New Lens Focus Validation

AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR
It's big and heavy.  Not a walk around lens.
Five (5) pounds to carry around.  And on the D500, and D7200, it acts like a 300 to 750 mm.
I was looking at this lens or the 80-400.  For what ever reason, the 80-400 cost a lot more but the reviews are insane (good insane).
I went with the 200-500 as it has great reviews when used with the D500 from a number of posts on the UHH.  The 200-500 is a pretty good compliment of what I have now.  A 300 to 400 jump wasn't as big a bang, and I would probably have to sell the 70-300.  Keeping the 70-300 will work, that is more of a walk around lens.  As I found out today, the 200-500 is a lot more event driven lens.  Not good for all occasions.
The only negative remarks I heard from the lens was a few people posted that the auto focus didn't match up with the camera.  When you see these types of posts you never know the entire story such as were the cameras altered in any way?  Most posts said they had to send the lens back two or three times before they could get a good focus.  Camera or user issue?  Nikon hater?  (They're out there)  All I take from this is I should really get a test/acceptance drive done as soon as possible.
That was today's mission.  The subject would be the first day of the #1225's Polar Express runs for the year.  It would have been better to get some birds at the Refuge, maybe next June?
For my tests today, there is no UV filter.  There is no software sharpening.  This shot is as bare bones as I can get.

#1225 Rolling - Lens Test

NIKON D500/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

480 mm, 1/2000 sec, F/5.6, ISO 640 (Auto)

EV 0, Manual Mode, Size DX

Looking at 100%, the image is very sharp.

Looking good at 200%.

On the lens barrel is it 320 mm.  Very close to the middle range.  I'm going to go with the auto focus on this lens is pretty good.  Think I'll keep it.

Grumman F8F Bearcat

One of the problems of learning history through watching WWII movies is you learn the 'cool' stuff, but can miss the 'really cool' stuff.  One of the Reno Air Race's performers is the Commemorative Air Force.  The CAF is an outfit in California that is a group of restored aircraft that tour the country.  Thankfully.
One of the aircraft that made its way out to Reno was the Grumman F8F Bearcat.  And because I don't know as much about WWII aircraft as I think I do, this is an interesting episode in my life.
In 2018 when I first saw the CA putting on its show, one of the aircraft really caught my attention.  During the show, there were three fighter type aircraft.  The Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Grumman F8F Bearcat.  The Zero and Hellcat take off first.  Nice standard climb pattern.  Then the Bearcat.  The climb rate is incredible for a  prop driven aircraft.  And I say to myself as I often do when I see incredible air power, like bringing a gun to a knife fight.
I need to know more about this.  As I have read, the Bearcat took the best of the Hellcat, and then added some steroids.
Both the Hellcat and Bearcat were designed around the Pratt and Whitney R-2800.  The PW R-2800 was the most powerful engine at the time, generating a rated 2,000 HP.
The increased performance would have to come from design changes.  The net on this was compared to the Hellcat after the changes, the Bearcat was 20% lighter, had a 30% better rate of climb and was 50 mph (80 km/h) faster.  Blade versus the bullet.
In the world of ratings, for watching a prop driven aircraft climb, nothing is sweeter than the Bearcat showing off.  Number #1 in my book.

Grumman F8F Bearcat Engine Start

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

202 mm, 1/100 sec, f/29, ISO 125

EV 0, Manual Mode, Size DX

At some point during my stay at Reno, for the prop planes I used a CPL to slow down the shutter speeds.  I usually don't like shooting above F/11.  F/20+ is not where I'd like to be.  F/14 is much better.

Grumman F8F Bearcat Taxi

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

600 mm, 1/100 sec, f/14, ISO 250

EV 0, Manual Mode, Size DX

This was heavily cropped.  Could be better.  But good enough.

