2 more horse show pictures

[CaraRose]

Okay, the first one of these I'm trying to improve as best I can in photoshop. I focused on the background so Piper and Susan were blurred slightly. I tried to sharpen it and its improved somewhat. I'm not sure if I can do any more without making it look overdone. I'd hate to lose it, Piper's taking a great jump.

[natatbeach]

these rae very nice especially the second one...the second one has good lighting good psoition of horse and rider and the "action" of the moment is just timed right... well done

[gmen]

It's action so I love it! The timing looks good to me. Those backgrounds are distracting though - what focal length and aperture were you shooting at?

The first shot has too much foreground - and I'd be tempted to reshoot so as to get a nice sharp pic... no amount of sharpening and dabbling in PS will save an out of focus image - I speak from experience!

The second shot is better - just try to isolate the subject from the background a little more - a wider aperture, a longer focal length. Or simply pick a slightly different angle - size up the background before you shoot.

[CaraRose]

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I wasn't writing much down since I was taking 5-6 shots per round, so once I took the first shot I was presetting my focus and settings for the next jump. But I know I was using 1000th - 2000th shutter speed, and it was a very sunny day, so I doubt I was able to get wider than 8 aperture. I was using a 70mm-300mm zoom, and I believe I was typically ranging from 200mm-300mm for my shots over fences.

Not much you can do about backgrounds in horse shows. If I shot from the other end of the ring I would have had people, the schooling ring, and the barns in the background. A lot more busy and ugly. I wish I could have had a shallower depth of field though.