I do not feel a clear photo of your horse which is easily identifiable is asking to much. I feel a photo that is not to dark to see anything is not asking to much.I know of several people whose horses win and they do not even pay the 45 bucks or whatever the price is for the photos of some dark horse with some shadowy figure handling it. VERY SAD INDEED!
The issue is not editing -removing a handler or lead the issue is simply put the photos in the first place. So dark you can not tell one dark horse from another unless your handler is wearing something neon to stand out. Angles all wrong for a experienced horse photographer. Time is not the issue either as many halter classes go on for 20-50 minutes.
Photography has been an issue at our Congress and National shows for some time now.
Let another photographer come in and enter the ring as well and then let the buyer choose which they feel is best.
A photographer can not change the lighting that is given off in the area, and by the sounds of it the lighting is very poor. The photographer can use flashes to get better light, if the photographer at the show did not have a flash then she/he was not trying at all. As for getting photos in the ring, we all know how many photos we can take of our horses and only get one "good one" now put other horses lined up all around it, judges to avoid, very poor lighting with an on board flash, and the pressure of getting a shot of every horse standing perfectly with ears up, a very hard task. Are edits done before you get to look at them when you go to order? if not then yes they will be dark, there are things to be done to fix them, however it's hard to say how bad they are since i have not seen them myself. Most of the time i can make dark photos lighter and they look fine, the problem is when they are to dark you loose all the detail and get a while veiling when you try to lighten them.
I doubt another photographer from another company would be aloud in the ring at all. Most event photographers are contracted to photograph the event for years. For example the studio I work for is contacted for day cares and preschools for 3 to 5 years depending on the school.
I know this has been a problem for years because i read about it every year. Once the contract is up i'm sure that AMHR wont sign on with this company again. I would suggest that they find a studio with three photographers, 2 for taking photos of the classes, the more photographers you have in the right the higher chance of getting good photos of each horse. The other for the Center ring shots, this would save time, the camera would already be set up in sync with the flash and the lighting would only change slightly from horse to horse depending on if the horse has a dark or light coat.
If i had a horse that won at congress or worlds or nationals, yes of course i would want a photo of ourselves in the ring, but i would not make a big deal out of it if the photographer did not get one of us. I would not buy a center ring shot even if it was good. I would much rather wait till I got home hired my own photographer (and i'm talking high end equine photographer) to take really good outdoor photos of the horse with his ribbons trophies and myself all dressed up just like at the show. Of course thats only what i would do, may not be your cup of tea.
That being said, I think there is a great number of photographers out there who take on more they can chew. Is there only one photographer at these shows? That is way to much work for one photographer so be expected to get perfect shots of all horses all day, halter would be easy compared to driving! I have never been a show photographer but sometimes i go and take photos, whatever i get i send to the horses owners. I have never shot at an indoors show, but let me tell you, it's very hard to get the right picture of a horse performing in the ring. The horse may be stood up good, neck arched, ears up,....eyes closed!
edited to add
I have also had photograpers use my horses picture for thier own advertising, why don't they need a release from me
Yes they do!. They need your permission before using the photographs for display or any advertising.