heading for the ground
Apr, 2015Views
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Top Shot Award 21
People's Choice in Airborne Photo Challenge
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken in January 2014 at the annual Canterbury Rodeo held at Mandeville, North Canterbury New Zealand.Time
One thing with sport photography of any kind, is the inability to choose the time of day, or the weather conditions! lol, this was one of those horrible times of the day, full sun, around mid afternoon, hot as haydees and dusty/hazy to boot - typical mid summer weather in Canterbury.Lighting
Luck - not much you can do with full light, heat waves and haze. I just trust the camera settings to read what's up - the action happens far too quickly to be altering things.Equipment
As a very amateur photographer, my gear is probably the most basic - a Nikon D3100, with the two lenses that came with the package - I used the 55-200 for this shot, on - yup - sport mode! I've just found it easiest to use that mode for any rodeo photography, as you can't predict where the action will be, or the conditions or the speed.Inspiration
I love horses, and action shots, and have enjoyed being able to be right down on the rails for our local rodeo, a spot that normally is forbidden. Being able to be there has given the down low/more straight on perspective seen here, rather than from higher up on the embankment (or bleachers). I'm not a hang the finger on the motor drive person, I tend to take one or two photos of any action shot, that was the case here. Lots of practise makes you able to read a little of how the action might pan out, and being up wiht it, you can catch some awesome action shots like this. I love this one because the two main elements are almost in the same pose, and you can see the faces of both.Editing
Only post processing was a little cropping... honestly - totally digitally illiterate when it comes to processing - I am learning, but get a lot of satisfaction in taking a photo and it being good just as it is.In my camera bag
Just my Nikon d3100 camera, the two lenses it came with, and a polarising filter for the smaller lens.Feedback
Advice? I am sure everyone else has advice to me! My best advice - practice, visit and watch what's going on, get into the rhythm of the action, and you'll be able to read where the good shots come from, although chance always jumps on in there. Watch angles and perspective - like I said being on an even plain with the subject in this shot, gives it more power, than looking down on it would have.