Grumman F8F Bearcat Inverted

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

450 mm, 1/400 sec, f/14, ISO 560

EV 0, Manual Mode, Size DX

And because I'm new to the racing crowd, I missed seeing the Rare Bear fly.  Rumors as to why the aircraft no longer flies, or if it will ever fly again run rampant.
Rare Bear is a re-built, modified Bearcat.  It is powered by a Wright R-3350.  The re-build was completed in 1969.  It started racing in Reno in the unlimited class that same year under the name Able Cat.  From 1976 to 1980, the aircraft did not race due to restoration following a belly landing.  The the aircraft, now called Rare Bear from 1980 to present day has won eleven championships in the Unlimited Class.
I have come close to the greatness of Rare Bear, but didn't know it.  Just snapped another picture of another airplane in the pits.  But I have spent time with many of the veterans of the races and now know more of the lore.  The aircraft was at Reno in 2018, but did not fly.  May rumors as to that situation.  In 2019, it was not there.  In 2020, maybe I'll get another chance.

Rare Bear on display in 2018.

Rare Bear on Display in 2018

NIKON D90/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

20 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/7.1, ISO 200

EV -0.67, Aperture Priority, Size DX

Although winning speeds can vary a lot year to year due to the environment, Rare Bear can complete the laps at better than 480 MPH.  That's a big league speed.

Rare Bear has set many performance records for piston-driven aircraft, including the 3 km World Speed Record of 528.33 mph (850.26 km/h) set August 21, 1989, which still stands in this class, and a new time-to-climb record (3,000 meters in 91.9 seconds set in 1972 (9842.4 ft - 6,426 fpm), breaking a 1946 record set in a stock Bearcat).

Racing Royalty.

WNCNC - Bobcat

On the two days I visited the Western North Carolina Nature Center, I made three rounds of the area each day.  I arrived as early as I could, opening time is 10:00 AM.  Number #1 through the gate.  It was either morning feeding time, or close to it.  By the time I'd finish up around 1:00 PM, it was generally nap time for the inhabitants.  It usually worked out that those who were 'slow' on my first round were generally more 'awake'  in round two.  Round three was for those who didn't get the memo that there were visitors at the gate.
There was one exception.  The Bobcat.  Missy.  Missy the Bobcat loves to nap, and nap in the sun.  In five of the six rounds, Missy was napping.  Only once did Missy see me.
Bobcats in the wild are very rarely seen.  You're on their ground.  If you see them in the wild, it might not be a good thing.  Bobcats are predators.  Its appetite covers small things and large things.  Excellent night vision.  My only survival defense is that I might not be fast enough to even get on its radar.
But it certainly is a cat, and I like cats.  Missy is cute, by my standards.  And like my cats, she has the 'stare'.  Missy is bred in captivity, but her DNA identified me as 'food'.

Bobcat Looking at Me

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

232 mm, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 (AUTO)

EV +2, Manual Mode, Size DX

I recognize that look.  Even with my cats at 8 pounds, this might not end well.

And I recognize this look.  All is well with kitty dreams.

Bobcat Napping

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

262 mm, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 (AUTO)

EV +1, Manual Mode, Size DX

WNCNC - Red Panda

I like learning.  Days go better when I lean something new.  And at the Western North Carolina Nature Center, I learned something.  And it was good.
I had no idea there was something called a Red Panda.  Cute doesn't begin to describe this critter.  And it was the most difficult to photograph.  Seriously.
As to the critter, and how it wound up in North Carolina it is a bit of a story.
Is it a panda?  Is it a raccoon?  No one knows for sure.  Currently it is in its own family.  But why is this an inhabitant of the WNCNC?  The center is residence to current Appalachian inhabitants.  Red pandas live in the mountains of Nepal and northern Myanmar (Burma), as well as in central China.   That's current.  A direct relative of the Red Panda, Bristol’s Panda, was found to live in the Appalachian mountains nearly 5 million years ago.  Learning.  The Red Panda should be represented in the nature center.
As I mentioned, these critters were hard to photograph.  Yes they move slow.  Yes, you can predict where they are going to move to and from.  No place to hide.  The issue is the fencing.  The chain link is about half the size of a 'normal' chain link.  Auto focus didn't work so well.  All manual focus.  Not complaining, just a fact.

