panning Archives - Sleeklens - Tools and Training for Photographers

I’ve you have ever opened motorsports magazine you’ve seen them everywhere – the panning shots. It’s the technique when the photographer manages to make a speeding vehicle look perfectly still, whilst successfully catching the feel of motion by making the background a blur of color.

Even thou, it’s a technique mainly used for motorsports, it has wide application in other types of photography, it can help make your wildlife and nature shots look out of this world. It can be used even for people, basically, everywhere you need to show the motion of the subject.

The best part is that you don’t need expensive lenses or equipment specifically for this purpose. You can do it with any DSLR camera and kit lenses (yes, 18-55).

Panning image of Supermoto race: ISO-100, f/5.6, 1/250sec. — ISO-100, f/5.6, 1/250sec.

So, how does it work?

The main catch is the shutter speed. You will most likely be using shutter speeds much slower than you usually do. How does 1/100 sound? Or even 1/30? Sometimes slower, sometimes faster, this will depend on the subject you are shooting. For example, in motorsports you can pan fast motorcycle even with a shutter speed of 1/250, on the other hand, to catch panning image of a person on a bicycle you should set the shutter to 1/50 or less. The light has plenty to do with it, so you will have to play with the shutter speed a bit.

Don’t forget that you need to be positioned against the moving subject, and not to have any objects between your camera and the subject. Panning trough smaller subjects like street signs can sometimes be interesting if it’s before or after the subject, but usually, it will get in the way so try always to have clear sight.

Panning image of motocross rider: ISO-800, f/25, 1/100 sec. — ISO-800, f/25, 1/100 sec.

How to do it?

Switch the dial to Manual mode, set the shutter speed to 1/100 and then play around with slower or faster settings depending on the subject. The speed of the subject is important, so you can set a fixed shutter speed for let’s say car. If it’s a slow-moving car you will need 1/30, if it’s fast moving the car, set it to 1/160. Big difference, but you will have to find what will work for you.

Since we are setting slow shutter speeds, we need to raise the aperture. I’m talking about f10 or something in that range. On some cloudy days, I’ve done panning images even with f/25. So again, you will have to check and see what will work best for you and your camera. ISO settings can be totally up to you, start with 200, then go up/down depending on the light conditions.

Panning technique - ISO-200, f/10, 1/160 sec. — ISO-200, f/10, 1/250 sec.

Go out on the street, start with the moving cars as a test subject, that way you have a never-ending supply of subjects. Panning for the first time can be quite fun, but sometimes can be really frustrating. Approach it with a clear mind, this is a new technique for you so no need to lose nerves if you don’t succeed the first time you try it.

Stand still (using monopod or tripod might help you) and point the camera to the moving subject, follow it through the viewfinder as it comes and goes by you. Do this several times, just to get the feeling what will you be doing. It’s important to follow the movement of the object with your camera, left to right or right to left, you need to follow it as it passes you. As soon as you are comfortable with it, start focusing on the subject, push the shutter half way and stay with the moving object.

It’s important to set the focus on your camera to Continuous Focus or Tracking (Servo) depending on the DSLR model you have. If you use camera which doesn’t have the continuous focus option, you will need to pre-focus first, then to start shooting. Also, it’s a good idea to switch from single frame to multi-frame or continuous mode for shooting. You will get more images to choose from, and you will increase your chance of getting decent panning image.

Panning image of World Superbike race - ISO-100, f/13, 1/80 sec. — ISO-100, f/13, 1/80 sec.

When the moving object approaches you, focus on it and press the shutter, but continue with the movement of the camera, don’t stand up to check the image. Press the shutter and follow the object all the way, when you hear the click don’t stop, just follow the object with your camera exactly as you were practicing before.

When the moving object is gone of sight check the images, you should have your first panning images. Again, don’t be frustrated if you fail to do it from the first try, it takes practice to make it perfect. It’s all about the correct settings and the movement. Be smooth, follow the line of movement and match the speed of the object, very soon you will have amazing panning shots.

If you’ve already succeeded, drop a line in the comments, we would love to see what you did.

When people think that they want to get really amazing and unique photos, they usually think they need the best equipment and the best software to get those photos. While that does help and it can help turn a basic picture into something dynamic, you can get the same amazing impact with proper lens movement. When you know how to move our lens to create unique pictures, you will be able to get photos that stand out and make a viewer look at things in a different way.

Follow these tips to create some truly stunning creative effects with intentional lens movement.

The Equipment

The first thing you need to do is get the right equipment to make these lens movement photos a success. You don’t need super-high end items for this to work, but having good equipment is always important. A good DSLR with a 24-70mm lens will work best. You should also have a good speedlight flash as well.

With your equipment, you should have a setting similar to a small aperture of f/13, with a shutter speed of about 1/6 of a second. It is very important that you use a slow shutter speed because you need that extra bit of time to adjust the lens to get that unique effects.

How to Do It

When you have your subject in front of you, you will need to do the following to get the right look with the picture.

First, you want to set your timing of the flash to rear curtain. This means that the flash will go off when the exposure is over, rather than at the beginning.

Second, you need to start zooming in after you have triggered the shutter. When you have it set for one-sixth of a second, you need to be very fast when you do this. Zoom in as quickly as you can to get that look on the picture. In addition, squeeze the shutter as you are starting to zoom in.

The Flash and Stash

Another really cool tip for creating unique effects with lens movement is to use the flash and slash technique. This technique can actually create some really energetic images that dramatize the movement but allow the subject to stay sharp in the photo. With this technique, there is motion in the background, so the subject has the feeling of movement through the still image.

With your camera, you will want to have the aperture set at f/22, with an ISO of 200 and an exposure of one-third of a second.

In order to use this technique, you need to do the following:

Set your camera so that the flash will happen at the end of the exposure. This is done by setting it to the Rear Curtain Sync.
You can have your ISO higher than 200, but it should be no higher than 800. A lower ISO is going to be better for creating that blur effect.
As you take the picture, begin to move the camera in a rotating fashion to get the blur of the subject centered but everything moving around the subject in a blur.

Your subject generally should be still as you move the camera in a counter or clockwise fashion while you stand in one place in front of the subject. This is what creates the look of motion, and the flash firing at the end helps to give sharpness to the subject.

This technique is actually really great for shooting in a low-light situation with a long exposure, when the showing of activity is very important.

Panning

There are several other techniques you can use including panning while you take the picture. With panning, you are imitating the movement of the subject and this gives the image of a clear subject moving over a blurry background. You typically have the camera set at one-quarter of a second. If you want to have less blur, you could set it at 1/30 of a second.

Getting the right kind of movement can give your pictures a very surreal and wonderful look to them. Don’t be afraid to try things out to create the photo effect that you want.

Tag: panning

Panning technique and Moving Object Photography