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Explanation: Panning is a photographic technique used to track a moving object, usually horizontally, shooting at a slow shutter speed to cause the background to blur, giving the impression of speed and/or movement. The trick is to keep the subject crisply sharp in contrast to the background.
How to do it:
- First find your subject. You'll need an open enough space to be able to track your subject for at least a few seconds at it's travelling speed.
- Set your camera to Aperture Priority mode then set a small enough aperture to give you a shutter speed between 1/10 and 1/15 of a second. Or set your camera to Shutter Speed Priority mode and select a shutter speed between 1/10 and 1/15 and let the camera set your aperture.
- If you are in bright conditions selecting a very small aperture or using a Neutral Density filter would allow you to get a slow enough shutter speed to blur the background.
Now for the tricky part. Stand with your legs slightly apart, at least as wide as your shoulders, and you should be facing your subject's path of movement. Tuck your elbows well into your side for additional camera stability. You'll need to move smoothly from the waist in the same direction as your subject. Stay with your subject for a few seconds if you have time, until you feel comfortable that your swivel, pivoting from the waist is in time with the subject, then release your shutter.
IMPORTANT: You must keep moving with your subject as you pan, even after you've taken your shot(s). If you stop as soon as you release the shutter, you'll almost invariably slow down and get out of sync with your subject and the shot will be ruined. This is not an easy technique, so give yourself the best chance of pulling it off by getting into this habit.
- Finally, it's a good idea to take at least three or more shots while panning. To get both of the example shots I took three shots and only the middle one was any good. I guess this is when I was moving most smoothly.
Additional Info: A shutter speed between 1/10 and 1/15 will blur the background of an object moving as fast as a boy on a bike or a bird in flight (see examples below). If your subject is moving very fast a slightly fast shutter speed, say 1/25 or 1/50 might work fine. Avoid slower moving subjects as the shutter speed necessary to blur the background would need to be too slow to have a chance of a hand held shot.
Examples: Take a look at these photos to see examples of "Panning". You'll see the feeling of movement created. I find it helps to place your subject with a little room to move into as with the swan, or give them a lot of room behind if you want to give the impression of the subject speeding away, as with the boy on the bicycle.