Red Panda Looking

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

165 mm, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 640 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Red Panda Walk

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20 /70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

165 mm, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 720 (AUTO)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Learning.  It's a good thing.

WNCNC - Gray Wolves

There are times when I think I was born too early.  I mean technology is growing exponentially every day.  I love technology.  And then I think I might have been born too late.  Living in the history that I've learned.  What would it be like to be among the first to see the Rockies?  Who am I kidding, I was born at the right time.
These gray wolves were probably born too late.  Wolves need a good PR firm to change their image.  Maybe then they could survive.  Wolves are high on the food chain who have been pushed out of their territories by no fault of their own.  They fight back as they can.  And its not good for them.  And they are not alone in their fight to survive.  I won't debate the right and wrong of either side - it just is.
That aside, the wolves who are residents at the WNCNC were fun to spend a few hours with.  Graceful animals in the walk.  Probably wouldn't say that if one were chasing me me for dinner.  But in my eyes, beautiful animals.
As I approached the wolf area, there is a blocked off from view part of the fence and he first you see of the area is from an enclosed viewing area.  Simply, some clear plastic in nice housing.  When I approached this area, this is my sight.  Wow.  He was right there.  Less than four feet away from me, separated by plastic.  In the wild, this probably would have been terminal.  For me.  Here, I got the first shot.  (Lucky for me, no odd reflections in the plastic.)  Love the eyes.

Gray Wolf Eyes On

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

105 mm, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 (AUTO)

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I think the pen for the wolves is pretty good size.  Easy for me to say, I'm not penned in.  That not withstanding, there are a few protective sheds for the wolves.  On one of my passes by, this gray one was on top of a shed, resting.   Resting with eyes open.  As the wolf was born in captivity, it has no memory of running wild.  Unless it hears it's DNA calling.  I hope not, would be awful.  I hope it just hears the birds above.
This shot is cropped pretty severely.  The issue was a red leaf on the hind quarter.  The red leaf was about half way between the wolf and me.  And the light bend was enough to make it look like not a leaf, but some bad coloring on the fur.  Didn't really like it.  And it is an excuse to make the eyes larger.

Gray Wolf On the Shed

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

330 mm, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Beautiful animals.  As long as I'm not on the menu.

Red Fox Close Up (Not that Redd Fox)

I had two or three nice shots from my trips to the Western North Carolina Nature Center.  Well, two or three that really stuck with me.  This shot of a red fox is by far is the one I liked the best.  Well, so far anyway.
In the Nature Center, the fox enclosure allows the fox to come very close to the two legged critters.  Unfortunately that brings into play the fence.  But I'm not kidding anyone, this is a fox in an enclosure who is not afraid of the higher food chain. 
The only issue I have with this shot is the fox's left eye is partially obscured by the chain fence.  9 out of 10.  9.5 out of 10.

Red Fox Close Up

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

202 mm, 1/400 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

For me there is a lot to like here.  First, the eye is sharp - followed by the rest of the fox.  I can see the whiskers.  I can see the red and white hairs.  I like the background of green and yellow.  And I can learn to like the fence.

Catch Up (Not ketchup)

