Preparing your camera (dSLR)

Big image size: Depending on your lens and how close to the action you can get it is a good practise to set your camera on the largest image size possible, this will allow you to crop images without impeding on image quality.

RAW or JPG? While we shout the benefits of shooting in RAW format, there are times when it is better to shoot in JPG. Continuous shooting is an advantage when photographing horse racing and if we use RAW mode it can often lower our frames per second shooting rate. It can be better to sacrifice the editing advantages of RAW to opt for the faster frame rate of JPG.

What metering to use? Evaluative or matrix metering is your best option allowing the camera to evaluate over the entire frame. Spot metering or centre weighted can be quite a problem especially with the dark tones of horses and fast moving action.
What shutter speed to use? Horse racing is a fast action sport and you will want to be using at least 1/800 to be able to freeze the action, this is also going to be dependant on how close to the action you are. You could find yourself needing to use 1/2000.

What ISO to use? As we mentioned in our article ISO for digital photography, it is good practice to use the lowest ISO setting possible. This is going to be greatly governed by how bright the day is, anything below ISO 400 is going to be great although if it is overcast and a little dull you might find yourself up in the ISO 800 range. This is really going to come down to your camera, the Canon D5 MKII will produce amazingly crisp images at ISO 800 while a Canon 20D will produce significant noise at ISO 800.

What aperture to use? Here we have a bit of room to move, although it would be optimum to shoot with an aperture of f/9 or above even f/5 will produce good shots although you will have to be far more accurate with your focusing.

Burst or continuous mode: It can be hard to time the perfect shot and as you only get one chance use burst or continuous shooting mode. This can also be good for stitching photos to build a long in motion action shot, continuous shooting mode often reveals the best method for capturing an awesome image from fast moving action.

Telephoto or not to telephoto? Using a telephoto lens can allow you to really zoom in on the action, but this can also make you lose some wonderful shots. Personally I prefer to pan out, it often gives clearer sharper results and you can always crop the images in editing software such as Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.

No flash. Using flash is simply not a good idea as you can spook the horses.

Where to be to take the best shots.

Finding the right position is critical for your day at the races, while events such as The Melbourne Cup or the Grand National are amazing days of racing full of atmosphere they are often not the best times to expand your racing folio. Mid week races often provide the best conditions for great shots with less people cheaper tickets and better positions.

By the fence: If you are at a steeple race meet by the fence can provide some brilliant opportunities, taking the action as the horses fly over the jumps can be truly spectacular.

The finishing post: Although it can provide great action as jockeys push their horses to get that nose in front, getting close to the fence can be difficult with all the punters bustling to see if there bet is about to win.

One the bends: Corners can provide great action and drama to any horseracing photo. You will also find good perspective as the horses lean in around the corners.

The starting gate: Facial expressions can be the key to the starting gate as the jockeys anticipate the jump. The electricity that is produced as horses leap out as the gate opens; real action can be found at the starting gate.

People of the day: Horse racing is not just about the horses, it can be a perfect time to candid shoot peoples expressions as their horse is thundering down the track. People fly into frenzied emotion as the horses gallop towards the finishing line.

Further reading:

Newman Lowrance: Digital sports photography (amazon)

Photo credits

Intro photo by vegaseddie