Equine Photography - Focus

[LauraF]

I know this subject's been covered before (I've read through the old threads) but I just wanted to see if I could pick your brains, specifically on focussing?

Those of you who shoot horses regularly - when photographing showjumping/cross country comps etc, what is your preferred method of focussing? Do you use one point MF (if so, which point(s) do you normally use?) and pre-focus on the jump, or one point AF in AiServo and track the rider on the approach? If you tend to pre-focus, which area do you focus on to get the correct focus on the horse and rider as they go over - for example if you have a standard straight-bar pole jump with a plain background a few metres behind.

I've been involved with horses for years so know what kind of shot I'm ideally aiming for, just want to get to grips with a few different ways of achieving it!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hacker]

Hi Laura, I've copied some stuff (see below) from a post I did quite some time ago it might be of help. With regards to focussing I usually use a dynamic area AF and use continuous tracking as the rider is approaching the jump, depending on the jump I release the tracking for a split second as the wings enter the AF area.

Hope this helps.

From an old post:

Key points for showjumping:

Try and be at about a 45 degree angle (in front of the jump) to begin with and try and judge when the horse is going to be stretched up with the front feet tucked in, if you take the shot as the horse is about to jump you will find that with reaction time/delay you should get it about right. This is a 'classic' type jumping shot:

Having said all that don't be afraid to try some side on or in profile with either the horse stretched out as in one of the links earlier or actually clearing the jump like this one:

Notice also the exposure nightmare on this shot, light grey horse, dark background and very bright/sunny day.

If you haven't got a telephoto or zoom lens you can still get good shots, this was taken with the 18-70mm kit lens:

If you haven't done this before try and get the light behind you so you can have a reasonably easier time exposing. also try with the light at 90 degrees to the subject as the shadows will pick out the muscle definition and veins like with this horse;

I don't know what camera you have but use single point or group dynamic for fosusing, don't use all the sensors for the reasons mentioned above and use AF-C (or equivalent) so the focusing tracks the horse. Use as fast a shutter speed as possible for jumping so you can really freeze the action.

Some people say you should focus on the eye when shooting showjumping but I don't agree with this. Two reasons: with single point it will be difficult to maintain accurate focusing on such a small subject, I tend to concentrate on the area near the bottom of the neck just in front of the shoulder and saddle. The other reason is that if you are shooting on quite a wide aperture (and you may well be to get a fast shutter speed) your depth of field will begin at the eye, whereas if you focus on where I do the chances are that you will have the horses head and rider in focus.

If you are doing some portraits keep an eye out for the more unusal shots. This is one of my wifes favourite shots, if you want one similar stick a wide angle on and stand just out of reach of the horse, you'd be surprised how many stretch out like this to try and reach you.

 

[Trev Rich]

In short... focus on the fence
That way you can set up ahead of the rider and get a shot at each jump!

 

[Cobra]

You could do a lot worse than take Colin (Hackers) advice. He has helped me no end in the past.
I tend to track the horse on the last few yards on approach. I use single point focus and aim for the shoulder as per Colin, occasionally though I will use the center right ( or left) point and aim for the horses eye.

Ocassionally a different angle will also work
Here's a couple of mine.
Side on can show off the horse

This one is scary you have to trust the rider and horse, yes I really was that close

I generally don't like type of shot but the rider was "over the moon" which at the end of the day is what counts

This would have been better had I been more like 45 o to the horse's front or even side on

Finally try and find something a little different
the horse almost "bottled it" at this jump, brakes on! note the flying sand( The horse "cat jumped" & cleared the jump)

 

[JimLin1965]

Finally try and find something a little different
the horse almost "bottled it" at this jump, brakes on! note the flying sand( The horse "cat jumped" & cleared the jump)

The "oh, ****" look on the riders face is brillant as well.

 

[Trev Rich]

why focus on the horse though? if you are getting the jumps why not focus on the jump then pan with the horse and rider?

 

[Hacker]

Because the horse is your subject and you cannot tell which side of the fence the horse is going to jump, this is even more evident when shooting cross country/eventing as some of the fences are very wide and there is often a choice of fences.

Tracking the horse isn't too difficult with a bit of practice.

 

[dod]

Because the horse is your subject and you cannot tell which side of the fence the horse is going to jump, this is even more evident when shooting cross country/eventing as some of the fences are very wide and there is often a choice of fences.

Tracking the horse isn't too difficult with a bit of practice.

Absolutely right, the normal fence is what, about 10 feet? You can't predict where the horse is going to be so you HAVE to track the horse.

 

[Trev Rich]

i suppose so.. but with a finepix the dof is pants so its easy to get the rider in focus...
that and the CAF is pretty poor too

 

[Gremlin]

Thanks for some really useful tips, hoping to go to a Point to Point this weekend so this thread has come at the right time

 

[Cobra]

The "oh, ****" look on the riders face is brillant as well.

she is a very competent rider ( fortunately)

why focus on the horse though? if you are getting the jumps why not focus on the jump then pan with the horse and rider?

Also if you can get in front of the horse you get more time to focus as it is almost coming at you.

Tracking the horse isn't too difficult with a bit of practice.

