Motion: Panning
01.24.08
Motion: Panning, originally uploaded by Sheba Wheeler.
Panning is another great motion technique photographers can use to imply action or movement, but it may require several attempts to master it.
Here’s what you are aiming for: you want a moving subject to appear sharp and crisp against a streaking, blurred background. It’s harder than it sounds because adjusting your shutter speed too high will result in a completely static frozen image, while turning it down too slow will render the subject unrecognizable because it will blur into the background. The key is to continue to follow the subject as it passes in front of you WHILE pressing the shutter and even AFTER the shot is taken.
Keep your feet still and rotate the top half of your body, using your hips, as you track the subject from right to left or left to right. Prefocus your camera at a point where your subject will pass in the middle of your frame to ensure the picture is sharp. When you have the subject where you want them, hit the shutter button but remember to keep moving your body to the side, parallel to the subject’s movement after you push the shutter.
Experiment with different shutter speeds between 1/8sec and 1/125sec depending on the subject’s speed and distance. Keep at it because it may take a while to figure out what works best, but the results are well worth it.
Tags: action, motion, panning, shutter speed, technique