Barrel Racing

[climbhigh19]

Looking for some advice on how to improve this shot. It was taken in the morning hours during the preliminary rounds of a barrel racing competition at the county fair. It's my first attempt at photographing horses in action, so I am looking for some tips for next time (outside of a faster lens).

Nikon D90
ISO 800
200mm
f/6.3
1/2000 sec
P Mode

[vikingforlife44]

I love the horse and rider. Nice and crisp shot. Be great if you could get a better angle so the back ground is not taking away the viewers attention so much. Be nice if you were up higher maybe.

[karen_s]

I would agree the clutter in the background is a bit distracting but having just shot a local barrel race myself this past Saturday, I know how hard it is to avoid all those trailers and signs and junk around the ring. And I think the action you caught is good enough to overcome the clutter for the most part. Here are some ideas

For this shot ...

1. Try converting to black and white. The distraction of clutter can sometimes be lessened by converting to black and white. You could also do some mild blurring to the distant background in post process to help if you have Photoshop or something similar.
2. Crop a bit tighter. You could easily crop off most of the green at top, some dirt at the bottom, and a bit more off the right.
3. Straighten the horizon. It just looks a tad off.

Some things to try next time you go ...
4. Get higher or lower to avoid as much clutter as possible. (I ended up on the ground and would have laid on my belly if not for the mud.) I think higher would work best if you can find a good high spot. A bucket truck would work nicely ;-)
5. Zoom in tighter. (Crop in if you don't have a longer lens.) You don't have to get the whole horse in every shot to get nice action. If you can get a riders face with his/her horses face, you can get some intense expressions.
6. Try lots of spots (you may have already done this but still worth mentioning). I tried six before ending up crouched at the start/finish line. I kinda gave up on the riders going around the barrels (because of the clutter) and went for the shots as they sprinted to the end.
7. In addition to the 200mm, try a few shots with a wide angle lens up close and low to the ground. I wanted to do this but I had left my wide angle at home and I am still kicking myself.

I just posted a shot I took this past weekend to my flickr page if you are interested. I converted it to black and white (duotoned) and it might give you an idea of what I'm talking about in #1 and #5 above.

Hope that helps a little.

[echosue]

I really like your shot, the intensity of the riders face and the horse would be nice to have up close. Really great shot. Funny thing though, I looked at your flickr shot and realized you shot the photo at my home town of Roseburg at the fair. I lived there most of my life until I moved to Idaho 8 years ago. Anyway, thought it was funny.