Panning horses advice required

BananaRepublic

No longer a newbie, moving up!
Joined
Jul 10, 2014
Messages
1,319
Reaction score
161
Location
Eire
Can others edit my Photos
Photos OK to edit
I was at a horse trial event over the weekend and tried various shots but I got a bit frustrated at my panning attempts. I wonder if there member with experience with this to give advice.

I can do cars, bikes etc, but I think it was a combination of me being out of practice and the low variable speeds from horse to horse. Ive tried many different focus modes but found it difficult to both get the horse and rider sharp, pictures looked good on the back lcd but zooming in there poor.
DSC_6303DxO.jpg DSC_6300DxO.jpg DSC_6306DxO.jpg DSC_6309DxO.jpg
 
I think one key difference is that when you pan on a car or bike the only parts that move are the wheels; the main body is basically a static surface; the rider on a bike might move a bit, but overall the motion is very low.

A horse and rider are different, the horse itself and the rider are both in motion the whole time through the ride. The head and neck of the horse are moving back and forth; the rider is rocking in the saddle, the back is in motion. Ergo the whole animal and rider are always in a state of motion.

Whilst I've not panned with horses (I tend to prefer static action over blurry) my experiences suggest that 1/500sec will blur hair and hooves but keep the main body motion sharp more or less. So you could start there and just dial back the shutter speed a little bit. 1/640sec and it will be sharp so you know that as your basic fastest limit point.
After that I'd say you want to watch the horse and rider a lot and see if there are natural still moments when everything settles for a few moments and to focus your shots there; whilst also making as much use of a burst of shots as you can (there is no shame in controlled spray and pray)
 
I think one key difference is that when you pan on a car or bike the only parts that move are the wheels; the main body is basically a static surface; the rider on a bike might move a bit, but overall the motion is very low.

A horse and rider are different, the horse itself and the rider are both in motion the whole time through the ride. The head and neck of the horse are moving back and forth; the rider is rocking in the saddle, the back is in motion. Ergo the whole animal and rider are always in a state of motion.

Whilst I've not panned with horses (I tend to prefer static action over blurry) my experiences suggest that 1/500sec will blur hair and hooves but keep the main body motion sharp more or less. So you could start there and just dial back the shutter speed a little bit. 1/640sec and it will be sharp so you know that as your basic fastest limit point.
After that I'd say you want to watch the horse and rider a lot and see if there are natural still moments when everything settles for a few moments and to focus your shots there; whilst also making as much use of a burst of shots as you can (there is no shame in controlled spray and pray)


Agree with what Overread says, panning is an art and something that just cannot be done right off, it takes a lot of practice to get panning just right on different subjects.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top