Panning thread - your Qs and examples

AndWhyNot

AndWhyNot

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So I was out scouting urban locations earlier and just for giggles wondered how slow I could get my shutter speed for panning and still get the vehicle acceptably sharp.

Given the recent discussions on panning it then struck me it might be worth a bash at starting a thread for everyone in the transport section to dive in and out of with their own experiences - questions, results and a bit of C&C if wanted.

I'll kick things off with one of my snaps from earlier - and it is just a snap - but nonetheless I got my shutter speed down to 1/10 (at ISO200 f/32 20mm). The writing on the door is bang on. FWIW camera was set to full manual and pre-metered. Was also prefocused on that particular lane of the road. I kept the camera to my eye and had the AF-point indicator (that's the square in the viewfinder) set dead-central to make it easier to follow the vehicle's path. There was a mirrored glass building behind me reflecting light back in to the scene hence it's not just some underexposed mess or silhouette. Resized but otherwise straight from the cam.



If there's interest this thread could become an FAQ/ sticky but in the meantime dig out your shots good or bad and lets talk panning.
 
A couple from Brands this weekend

1/50th at about 100mm
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1/40th at about 100mm
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In another thread

zulupentax said:
...some people sometimes try to pan a shot, wrongly I must add, without being in parallen to the subject. This I know because there was a recent example of someone who was struggling to get panning shots and his main mistake was his positioning in relation to the subject. So members had to tell him where he was going wrong.
Please by no means I am trying to imply this to the OP here that he might be ignorant with relation to knowing exactly how to pull a panning shot.

And finally my assumption about the image is that it looked that there was an attempt to acquire panning. The way I see it is because the middle parts of the car where the door is it looks more focused and less blurry than the rest of the image, and the wall and background is also more blurry than the car itself. Leading me to assume that there was a panning attempt.
But hey, apologies if I am totally wrong. I have been known to be quite wrong on lots of things ;)
Click to expand...

I'll try and avoid a war of words but I also think your understanding of panning stops short of the full subject.

Panning is simply an attempt to track or follow a moving subject with the camera. Shooting the subject side-on is most likely to achieve optimal front-rear subject sharpness but that's not to say that shooting a subject approaching/ disappearing/ from above is not panning.

In a previous thread I let science and maths get the better of me and described it thus:

AndWhyNot said:
Only when the car is directly side-on to the camera is the relative distance travelled by both front and rear of car the same. Think Isosceles triangle and its two equal sides. What you have here in the prev thread is an obtuse scalene triangle where the front and rear of the car are travelling different distances relative to your position. If the shutter is open long enough, this difference is captured. On the other hand, with careful tuning of technique and shutter speed there's usually a point where you can capture just enough motion in the wheels and background without it looking like the rear's trying to overtake the front.
Click to expand...
 
ygd7qs.jpg

ISO 200, 260mm, 1/40sec f/8 - subject doing nearly 200mph!
yvkyzt.jpg

ISO 400, 13mm, 1/25sec, f/13
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ISO 100, 65mm, 1/60sec, f/13
 



Exposure: 1/30
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal Length: 85 mm
ISO: 200
 
hawk at raf valley (just about to touch down )

1/50th sec at 240mm


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one of mine, 1/80 iirc, nowhere near as low as i have been but i just love the fact the brakes are so clear

the owner of the car also loved it and has it hanging in his office (wallace performance)

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Love your first one Yv - monopod or handheld?

Dal - that 430 is a tasty shot, motion blur in the right place works wonders

PG - Really like your shot from the strip too, seems so right for the sharpness to be centred around the bit doing all the work
 
1/250th F9 ISO100 70mm. Taken at Goodwood, on my first attempt at panning :)
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Another one from me here :whistle: This was a shot from last year I've dug out while we were at the Vegas Nationals, as before the colours have been pushed in post but thats about it. 1/15 @ f5 I think

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I think drag racing is up with the most difficult to shoot with panning and get right tbh. The cars change speed sooo quickly and its not a constant speed through the run. Granted they do go in a straight (ish) line but they dont come back round again in a minute.. :)
 
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Panning is a technique which requires mastering over time, its not something that you can instantly do and repeat. It require training you body to become familiar with the motion, thus it become almost automatic. What this will achieve is a smooth pan, something that is not easy to master as a few of these images have proven.

Personally I hate the "how slow you can go brigade" of togs, but whatever floats your boat

Cadwell Park 09 "The Mountain" 1/100 sec
IMG_9314copy1.jpg
 
pete.rush said:
Personally I hate the "how slow you can go brigade" of togs, but whatever floats your boat
Click to expand...

Nice shot.

What 'floats my boat' is trying new stuff when it doesn't matter that'll help me get the shot when it does. Hence when I subsequently had to shoot on a poorly-floodlit circuit I could keep my ISO relatively low at *just* 2000 knowing that 1/10th was doable :)

 
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