Returning home after a week on the road.  Traveled to North Carolina for a family visit, time in the Laurel Mountains for some much needed decompression and home again.  (With some retail therapy tossed in.)
While in North Carolina, I found my way to the Western North Carolina Nature Center.  (www.wildwnc.org)  Not exactly a zoo, not exactly a refuge, but something nice in between.  (Not that I'm an expert on either.)  I went there on two mornings, between 10:00 AM (Opening) and 1:00 PM (Pretty much nap time for the permanent residents.)
Things I learned:
Shooting behind any protective,clear pane will cause reflections and dull the sharpness.  (Well, Duh!)  Even if the reflections are small, they are distracting.  Depending on size and severity, the reflections might be OK for vacation pictures but not OK for me.  Most of those got tossed.  Would much rather shoot behind a chain link fence.  If the situation is correct, the light can bend around the lines and the lines are not so noticeable.  And even when the links are noticeable, it seems to be OK.  When shooting through a fence, shoot through it - not along it.  Generally, a standard link fence did not play havoc with my auto focus.  In the case of a small critter, the link fence has smaller links and that did (totally - I mean no hope of working totally) mess up the auto focus.  I worked on manually focusing some shots and truth be told my eyes did not do well.  I didn't think to try the Live View option.  Stuff to try later.
Another thing I learned was when composing the scene, I'd try to get the focus point on the subject's eye.  (And for goodness sake, make sure the chain links don't obscure the eye. )  The thing I need to learn is when you do that and if the composition is too tight, you often will miss the tail.  Or bottom of the legs.  I did find that a close head shot is pretty pleasing.  At least two will get posted.
This information I learned from the Shiawassee Refuge, the earlier the better for critter activity.  For each visit to the WNCNC, I made three rounds of the area.  By the end of the third round, all the critters were in some form of slow motion, or no motion.  Sleep.  Nap.  Unless it is the Bobcat.  That one never moved.  Story for another post.  But, get there as early as possible.
I was without a laptop that I usually use to review/edit my shots of the day.  The reason for this is immaterial.  (You can assume I screwed up.  Wrong power cord!)  But on the good side, I did get Snapbridge working with my tablet and could at least review images.  Small steps.  Next figure out the Adobe PS stuff on the tablet that I already pay for.  Winter is coming - time is available.
On to PA.  I worked on using my flash unit.  Mostly, working on fill flash.  A learning hour.
On the return to Michigan, I stopped at my camera store.  Demo Days.  I looked at Nikon's mirror-less units.  Interesting, but not enough to make the change.  But I was really looking for a longer lens to either supplement the 70-300 or to replace it.  I was looking at the 80-400 or 200-500.   So, Nikon is doing their EOY sale.  That will go through the end of the year.  But the store was doing the no sales tax incentive with comes to about $80.  Enough to (mostly) pay for the UV filter.  Time to pull the trigger.  I've been thinking on this for a few months.  Bird shooting at the Refuge was getting to me.  I had a post about some Juvenile Eagles playing off at a real distance and I could have done so much better.  (Always blame the equipment.)  For time with the birds, take the biggest lens you can.
This will be mostly for shooting the birds.  And maybe an aircraft or two.

Horse Stall Window

The goal today was to intentionally underexpose shots by up to five stops ISO, and then recover the final product.  The event was something called the 'Fun Event' at a farm near by.  The equestrian event was an interesting way to spend a Sunday.
But first the disclaimer.  My learning curve got ahead of my goals for the day.  One of the YouTube videos I was watching explained the benefits of the camera program Banks.  Good enough for me.  I created three banks.  One for standard settings, one for HDR setting and one for low light.  Guess what I chose today?  Yep, one of the new ones not for HDR.  When new banks are created or are used, the default settings are used.  Shooting in RAW is not a default.  Guess what happened?  Yep.  JPGs only.  On the bright side, it was JPG Fine in a large format.  Not a total disaster.  And, in a good way I'll get to see how much software has improved over the years to handle JPGs.
The goal today was to shoot action shots in crappy lighting.  Action being defined as 1/320 to 1/500 depending on the amount of movement.  And intentionally under-exposing the shots by lowering the ISO.
One of the downfalls of using this methodology is the preview images are all very dark.  So it may be a while before I get through all of them.  Maybe I will put them on the laptop and take them with me next week?  Post from the road.
If the rest of the JPGs turn out as well as my first effort, I'll be very happy.
I'm guessing there were about 20 to 30 families at this equestrian event today.  In each class there was probably an average of five riders.  There were judges and there was a support group.  And there were ribbons given out.  Very cool.
And everyone let the one that didn't belong (me) roam around.  Very nice people.
I moved around a lot.  During the moving about I passed a stall with the occupant looking toward a very dirty window.  It was a clean dirt.   It was barn dirt.  Maybe overly dusty?  So the stall is very dark and this light is hitting the occupant very nicely.
Yea, this isn't my normal interest.  But the scene did whisper to me.  Didn't talk, just a whisper.  And that was enough.  The question is, shooting in JPG, can I save it?

