Indoor Equestrian Events & Lighting

[robert_moraine]

<p>Here is another newbie question. I take pictures of my daughter at equestrian events with my Nikon D50 and out of doors there isn't a problem. However now that it is winter she is competing indoors in an arena with a cloth domed roof and I'm feel that the colours are off and the background lighting is bright white. What I'm getting is really dark areas on the horses and well generally I feel anyway that the colour is a little off and perhaps some pixilation in the darker areas of the horses.</p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>You need to raise your ISO as high as you can stand it (before the noise is just too much for you), and shoot in Aperture Priority mode, setting the lens as wide open as it will go (the lowest f/number). That will drag as much light as possible into a camera set as sensitive as possible... and it will adjust the shutter speed to as fast as it can, given the circumstances.<br /><br />Because your subject is back-lit, you'll probably want to switch to spot metering (on the horse) so that your exposure will be based on it, and not on the background. Or, just switch to a manual exposure so that the camera doesn't have to guess about how to deal with that awkward lighting situation. The noise you're seeing against the dark horses is a fuction of them being under exposed.<br /><br />If it's too dim in there to get decent shutter speeds, you'll need a faster lens. What are you using now?</p>

[shoppix]

<p>Also check around the arena to see if there is better lighting somewhere along its circumference.. Although with a cloth domed roof it should be pretty even during daylight hours atleast.<br>

Anyways, what Matt said is right on. It would be interesting to know what lens your are using and what camera settings your have been using.<br>

Steve</p>

 

[robert_moraine]

<p>I mostly use a Nikkor VR Zoom 55-200mm f/4-5.6 lens, this allows me to shoot across the ring from the side lines when out doors. However when I'm indoors with this one I'm not happy with its performance. I have experimented with my 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 indoors because I can get inside the horse ring and be a little closer to the jumps. </p>

[viewthroughmylens]

<p>You still have to deal with the F5.6 and lack of light indoors causing problems without another lens for the bad light, as Matt said</p>

[nathangardner]

<p>change the white balance setting to match your environment, this is why the colors are off. I'd shoot in RAW and then you can change everything like exposure, and white balance in post. You will be able to fine tune everything and take your time with it instead of trying to get the settings right on the fly.</p>