Nikon D3100 and equestrian photography

Martin Smith

New member
Hi folks

I recently bought a Nikon D3100 and i am looking to use it for horse photography,mainly show jumping,cross country,so it will mainly be outdoor,i have just bought this lens to Nikon DX Zoom Nikkor 55-200mm f/4.0-5.6,which i believe is ok to use with my camera,i was just wondering if anyone could give me a good camera set up,you know like shutter speed,aperture,and also ISO,i have been using a point and shoot for around 6 months,and have some reasonable shots,but most are blurry,i have a few clear ones,i am hoping to get pretty good at this so one day i can upgrade and maybe start making some money from it,so any help would be very much appreciated.I was thinking of maybe shooting some wild birds to help me,as the horse season has wound down a bit.

Thanks

Martin
 

WhiteLight

Senior Member
You will need a high shutter speed for Horse racing photography and/or bird (in flight) photography.
Your ISO would depend on the light available to you, but on a 3100 it is advisable not to go beyond 1600.
Your best best would be to shoot a few in AUTO mode, look at what settings the camera chose & replicate or improve on it in A/S/M mode.
Shoot, Shoot, shoot & shoot some more.. cos there are no guaranteed setting for any shot!
And enjoy yourself while you at it
 

pedroj

Senior Member
Hi and welcome Martin..Auto Focus Constant "AF-C" in this setting your camera will continue to focus while ever you have the shutter button depressed.....Aperture Priority set at F5.6..In this mode your camera will choose a shutter speed to suit...ISO 200 on bright days, dull days ISO 800...Not sure what's causing your blurry shots, more then likely slow shutter speed or your technique, if it continues buy yourself a tripod..No money in blurry pics..
 

Martin Smith

New member
Thanks for the replies guys

pedroj,the blurry shots were not from my nikon they were from my point and shoot fugi i have,i haven't yet been able to test my nikon out photographing horses yet,hope to try this weekend,still waiting for my new lens that i bought on ebay to arrive,should have been here yesterday.
 
Top