Horse Stall Window

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

20 mm, 1.125 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I get it, it's dark.  I ran a version with a bit more light, but the stall walls sort of took away from the horse.  The light on the horse is what gets to me.  Just enough to see the horse's face, or part of it anyway.  I don't generally favor dark images, but again this one whispers to me.
This may be a candidate for a paint job, in which case I would lighten it up considerably.
On a related note, one of the Topaz modules is a JPG to RAW program.  Since I have a number of JPGs to work with, maybe I should try it.  30 Day free trial.  Yea, that's the ticket.  That's why I shot JPGs only.  HA.

ISO Invariance

What in the wild world of sports is ISO invariance?
Definition, pulled from the web: The short answer is that ISO invariance means that a camera will produce the exact same image quality by staying at ISO (or whatever the base ISO is on the camera) and dramatically underexposing the photo and then brightening it up again in Lightroom, as if you had shot the camera at the proper ISO in the first place.
That would have been helpful to know.
Some time ago, a little over four years now, I had a post about shooting to the dark side.  Essentially, for all the wrong reasons and probably doing it wrong, I was on to something.  And I didn't know why.  My life is a blast!
I've often thought/known you can play with exposure settings in ACR, increasing or decreasing by what appears to be 5 stops.  Assuming you are using a RAW file.  For some action shots that I wanted to HDR, I'd make my own exposure range.  Wasn't always as good as taking three or five independent shots, but in a pinch I could get good results.
Back in the day when I thought shooting dark was the right thing to do, I was taking an ordinary day and using the exposure compensation to darken the image.  Clearly not understanding anything, I was kind of doing it right.
Since the MIHA shoot, I've been thinking on how to get better quality images either through software or new hardware like a faster lens.  So now there is another option, technique.  And it has a name.  Frigg'n awesome.
So here's how it will go.  At the MIHA for me to shoot, without flash, a 1/500 sec shot at something around f/5.6 that would be in the area of ISO 10,000.  Cleanable, but would clearly like to be a lot lower.  Knowing that I can add exposure of 5 stops, that would mean I could set my ISO at 640 and still save the image.  OK, that's to the edge but you get the point.  Shots I took at the MIHA at 1000 ISO were more than OK and cleaned up very easily.
So tomorrow there is another horse event close to home.  Seriously, less than 5 miles from the house.  It will be indoors.  Hopefully warmer than the MIHA, but the light will be bad - or worse.  So if I can remember what I learned today I have something to work on.
So the plan will be to initially set the camera to 1/500, f/5.6 and auto ISO.  If the metered ISO is around 10,000  I'll set the fixed ISO at 1200 - and start working my way to ISO 800.  See what happens.
With any luck, I'll learn something about this invariance thingie.  And something more about the horse world.  I should probably learn to spell equestrian. 

Over the Weekend

I was busy over the weekend.  It was a great combination of create, think, think, and delete.
Works for me - and I learned a lot.
The overall issue is I have a number, between 100 and 150, pictures of high school kids and their horses at the MIHA that I think are fairly usable if someone like a parent would lower their 'photo' standards a bit.  And at this point, I'm not trying to make any $$$$s.  Yet.  You get what you pay for, eh?
I did some searching on how to automate Photoshop processing.  It's easy, although there are plenty of parameters to 'experiment' with.  Or miss and have to re-create.  The editing of actions will come later.  The nice part is the automation will also work the noise reduction and sharpening processes using my third party applications.  That's the good news.   In part, it is also the bad news.  Automation is automation.  That might work for some things, but even if I'm asking someone to take one of my creations - there is still a standard I have to maintain.  My initial batch of 130+ pictures didn't cut it.
Delete.  No issues, once I had the process down, the batch was less than 30 minutes.  And, I did learn a lot.
So what went wrong?  All the images are not the same.  I batched by ISOs as the main component was noise reduction.  That didn't work out so well.  Shadows in the wrong places.  The auto leveling did OK, but there were some misses.  And some images needed a little warming.
In the end, I wound up with a process that takes less than three minutes a picture.  I'm still not doing much, just the DeNoise, ACR Auto light levels and leveling.  Then slapping my name on it.  The longest part is waiting for the DeNoise to process.
The end product is much better.  I can do batches of 10 before I need to walk around.  I can probably find some efficiencies in there as well.  I created shortcuts to work folders and the final folder.  It's coming together.
One other issue I learned was a little noise is OK.  Again, there aren't perfect and I was jumping all over the place light-wise.  Some are considerably easier to work with.  Others will depend on what a parent will take for free.  
I mean really, I'm competing against a phone camera.
I also updated the firmware on the D500.  The D7200 did not require and update.  No lens update was necessary on either camera.  There is so much discussion on firmware updates on the forums.  I live in the word of firmware updates, so it is not a big deal.  In this case, I waited about six months after the release to do the update.  I'll let others do the testing.  I believe in staying relatively current.  Fall too far behind and you might lose the easy update path.  Off the soapbox.

