Challenge IV - Panning

[yummymummy]

yeah!! I love it! This is a fun challenge, it took me a few goes to get it right, but in the end I had photos of them in mid air and everything! was awesome

[GregoryH]

Sunday mornings is a great time to see those fit bike riders. This was my first day at trying to pan..

[Seven]

Ok went down the local airport and thought I would give this ago.

Damm missed it by that much, hopefully with a bit more trial and error I can nail it.

I was fairly happy with this one for a first attempt.

[ricktas]

Good work guys, keep practising, it does take some skill to do well, but is an effective photography technique that can produce some brilliant results when done well.

[Hamish McHaggis]

I probably took 50 pics of passing cars, reckon this one turned out the best:

About 5 mins after taking this, some bloke stopped, got out his car and asked why I was taking photos of him!
I guess people are entitled to their privacy...

[ricktas]

Good work Hamish, has the challenge taught you much about how shutter speeds can be creatively chosen to alter the way your scene looks?

Re Privacy, In Australia, if you are in public, you must expect to be photographed (I wonder if this same guy would stop and ask a speed camera operator why he was photographing him?), the laws do not allow for Privacy when in a public place. Remember that many shopping centres, and even open spaces are not necessarily public space. You can also photograph people on private property, if you, the photographer is standing on public land (think how the paparazzi work legally).

However, if you feel that rather than get into a pseudo legal argument, it is easier to delete the photo if requested, do so. Some people may be under witness protection etc, and may not want their photos taken for very valid reasons.

[jjphoto]

I probably took 50 pics of passing cars, reckon this one turned out the best:

About 5 mins after taking this, some bloke stopped, got out his car and asked why I was taking photos of him!
I guess people are entitled to their privacy...

I never cease to be amuzed by the weird looks I get as I shoot panning shots on the side of the road, which I do quite a lot as I shoot editorial features for car magazines. I often practice on passing cars and often get images where the driver is staring at me ratrher than looking at where they are going. Yes, some stop and question your motives, assuming the worst of course.

Rick, excellent explaination. I'd add a few things. Try to use a monopod, it helps. Don't use IS, it really reduces your keeper rate. Try to shoot with the car close to a busy background such as lots of trees and shrubs. The proximity of the background exagerates the background blur significantly. It helps to have a reasonable distance between you and the car, I try to use a 70-200mm lens to give some idea of the distance.

The technique really does require smoothness and practice.

JJ

[Hamish McHaggis]

(I wonder if this same guy would stop and ask a speed camera operator why he was photographing him?)

reckon I got photographed by one of them at the weekend...just waiting for the letter in the mail

Yes, good explanation Rick - thanks. I do often feel a bit "odd" with the tripod and camera out in public. It helps if you're in a group.

I never cease to be amuzed by the weird looks I get as I shoot panning shots on the side of the road, which I do quite a lot as I shoot editorial features for car magazines. I often practice on passing cars and often get images where the driver is staring at me ratrher than looking at where they are going. Yes, some stop and question your motives, assuming the worst of course.

Rick, excellent explaination. I'd add a few things. Try to use a monopod, it helps. Don't use IS, it really reduces your keeper rate. Try to shoot with the car close to a busy background such as lots of trees and shrubs. The proximity of the background exagerates the background blur significantly. It helps to have a reasonable distance between you and the car, I try to use a 70-200mm lens to give some idea of the distance.

The technique really does require smoothness and practice.

JJ

Thanks for the tips John, very much appreciated

[Phill B]

Hi all.

My effort at panning - standing on the corner shooting cars & bikes as they go around the corner. This was the pick of them.

Thanks for any comments.

[ricktas]

Good work Phil. Great to see you out trying out the technique. Gives you a lot of respect for the Sport togs who produce those amazingly sharp and clear shots of a V8 doing close to 200kmh, with the blurred backgrounds eh.

[Phill B]

Good work Phil. Great to see you out trying out the technique. Gives you a lot of respect for the Sport togs who produce those amazingly sharp and clear shots of a V8 doing close to 200kmh, with the blurred backgrounds eh.

I thinks it is a simple case of practice, practice with more practice for good measure, oh, and a health does of talent - I can work on one aspect of it then....

[elgoogoogle]

Some these look great. i especially like the tractor. just to add to the original post when panning your shutter speed will depend how fast the subject is moving

here is a quick rundown of what works for me.

snail moving 30"
someone walking 1/30th
car driving 1/60-1/125
race car 1/125-1/200
plane 1/200-1/320

not every one will agree but i have gotten the best results using these figures.

NB: i am yet to be unsuccessful in capturing a good shot of a snail using panning as a technique. lol

[Wilky]

Not as part of the challenge but was certainly a challenge.

[carrg1954]

Is it ok to comment here ? hope so, if not I'm sure someone will jump in.
Panning with aircraft in mind and say a 300mm is starting at about 1/160 and then working down. 1/100 is a reasonable speed that will both give the panning you need and to have a reasonable propeller blur and giving that feeling they are not frozen. 1/80 if you have had plenty of practice and 1/60 and less if you are "feeling lucky". Be prepared to have a very low success rate and don't be too upset with yourself if it's only 1 to 2 % at these low shutter speeds, faster aircraft speeds, longer lens. Also plant your feet so you will end up facing the point where you are going to get the shot will also help. , hope this helps
regards

[darrend]

I'm quite interested in this area of photography. Here are some recent shots. My shutter speeds are a bit faster than others in this thread (around 1/250 for prop aircraft and helis), but as I improve with panning, I'd like to slow this to create more background blur.

[justdave]

a couple of mine

[SimiA]

some great photos in this thread.. id just like to say a few hints and tips that have worked for me.. please correct me if you feel i am wrong..

i find that the further away you are (using a longer lens) the easier panning is to do..
this is because the further away the car is the slower YOU will be moving the camera...

also i don't think it was stated earlier.. to keep a whole car or most of a car in focus you need to capture it side on (except for Dave's example above in which the car is actually going sideways)

if you would like to learn more this blog post has a lot of good information in it:
http://blog.photoshelter.com/2010/01...torsports.html

[Clubmanmc]

Here are a couple of mine...

some notes...

a long lens will give you better back ground blur, but a wide lens up close will give you some amazing things too, bearing in mind that the blur in the b ack ground comes from 2 aspects, the first is the amount of time the camera moves with the shutter open from left to right (or right to left) but the second aspect is the relative movement of the back ground from near to far

an example is a 10mm lens, at full width, the feild of view is quite wide, but at the fringes the lens has a widening effect or light bending... so as you move it left to right, thre is a double effect on the motion blur...

ill get some pics and post them up later

here are some normal pans done with a 16-35, at 1/80th of a sec on manual focus

enjoy

M

[tanz]

I had a go at panning my daughters on the swings and it certainly is harder than it looks. This one was taken with the shutter speed at 1/20s and aperture f/10

[ricktas]

Good work Tanz, it is an effective technique, but it does require practice, but the results can be quite special as your photos shows.