First attempt at Sports Photography - Cross Country Horses

[JJ!]

Well, I think my D40 did very well on Saturday, the weather was cloudy and was a little worried that the light + not so quick lens would come in to play.

Overall I think the pictures came out well, this is the first time I have ever panned moving subjects.

Opinions/Constructive Criticism welcome.... 15 of the pics below, 80 of the best are on my Flickr account, all 320 are currently being slowly uploaded elsewhere.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/23051574@N07/sets/72157604425183803/

 

[Clart]

some nice pics there, i especially like the one with the grey horse rider number 45. I would look to user a slower shutter speed to get some background blurring to get a sense of speed. Looks like the D40 suits the 18-200 very well though, pictures are very sharp!

 

[spirez]

This is a beautiful beast!

 

[jayxx83]

very good shots mate.

 

[unofficialPete]

More reach, watch the back ground and try to catch the riders faces. This one stands out best IMO http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w251/Beautopia/DSC_0248.jpg but again, maybe sitting a little lower would have taken the distractions out of the back ground.

I see you were at the long end for most and nothing you can do about that but theres a couple where you could get in a bit tighter. Crouching lower may help, well it works with field players but not sure about horses. In short, tighten up the shots, try and get the riders expression and watch your position and plan where the horses are going, maybe even try a few close ups of the riders.

p.s. on an evil gear head note f/2.8 would help blast out those back grounds...

 

[ukaskew]

Considering the lens (i.e. not hugely fast + 'only' 200mm) I think these are excellent, the horse and rider are nice and sharp in pretty much every image.

As has been mentioned the backgrounds are a little distracting, but probably not too much you can do, maybe try panning? A few 1/50 panning shots mixed in with those shots would certainly bring the set to life a bit more and would solve your background issue instantly.

#10 is the pic of the bunch for me, a good angle and it appears as though you were a bit closer to the action.

Liking them very much though, I wouldn't have a clue how to shoot horses tbh!

 

[Laura]

looks scarly like my old beast jake. he was a right handfull

 

[Leeshez]

Great results.

 

[JJ!]

Thanks guys! I will have permission to get closer next time so can try lots of dfferent things!