First try at panning

KreGg · Dec 8, 2011

Today I just tried my first shot at panning pictures. I had fun with it, though I took around 200 and came back with just 4 or 5 where I could keep the cars or motorcycles sharp enough... hehe

Anyway, what you think of this one?

Any tips on cropping it better or so?
Btw this was tougher than usual, since I was shooting it on an angle, from my apartment balcony.
Next time I will try to go on the same level as the cars.

WesternGuy · Dec 9, 2011

Still haven't quite got it...for proper panning, the car should be sharp, however, it is still a little fuzzy here. Not sure what speed you shot this at, but you might want to consider increasing it. Depending on the speed of the car, shutter speeds on 1/1000 or 1/2000 may not be unrealsitic. Keep on trying, I do think that you are on the right track...HTH.

Cheers,

WesternGuy

KreGg · Dec 9, 2011

Thanks WesternGuy
This was shot at 1/8. The cars were not really speeding, due to a stopped old truck just a few meters after. I guess they were going around 50-60km/h.

I tried going above, with 1/30 or faster, but i thought the shutter was too fast for getting a nice background blurred.

Robin Usagani · Dec 9, 2011

Did you crop a lot of the photo? If you did, that is the reason 1/30 isnt blurry enough. If you actually really zoomed in, 1/30 or 1/40 is plenty slow.

Robin Usagani · Dec 9, 2011

this one is 1/60 and the car wasnt even that fast

KreGg · Dec 9, 2011

hmmm strange...
I did not do much cropping, just a tiny bit. And I had my lens zoomed in at its most, 75mm.

My settings were 1/8, 2.8 apertures and ISO 100 on the 75mm end. I was probably around 30 meters or so from the cars...
I will try with 1/60 or 1/30-40 and see what I get.

Do I have to turn the camera very strong, like fast? I think I tried doing it more smoothly...

Robin Usagani · Dec 9, 2011

No, you just have to make sure the subject is always on the same spot on your view. Take this for an example. I took this with 5 second shutter. I stayed still and always on the same spot of the frame because the camera is moving with me.

jake337 · Dec 9, 2011

Find a point on the vehicle and try to hold the center focus point at that place. I bipod will help greatly.

Some tips:

“Tips for Panning Photography” « Photofocus

Tips for Panning Photos

Photography Tips - Panning and Focussing

6 Tips to Improve Your Panning Photography | Improve Photography

KreGg · Dec 9, 2011

Thats a really cool picture Schwettylens.
Yeah I know I gotta keep it in frame, but with 1/8 shutter speed, I have to keep it in frame more time, thus turning the camera more smoothly.
With faster shutter speeds, then I just need to turn it much faster, and still keep the subject in the same part of the frame.

thanks for the links jake. Gonna have a look.

Robin Usagani · Dec 9, 2011

KreGg, lets say you are shooting a car going one direction at 50mph. Doesnt matter if you shoot with 1/8 or 1/60, your panning should be the same because you need to track the car. The faster the shutter, the less error you might have (but less background blur). So you still turn it as fast on either scenario.

Derrel · Dec 9, 2011

Schwettylens said:
No, you just have to make sure the subject is always on the same spot on your view. Take this for an example. I took this with 5 second shutter. I stayed still and always on the same spot of the frame because the camera is moving with me.

It's all blurry and stuff...

Robin Usagani · Dec 9, 2011

I dare you take a better one with 5 sec shutter. I tried it again last time I flew and failed miserably.

Derrel said:
It's all blurry and stuff...

KreGg · Dec 9, 2011

Schwettylens said:
KreGg, lets say you are shooting a car going one direction at 50mph. Doesnt matter if you shoot with 1/8 or 1/60, your panning should be the same because you need to track the car. The faster the shutter, the less error you might have (but less background blur). So you still turn it as fast on either scenario.

Hmm true.
I guess what I was thinking of was having to track the car for less time, with a fast shutter speed. But got confused.