High ISO Shooting (Try it)

I came back from the MIHA event this past weekend with two thoughts.
First, I should have dressed warmer.  A few days later, I'm still trying to kick the cold.
Next, I really wanted to solve the shooting action pictures indoors.  Without flash.
Prior to this event, my idea of high ISO was anything north of 800.  I was stuck in the 35 mm film days.  Was.  No more.
If I left the event with no usable pictures, but a better understanding of the ISO and a slew of shots with different settings for analysis - success.
In the end, I shot a few at 12,800 ISO.  Usable?  I'd have to define the term.  I will say that most of the shots at 10,000 are usable.  I have them as backgrounds on the 23 inch monitors.  Very usable.  Sure, I can see the imperfections.  (I'm looking for them.)  Yes, all things being equal, I would love the same result at 100 ISO.  But, isn't going to happen.  Probably not even with professional equipment.  But with what I am using, 10,000 in that arena can work.
I'm guessing any parent would love to have these shots on their PC, but not the 72 inch TV.  But the monitor is very usable.  Tablets and smaller, very usable.
I'm not sure a print will do well.  And I'm too cheap to throw away ink on testing a 11x14 print.  I'll cross that bridge when I need to.
So for giggles, here is the original shot at 100%.  Noise and all.
The stats: D500, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000.  (EV +2)
This is the original image, 100% background layer.

Using PS ACR Luminance and Detail - 70%

(Oh yea, the dude had to go.)  PS ACR helps a little.  What I've found with ACR, is it does a great job with noise under 1,000.  But this is heavy duty stuff.  I am a big fan of the Topaz AI line, and a lot had to do with this.

That is a lot of help.  It's not perfect, but for me and the pictures I took at this event, it is a lot of help.  I don't know what help a flash would be, but I'm not going to find out.  
I'm not saying everyone's equipment will get the same results.  Not sure the D7200 would do this well.  But I should have tried it anyway, just to see its capabilities.  Could I get this with ISO 8000? Would that mean only 1/200 sec speed?(Reason to go again?)
Great day to find out what lies in the ISOs past 1000.  It's not that scary.  

MIHA - Cloverleaf Event

I can't get over this is called a Cloverleaf event.  It's Barrel racing.  But my knowledge of anything horse sports related is quite limited.  But I know more now than I did a year ago.  
When it is drawn out, I see the cloverleaf.  But when I look up, I see the barrels.
What ever, it is fun to watch.
My goal for the day was more about shooting with different settings.  The event was in an arena with questionable lighting at best.  To start, I had no idea for what speed to use.  For the Cloverleaf event, I was guessing over 1/320.  For the increase in speed, I was giving up ISO.  And I wasn't going to use a flash,
In the end, 1/500 worked well.  I could get by with 1/400 if I had too.  I also settled in on f/5.6 to start.  I'd also start, with the D500, at ISO 8000.  Less is clearly better in the ISO department.  What I'm finding out is that with the higher ISO, the image size is limited.  They are fine on the phone and tablet, and OK on the monitor but I think a large print is out of the question.  For a large print, a flash would be required.
Again, this issue is only with shooting in the arena.  Outdoors in the sunshine, no issues.
The point of all this is that I don't have many photos that are really 'good'.  Most images are dark - but somewhat savable.  Thank you RAW.  Most are really noisy - but somewhat savable.  Thank you Topaz DeNoise.
Most of the shots look alike.  There were only two good shooting vantage points, and I logged time at both.  Also, because I'm new at this, I was fairly fixated on certain points in the event.  So, a lot of the shots look alike.  That's OK, lots of room for improvement.

