Show Jumping Horse & Rider

[WyldWood]

On one of my random road trips I discovered an equestrian centre that was having a training day for an upcoming show jumping competition. I got permission to set up my camera and take some shots.



EXIF Data:
Camera: Nikon D90
Apeture: f/5.0
Shutter: 1/1250s
ISO: 400
Focal Length: 200mm
Cropped with minor levels, desaturation & sharpen adjustments made in Photoshop

Items in question:
I quite like this shot but do the overexposed parts on the horse take away too much from the overall image? It was quite harsh light and I wasn't shooting RAW so I'm not sure there is much I can do to edit in PP.

What noise reduction plugins do you recommend - it looks to me like there is an unusual amount of noise in the background? Suggestions?

As always - thanks in advance!

[ericw]

I didn't notice any overexposed portions of the horse. hehe, maybe that's because I thought the riders *ss was the subject though - I mean its right at the intersection of third lines and everything! I know you didn't ask about this, maybe you already know... you have to get a different angle. Like in front, maybe that would show the intense concentration better.

The exposure (light-wise, not the *ss) seems just fine to me.

[WyldWood]

I hadn't really paid attention to the placement of her tuckus. But I can see what you mean.

Maybe one of these instead?

[ericw]

I like the first and third the best. It's always so hard when people have caps or helmets with bills on...

[mikedugganphotography]

Lisa, Dealing with the first image that you posted I do not see any glaring overexposed areas. Having never shot equestrian I like the shot as is with the back/side view. Not sure is a lower angle of view would have given the image a bit more scale and shown how the horse was vaulting over the obstacle.

Now with the others, I like how they look in black and white. Overall the clarity is very good.

[phnee]

Overall its a nice shot. I agree with the previous critiques.

Just another tip, when photographing horse shows, a 3/4 shot, side, or full front shot is usually better. People have the tendancy to gravitate towards shots where the horse and rider's faces are visible and overlook the shots from behind.