2017 Sporting Challenges: At The Races

No8 Sophie Olivia jumps the last but one fence from home
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO2000 (zoom 211mm)

New Year Resolutions, we all have made them - get fit, lose weight, no alcohol for a month - but, like many others, I usually fall off that particular wagon quite quickly, usually in the first month.  Well I decided in 2017 to set myself a challenge that I wouldn't fail at so easily. 

My challenge is to shoot sports that I haven't done before but also to shoot as a spectator and not on a media pass.  This is hard for me as for the past 25 years I have shot various sports, but mainly motor sport, from the privileged access afforded me by media accreditation.  I wanted to find out the difficulties faced by amateur / enthusiast photographers who attend these sporting events.

There are times when a media pass is necessary and that is usually at the big events.  I've shot international rugby and there is no way you can take a camera into the stands and expect to come away with some good images.  You definitely need a media pass for games at this level.  However if you shoot at club level, I did a test run at North Berwick before my first international game at Murrayfield last year, you have much better access.  I think this applies to almost every sport.  Better shots can be taken without a press pass at lower level events because the access is better and less restrictive.

Anyway, back to my 2017 Sporting Challenges and first up is horse racing!  This is a sport that I have never shot, in fact I have never been to a race course for a meeting.  I had shot point-to-point races near Grantham in Lincolnshire when I was working for the local paper in the late 1990s, so I had some idea of what to expect but this was going to be slightly different.

Musselburgh Race Course is just 25 miles from my home in Dunbar and I noticed they had a seven race meeting in the afternoon on Friday 20th January.  

The tickets were £20 on the gate but if you booked in advance (taking a punt that the fickle Scottish weather would play nice) you could save 50%, so that's what I did. So I packed the X-T2 and the XF100-400mm and also the Fujifilm X100T and headed off to Musselburgh.

Fujifilm X-100T + 23mm f2

I arrived at just before midday, 50-minutes before the first race.  The weather was dry but with heavy cloud the light was pretty poor and would mean pushing the ISO a few notches.  I was beginning to wish I had brought the 50-140mm f2.8 but when I checked out the spectator access I noticed I was going to need the pulling power of the 400mm.  However unlike motor sport, there were no high fences blocking the view.  

There are two railed fences, an inner and an outer, and I had to stand behind the outer one.  The height of the inner one did impede my view at some points and this is where the press pass would've come in handy, enabling the photographer to get closer to the action.  Then access also enabled the photographers to get right under the last fence but apart from that the access from the spectator areas was very good and not that restrictive.

I then went for a wander around the grandstand area. Something else I noticed was the facilities, there were plenty of bars and food outlets.  If I was working at the venue I never bother looking at this side of things because I would be too busy.

Anyway the first race was called so I headed down to the second to last hurdle to see what I could get.  I set the X-T2 to the same modes as I would for motorsport - AF-C with the custom setting on 'Ignore Objects' due to the fences; drive set to CH with boost mode (11fps); manual exposure with ISO on 1600 which gave me 1/500s at f5.6.

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/340 @ f5.6 ISO1600 (zoom 400mm)

So I was all set and as the pack of seven horses came round for the first time I was able to follow focus and capture the horses as they made the jump and then follow them through.  This is one of the great things about the 100-400mm, I needed the 400mm to fill the frame as they jumped the fence but a fixed focal length would've been too long when they came past my position. With the zoom I was able to pull back quickly and take more frame filling images as they came past.

no2 Danceintothelight 
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/1000 @ f5.6 ISO1600 (zoom 203mm)

I looked closely at the results on the X-T2's EVF and was pleased to note that I had a few keepers from the first race.  When you are shooting something for the first time it is a steep learning curve and I try to learn as much about the subject before I travel.  I had done my research online beforehand, looking at images online and checking out the venue website, and had a fair idea of the type of shots I wanted to take and the settings I would need to use to achieve them.

Looking at the images I decided I needed to move positions for the second race, which was a steeple chase unlike the first which was over the hurdles. 

The results from the second race were much better as I was able to choose my position based on on what I had learned from the first.  I also decided to try a technique I use for motor sport which was a slow pan.  The results were very effective with lots of movement in the horses legs with parts of the horse or the rider sharp. 

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/60 @ f5.6 ISO200 (zoom 165mm)

The next set of races improved things further but the light was dropping fast and the final race of the day at 16:05 was in the gloom and the ISO dial was turned to 12800.  I don't normally go above 6400 but I thought let's try it as this wasn't a paying job.  

Well, as you can see from the image below the results were OK but there is a marked fall off in the quality due to the increased noise.  The light was so flat with very little contrast I was not surprised with the results.  I've shot at 6400 under floodlights at Murrayfield and the results are much better due to the increased contrast.

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/400 @ f5.6 ISO12800 (zoom 400mm)

I then headed off home after an enjoyable day at the races.  Once again the X-T2 performed well, the AF coming up trumps by follow focusing in challenging lighting conditions.  Next time I will spend more time in the paddock area to capture more people pictures but the object of this trip was to shoot action.  

For spectators the access is excellent and with clear views of the action.   I can't comment on other race tracks around the UK but I would imagine there wouldn't be much difference. 

For photography a minimum focal length of 200mm (300mm in FF terms) is required to fill the frame and the XF100-400mm was perfect for this, but the XF55-200mm or the XF50-140mm with a 1.4x or 2x converter would've done the job as well.  

For more information on Musselburgh Race Course visit the official website HERE

no7 Benefit in Kind jumps ahead of no1 Mister Don
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/125 @ f5.6 ISO500 (zoom 160mm)

no3 Sports Barrow leads the chasing pack
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/340 @ f5.6 ISO1600 (zoom 400mm)

no2 Danceintothelight ahead of no3 Sports Barrow and no4 Asockastar 
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO1600 (zoom 400mm)

no2 Danceintothelight ahead of no3 Sports Barrow and no4 Asockastar 
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/420 @ f5.6 ISO1600 (zoom 400mm)

T Gillard celebrates winning the first race of the day on no2 Danceintothelight  
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/1000 @ f5.6 ISO1600 (zoom 203mm)

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO1600 (zoom 170mm)

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO1600 (zoom 165mm)

no1 Mister Don jumps the final fence ahead of no7 Benefit in Kind and no4 Valentino's Choice
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO2000 (zoom 203mm)

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO2000 (zoom 400mm)

no7 Benefit in Kind ahead of no1 Mister Don
Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/125 @ f5.6 ISO500 (zoom 280mm)

Fujifilm X-100T + 23mm f2

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/60 @ f5.6 ISO200 (zoom 165mm)

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO2000 (zoom 400mm)

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO2000 (zoom 175mm)

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO2000 (zoom 150mm)

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO3200 (zoom 150mm)

Fujifilm X-100T + 23mm f2

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/400 @ f5.6 ISO12800 (zoom 400mm)

Fujifilm X-T2 + XF100-400mm f4.5/5.6 - 1/500 @ f5.6 ISO3200 (zoom 360mm)

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Jeff Carter is an Official Fujifilm X Photographer and was named as a Fujifilm brand ambassador in June 2015. In 2016 he worked with the company on the launches of the Fujifilm X-Pro2 in Tokyo and the Fujifilm X-T2 in Paris in July 2016.  You can view his profile and gallery on the Fujifilm website HERE

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