I like this first shot because for me to get the banner in, I couldn't go in real tight.  To me, the banner helps center the shot.  The subject team did their part.

The first two are ISO 10000 and the last one is ISO 12800.  Good on the small screen.

STOL Race Class

STOL (Short TakeOff and Landing) Drag Racing is a new class of racing at Reno.  At the time of this year's races, it was more of an exhibition show, however it didn't take long for the class pilots and the crowd to express their enjoyment with the format.  It is now an official class or racing.
Apparently STOL racing has been going on for a few years in the high deserts of Nevada.  There is a group of pilots who get together who test their skills, and aircraft, at an event called the High Sierra Fly-In.
The racing aircraft are working aircraft.  These aircraft are flown every day.  Many of the modifications appear to be 'home made' to make the aircraft more versatile.  The goal is to get into and out of places no one else can.   For the pilots, there are hundreds of flight hours involved.
The drag race is between two aircraft over a 2,000 foot, plus or minus a few, straight line course.  The goal is to start at a point, take off, fly the 2k foot distance, land past a point such as a painted line, come to a complete stop on the line of flight with the tail wheel on the ground, turn the aircraft around with power while keeping the tail wheel on the ground, fly to the start line and stop in the line of flight.  The end of the race is the first aircraft to come to a stop and get the tail wheel on the ground.  Got it?
When the rules were explained to me, I didn't connect the dots right away.  But after seeing one race, I could see there is much more strategy involved that just going fast and turning left.  Not that is anything wrong with that.
Strategy points:  Get to speed quickly.  Lose that speed quickly.  Stop without running the propeller into the ground by tipping the aircraft forward.  Add enough power to turn airplane 180 degrees, while keeping tail wheel on the ground.  Much of the strategy can't be seen from the viewing stands.  One strategy that can be seen is the post take off acceleration and the pre-landing slow down.   And it is fun to watch.
After the take off phase, prior to landing the pilot will literally throw the aircraft sideways to slow it down.  And keep it moving toward the landing area.
The drag race course was the unpaved area between the taxi way and active runway.
These shots are all pretty much the same settings, 1/320 seconds, f/13.

Usually in these races, you can't tell who the winner is.  There really is no finish line, per se.  First one to stop.

Four off the Floor

One of the better parts, for me, at the MIHA event yesterday was meeting the event's official photographer.  We had a few hours of interesting conversation.  Clearly, he did not see me as a threat.  I didn't ask any trade secrets.  During our conversation, I did ask where some of the better angles for shots would be for the Cloverleaf event.  The photographer was very knowledgeable of the event and the arena.  He suggested a few places, what I would see in each place and where to stay away from.  Very cool information.
When it was suggested to me by a photo club member that this would be a fun shoot, the only advice I was given (more of a directive) was don't use flash.  And that made sense to me.  Last thing I want to do do is startle a 1500 lb critter.  Oh yea, and maybe ruin a kid's career.  And I'm OK with not using a flash.  I have a nice flash unit, but it is very rarely used.
Wait, what?

Wasn't me.  It was the guy who takes pictures at these events for a living.  I was shooting 7 FPS at this time.  We matched.  Sure, the image is a bit off on my end, but that's what you get when you use flash and 10000 ISO.  Anyway, moral of the story is the horses and riders at this level don't startle easy.
Back to the real purpose of the post.  In my conversations with the photographer, he was nice enough to tell me some of the things people look for in a photograph.  One of those shots would be where all four hoofs are off the ground at the same time.  And he told me where in the Cloverleaf pattern I would see this.  He also said, not every horse and rider is capable of this coming together and I'd be lucky enough to catch it.  In fact, there would be very few opportunities.
I had a mission.
Here are the three I have with all four off the ground.