Its not easy but as you say, with practice and all that

 

[LauraF]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. It's not often (although will hopefully be a bit more frequent this year) that I get to competitions to shoot, so the more advice to try out, the better. It sounds as if 1-point AiServo and panning to the jump is the way to go?

Here's a couple of photos, by no means my best, but crit away if you like:

Taken on a compact, but using manual settings

As above

And again! I did try this as a landscape but there was too much empty space

Taken on my first outing with the 400D, bit soft I think so obviously not got my focus spot-on

As above. I can't believe the noise at ISO1600 in this one, blows the socks off my old camera!

Any constructive critisism is welcome, I know I still have a long way to go before I'm producing shots like some of those posted!!

Again, thanks for all the responses, really appreciated

 

[Trev Rich]

hmmmm I have taken lots of showjumping photos and I get no problems with the focus by using the jumps as a focal point.
Is this only down to the DOF my cam gives? (finepix s9600)

 

[Techno-Geek]

Colin that is a really good guide, do you rekon my FinePix will be able to be that quick or will it be all distorted?

Tony

 

[Cobra]

Thanks for all the feedback guys. It's not often (although will hopefully be a bit more frequent this year) that I get to competitions to shoot, so the more advice to try out, the better. It sounds as if 1-point AiServo and panning to the jump is the way to go?

Here's a couple of photos, by no means my best, but crit away if you like:

They're pretty good Laura
I am no expert at this but a few pointers the way I might do them a bit differently,
#1 is about right, it just looks a little odd a big horse over a small jump, it could almost have 4 feet (hooves) on the ground, but obviously thats outta your control
#2 I think I would have got slightly more "in front" of the horse for that one
#3 I love it
#4 I probabley would have been stood by the wall for that there is a little too much red fence that seems to dominate the picture, it would have also "lost" the sign.
The focus seems to be on the sign rather than the horse / rider as well
#5 that could have been really good
( I don't thinks its really bad BTW)
Just too close to the action or not close enough, the horses head and rider ( from a slightly different angle) would have worked as would the whole horse. The jumps in a small arena are a right pain to "lose" but maybe a slightly straighter angle or from the other side would have worked a little more.
Just my opinions .....HTH?

hmmmm I have taken lots of showjumping photos and I get no problems with the focus by using the jumps as a focal point.
Is this only down to the DOF my cam gives? (finepix s9600)

I know nothing of that camera Trev, but quite possibly, does it have "selectable" single focal point or do you shoot multipoint with it anyway?
That coupled with a large DOF would I assume "cover" a larger area

 

[Trev Rich]

I shoot with single (central) focal point.
You really cant get a shallow dof with the s9600 so maybe shooting showjumping with this is a good thing

 

[Cobra]

I shoot with single (central) focal point.
You really cant get a shallow dof with the s9600 so maybe shooting showjumping with this is a good thing

 

[LauraF]

I know what you mean about the last shot, I had to use the 100mm f2.8 as f4 on my 70-200 wasn't enough to compensate for the awful lighting. Which meant (I was stuck ring-side) it was a bit frustrating trying to find jumps that were being jumped towards me, and the right distance.

Thanks for the honest advice though, will definitely take it into consideration - wish I'd thought at the time of moving like you said for number 4! Will remember it next time.

Having a play at shooting mounted games on Saturday and possibly Sunday, which'll be interesting!

Thanks again

 

[Cobra]

I know what you mean about the last shot, I had to use the 100mm f2.8 as f4 on my 70-200 wasn't enough to compensate for the awful lighting. Which meant (I was stuck ring-side) it was a bit frustrating trying to find jumps that were being jumped towards me, and the right distance.

Thanks for the honest advice though, will definitely take it into consideration - wish I'd thought at the time of moving like you said for number 4! Will remember it next time.

Having a play at shooting mounted games on Saturday and possibly Sunday, which'll be interesting!

Thanks again

No worries Laura
I know what you mean about the lighting unless its a "top class" event the lighting seems to be pretty crap.
Just keep practicing, ( I do )
But most of all have fun

 

[LauraF]

Just thought I'd do a follow-up post to this.

I went to a Pony Club rally (with a friend who is an equine-photographer, hence why the photos are on his site!) to get some practise. The advice here, as well as from him, really came in handy!

The weather was awful, and backgrounds/composition was a little tough as there were a lot of jumps in a very small arena (we were restricted to ring-side).

But anyway, here are a few of my favourites:
http://www.henry-horse.co.uk/gallery/20080315sjrally/group2/source/2008_0315sjrally003.htm

http://www.henry-horse.co.uk/gallery/20080315sjrally/group4/source/2008_0315sjrally101.htm

http://www.henry-horse.co.uk/gallery/20080315sjrally/group4/source/2008_0315sjrally122.htm
whoops!

http://www.henry-horse.co.uk/gallery/20080315sjrally/group3/source/2008_0315sjrally079.htm

http://www.henry-horse.co.uk/gallery/20080315sjrally/group4/source/2008_0315sjrally146.htm

http://www.house-of-payne.co.uk/otherhorsepics/Meet Amber/IMG_3128.jpg

http://www.house-of-payne.co.uk/otherhorsepics/Meet Amber/IMG_3155.jpg

The first three are straight off-camera, so could obviously benefit from a bit of cropping/touching up in Photoshop.

See what you think!