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| Animal photography - Page 5 | |
| Wild or captive animals | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 08:09 |
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41st Post |
chrisbet
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Hi - I'm new here, my interest is horses (I own one) and photography of horses - here is one of my girl - any tips for getting the best photos? I have a D90 - this pic was taken with an AFS Nikkor 55-200G with VR
____________________ If it is broken it was probably me .... |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 08:43 |
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42nd Post |
jk
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Welcome chrisbet. Image looks good to me. Maybe needs a little extra sharpening which can be done is any of the post processing softwares. Be careful not to overdo it otherwise you get haloes around the highlight areas.
____________________ Still learning after all these years! https://nikondslr.uk/gallery_view.php?user=2&folderid=none |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 09:05 |
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43rd Post |
chrisbet
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Thank you - I use Gimp under Linux - sharpened 50% it looks like this - not sure what you mean by halos ? Would it be better to shoot in RAW mode? 
____________________ If it is broken it was probably me .... |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 09:37 |
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44th Post |
Eric
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Welcome chrisbet. Horses are such magnificent creatures and great to photograph. I am sure you know a lot about what not to do already (like never shooting from head with wide angle lens unless you want a horse with a tampered bum) As Jonathan said your image isn't as sharp as it could be. Maybe that's shutter speed? Even with VR I always like to double the focal length and make that the shutter speed especially for moving subjects which VR can't help. Eg for a 200mm lens 2x200= 400 > 1/400th shutter speed. I don't know if you photograph any jumping? For me, it's then that you can capture the power of the horse. Some years ago I did some eventing photography. It's all about timing in these situation but a long lens (I think I used 100-300mm) not only means you can stand back but you can also zoom in to detail head shots as well. The 70-300AFS is a good lens for this as it's an FX lens....so you get 105-450 on your DX D90. As with all things you can get more performance from newer cameras. But that's down to how much you want to spend. There are now lots of newer DX bodies (preowned would keep cost down) that would improve on image quality and especially speed of focusing of the D90. You might want to consider that as an alternative to the 70-300mlm lens. If you are doing jumping, crouch to enhance the dominance of the horse. Try to get at least 2 feet on the ground at once....or crop. It just give the horse more solidity when it's attached to the floor. Here are some shots that demonstrate some of these points which hopefully might give you food for thought.    And not forgetting to be ready for the unusual.........    But they don't have to be jumping. Positioning yourself to get a different perspective works too.....   Good luck
____________________ Eric |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 10:02 |
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45th Post |
Eric
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If you don't mind, I've added some contrast and exposure adjustments to your image and a bit of sharpening on the horse itself. Can't do much as it's a low res posted image rather than the hi res original. I've also cropped off the electric pylon that was a bit distracting. Shooting with a larger aperture might exclude (defocus out) some of the background and through more attention to the foreground subject. This alone can make the subject seem sharper. Hope that helps. Attachment: 3A547B7A-DBF9-4EBA-808B-0E211EBAB89B.jpeg (Downloaded 23 times)
____________________ Eric |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 10:04 |
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46th Post |
chrisbet
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Eric, Thanks for the tips - great photos, good to be in the right place at the right time - I am a jump judge & timekeeper and I have seen photographers getting into some "interesting" positions! The photo was taken at f4.5, 1/4000sec, ISO 1600, Spot metering & 98 focal length.
____________________ If it is broken it was probably me .... |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 10:10 |
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47th Post |
Eric
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chrisbet wrote:Eric, Ah ok then you know more about this sport than me. It's always difficult to judge people's knowledge and experrise first off. If those were your setting then Iam surprised your image is as soft as it is. You may want to try shooting at different focal lengths to see if there's a soft spot. Zoom lenses are a compromise and often are sharper at different parts of the zoom. The 70-300 I mentioned is a very good lens...sharp throughout the range. Another option is the focusing speed and accuracy of the D90. I am good at spending others money  but later bodies were much faster at locking onto and holding focus on moving subject in AFC mode. Wotrth a thought.Also ...worth editing your profile to say where you are (at least country) as it may have a bearing on future replies. For example I was going to say the picture 'Beijing Bound' was was William Fox Pitt preparing for Olympics. But you may not know who WFP was. I sent him that image and he asked if he could use it on his Christmas card. I said ok. The bugger didn't even send ME one of the cards. 
____________________ Eric |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 10:24 |
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48th Post |
chrisbet
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But you may not know who WFP was. I sent him that image and he asked if he could use it on his Christmas card. I said ok. The bugger didn't even send ME one of the cards. Lol - meanie! Yes, I wondered about the effectiveness of the autofocus but as the horse was traveling at right angles to me I thought it would have managed to grab it. I will try different focal lengths when I am next out in Italy ( that's where I keep my horse) in March. Don't worry about spending my money, I haven't got any - I own a horse!
____________________ If it is broken it was probably me .... |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 10:33 |
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49th Post |
Eric
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chrisbet wrote:. I've heard that goes with the territory.But you may not know who WFP was. I sent him that image and he asked if he could use it on his Christmas card. I said ok. The bugger didn't even send ME one of the cards. It may just be there was not enough contrast in the centre of the image (black horse) for the focus to be sure. I would try stopping down to f8, shutter speed of 1/1000 should be good enough (VR doesn't work well at high shutter speeds anyway) and set it fo AFC continuous focusing....keeping shutter half depressed till you fully depress. Also if you were panning...it can take a bit of 'getting the eye in'. And remember to continue panning AFTER taking the shot....as the tendency is to brake our action too soon and in that moment the subject has moved. 
____________________ Eric |
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| Posted: Fri Feb 8th, 2019 11:13 |
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50th Post |
chrisbet
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More good tips, thank you. I generally use short bursts of continuous rather than single shots - horses move quickly! Yes, I tend to pan with the horse before and after the bursts. This one was taken at f4.5 1/640, 100 fl, ISO1600, spot metering and looks much better but in the shade rather than strong light. 
____________________ If it is broken it was probably me .... |
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