We are horse people. My daughter rides and getting the best possible action shots has been a goal since she started. Sometimes I succeed, yet other times I fail. This past weekend I got the opportunity to really play around with my camera and get to know it better and not have to worry about capturing a shot of my daughter. She was not riding and we were at the Budweiser sponsor $25,000 Grand Prix and ASPCA Maclay Regional Finals this weekend.
I got some amazing shots. Shots that were so incredibly good that they have been requested for several publicity items. I am very excited. And while I plan to show you my favorite shots, the ones that will be used in the publicity articles, I also need to show you the road to get there and what I did wrong along the way.
The following two shots were two of about two dozen shots that were bad. The composition wasn’t right, the lighting wasn’t right. The shutter was pressed too early, or too late. There were so many bad shots I was not sure I was able to even get a good shot.
Thankfully halfway through the finals I realized that many of my shots were just not up to my standards. I adjusted my camera to a sports setting and worked on the different features my camera offers. I played around with the zoom, the focus and even the flash to see the best shots. I am so proud to show you the following shots that have been selected to appear in the advertising and publicity articles.
Keep in mind that in order to get that prize winning shot, you have to practice and snap a lot of photographs in between. I had no idea how my photographs turned out until I was able to get them on the laptop and blow them up. My advice for that awesome action shot is to take a lot of photographs because somewhere in there, you are sure to get at least a handful of good shots.
Do you have any really awesome action shots to share? Feel free to upload them to the gallery and then leave me a comment and let me know you have uploaded them. I look forward to seeing them!