope C.]

So... being a horse show photographer, obviously considering Montana's horrible tendency to snow, melt, rain, FREEZE. All of the winter horse shows are in a very poorly lit indoor arena... this of course just kills me because I obviously can't be standing in the middle of the arena using a flash and spooking some poor kid's horse and watch as they get dumped right before a jump. So naturally I have tired everything I possibly can with my camera to get better pictures, unfortunately, they all still turn out with a lot of noise and motion blur which really isn't all that appealing (to me, though parents still seem willing to buy prints) and I feel bad selling people pictures that look the way these do. I always shoot with my ISO in 1600 for indoor and usually try not to go below 1/100 for the shutter speed to cut down on motion blur. When zoomed out the lowest F.stop my camera can go to on my short lens is 3.5 and 5.6 zoomed all the way in. So of course... most of them turn out looking rather like this:



It's not too horrible, all things considered, but I'm sure they would rather have horse and rider both in focus. Following them is near impossible because horse and rider move differently as they're going over jumps, so either one or the other is going to always be blurred. Any suggestions, that won't cost an arm and a leg, on how to work around this?

[ScottWood]

I wish I could give you a good, cheap suggestion, but it really comes down to the glass. A 3.5-5.6 lens just isn't fast enough to get the job done indoors. You don't mention what focal length you are typically shooting, but if you can get close, a 50mm 1.8 is normally under $100. If you need the extra reach of a zoom, you are going to have to look at a good 2.8. They are expensive, but keep in mind that even though you will change cameras, you can keep a good lens for life.

[Hope C.]

It changes a lot, the focal length. My lens is 18-55mm, and since I am in the middle of the ring, I'm often standing right next to one jump, but am half way across the arena from another, so the distance is always varying between 18-55mm. My dad has a nicer lens that's faster than mine that doesn't have a zoom, but it's older and doesn't line up perfectly with my camera or something and the image is always really fuzzy, so I can't use that. On top of that I'm paying for college and gas in my car myself and am currently without a job thanks to the nearly stagnant economy out here. I think I just might have to hope for an early thaw and deal with the rotten lighting for now.

[Saknika]

If you're unable to get the faster lens and have to sacrifice focus on either the horse or the rider, I'd sacrifice the horse then and make the focus on the rider. Parents like their kids better after all. And when you're able to, I'd purchase a faster lens to create even more stunning shots.

[ScottWood]

You might want to consider doing more panning shots. You want a slower shutter speed for them, and when you get good at it, it will really make your subject pop out at you, and will also blur the background a lot. The image you posted above has a very busy background, and if you were panning the shot, it would really help. Google something like "panning sports shots" and see what you find. Keep in mind, you will have a pretty low success rate at first, but the keeper will really be great.

[ScottWood]

Here is a good page with examples of what I am taking about.

naldzgraphics.net/inspirations/40-examples-of-panning-shots-in-photography/

[Hope C.]

Oh believe me I've tried panning. It's easy when they're just running flat like in a race, or if there is some sort of steady constant rhythm to the motion, but with horse jumping they're going flat and straight, but when they come to the jump, horse and rider both go up and down at different rates. The same with a posting trot. While the horse is only moving forwards, the rider is moving forwards as well as up and down, so either way I look at it something isn't going to be right. It's hard to follow a posting trot because of the quickness of the up and down movement of the rider, especially on a smaller horse like the one above. This one sort of shows it, though it's not the best.



Everything in this sport always just moves so independently panning doesn't usually produce the desired effect unfortunately. It's a lot easier when the lighting is good, but with the rotten light in the arena it seems like nothing turns out the way I want it to.

This one has some very slow panning since Penny is so tiny and not very fast, and it's about the only picture out of the 80 I got from that show where the horse and rider are at least semi-in focus.

[Saknika]

I know what you mean about the trotting and stuff, since I used to ride. :-\ It's sounding like to me, maybe, offer to do horse and owner portraits at the end and with their prizes to help make up for the lack of good action shots? And then save for the faster lens that way?

[ScottWood]

Since you have some control over where are setup, I would suggest saving up for a 50mm 1.8, which is under $100 new, and pick one place where everyone will go by, and stick with it. It gets you out of the need to focus on different parts of the arena, and I would bet that your percentage of keepers will really jump up. Sell more of those prints to proud parents and you will pay for the 50mm in no time. :-)