Four off the Floor #1

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15 /18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Four off the Floor #2

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15 /18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Four off the Floor #3

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15 /18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

82 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 12800

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Fun part of the event, and lots of good 'horse' type photos.  Great practice and stretching the D500's abilities.

Helping Hand

Had a wonderful day today at the Michigan Interscholastic Horsemanship Association (MIHA) State Finals.  I'm still very much a novice at what I saw today, but I do know more about the event than I did 24 hours ago.
I'll get to more about the event in later posts.  Tonight I had to work on something photographic specific.  It is not going to wait until tomorrow.
Today. the D500 and I went to places we've never been before with regard to low lighting.  The event is held in covered arenas, with the main arena open to light on only one side.  I arrived just after 8:00 AM, just in time for the National Anthem.  It was not a pretty day.  Overcast, damp and early.
The short version is I spent the first three hours fiddling with exposure settings to match the lighting.  What speed do I need for this?  And what ISO can I live with?  The only thing I had an idea on was aperture.  This is a lot different than a sunny day in Reno.
The shutter actuated 1,180 times today.  The bad news is I have a lot of throw away images.  The good news is I will be able to see a real world examples of the ISO settings from the D500.  I think, or at least I tried to manipulate the settings enough to, I have many combinations of trading speed for ISO to evaluate.  
The first round of looking at the images went well.  Nothing out of focus.  Some of the subjects are a bit fuzzy, but those are low speed shots.  All in the name of learning something new today.
In the end, I was shooting 1/500 sec with ISO at 12.5k.  That's not a typo.  I think the highest previous ISO was 11.4k for an indoor train shot.  Doable.  That's good, 'cause I have more at this level and higher.
But this was 'fast' action.  Would that make a difference?  Yea, a full frame would be nice, but I have what I have.
And that is what this post is about.  Can I save an image with that high of an ISO?
This was a fun picture.  The most interesting part of the day, for me, was the Cloverleaf event, maybe better/also known as Barrel Racing.  I think I have some wonderful shots.
Many of these kids are very good.  Many others will pay their dues and get to be good.  As you could tell, this wasn't their first rodeo.  (Yes, I said that.)
This rider was in the process of being assessed a five second penalty for knocking over one of the barrels.  Only in the process of.  Then, this rider had the presence of mind to stabilize the barrel while riding.  The cynic in me says this was not the first time that the horse and rider had come into contact with a barrel.  But it is what it is, and they saved a five second penalty.  Awesome.  

Helping Hand

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/18.0-200.0 mm f/3.5-5.6

90 mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 10000

EV +2, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I'm not sure this would print all that well.  On a small screen and the monitors it shows up well.  On the monitor the shot is soft because of the noise removal.  The good news I have lots of shots to work on noise removal and develop a technique to manage it.  Winter is coming, and I have something to work on.

Thunderbird 6 Ship Formation in Overcast Sky

On the last day of the Air Races this year, the sky was more overcast that the previous days.  One reason I didn't take so many shots this year was, in the case of the Thunderbirds, I have plenty of Thunderbird shots against a clear blue sky.  I really wanted to see the show, without the camera between me and subjects.  But I was ready for the cross shots, can never have enough of them, and new formations.  With the overcast, I did take a good number of shots.
The overcast resolved a number of photographic issues.  No hot spots to remove.  In the Thunderbird case, the sun on the white paint scheme really plays with the camera metering.  OK, I lose some light but the camera can handle it.
Sure, there is a lot of optical illusion here but these aircraft are pretty close.  I like this image, for some reason the light from the overcast makes the aircraft look more 'real' to me.  There is mass, there is depth.

Thunderbird 6 Ship Formation in Overcast Skies

NIKON D500 Ver.1.15/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

262 mm, 1/2500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 220 (Auto)

EV 0, MANUAL Mode, Size, DX

Looking forward to the 2020 airshow season.