Some days ago we talked about how we could make our subject stand out using selective coloring. Today we're going to learn a technique that will make it stand out and give it a sense of speed. This technique is called Panning.
As you probably know when we shoot a moving subject with a slow shutter speed the subject will appear blurred on the picture. This is something you usually want to avoid, since you want your subject to be in sharp focus. The panning technique however, allows us to benefit from this effect by making the moving subject sharp and the background blurred. How does this technique work? This technique is very simple although it might require some practice. What you need to do is follow your subject with the camera, as long as the sutter is open. This will cause the subject to stay in the same position of the shot throughout the exposure, thus remaining sharp and will cause the background to have motion blur.
Only following the subject with your camera however won't cause the background to be blurred. First you have to make sure that there will be motion blur in your shot. To do that you have to set a slow shutter speed, I recommend using shutter speed priority mode. Setting the correct shutter speed is not easy, set it too low and you'll end up with an overall blurred shot because you won't be able to follow the subject precisely enough.
As you probably know when we shoot a moving subject with a slow shutter speed the subject will appear blurred on the picture. This is something you usually want to avoid, since you want your subject to be in sharp focus. The panning technique however, allows us to benefit from this effect by making the moving subject sharp and the background blurred. How does this technique work? This technique is very simple although it might require some practice. What you need to do is follow your subject with the camera, as long as the sutter is open. This will cause the subject to stay in the same position of the shot throughout the exposure, thus remaining sharp and will cause the background to have motion blur.
Only following the subject with your camera however won't cause the background to be blurred. First you have to make sure that there will be motion blur in your shot. To do that you have to set a slow shutter speed, I recommend using shutter speed priority mode. Setting the correct shutter speed is not easy, set it too low and you'll end up with an overall blurred shot because you won't be able to follow the subject precisely enough.
1/2--------------------------- 1/2
Set it too high and the whole image will be sharp, spoiling the speed effect.
1/495
I recommend using something from 1/6 to 1/60, but it will always depend on your subject's speed, proximity and your focal length.
1/60--------------------------------- 1/25
But setting the right shutter speed is not everything. You have to be able to follow the subject precisely, how do you do that? There is no perfect technique for that, you can use a tripod if the movement is completely horizontal, but I rarely have a tripod by me so I always do it handheld. What I recomemnd you is to start following the subject with your camera moving your whole upper body so that the movement is stable, when you feel you're moving at the same speed of your subject, click the shutter and keep moving with it until the shutter closes again, then stop moving. The most important thing of course is to keep the same speed as your subject while the shutter is open.
You can always use your flash together with the slow shutter speed to ensure you freeze your subject perfectly, but remember not to freeze the whole scene or the sense of movement will be spoiled. Also if you want to have more probablities of success use the burst mode of your camera and keep shooting as long as you can follow the subject.
And that's all I can teach you about panning, if you want to learn more go outside and practice, practice a lot, that's the only way to get this technique right!
PS: I'll write an article soon about how to fake this effect in photoshop, but don't rely on it, keep practicing, it's nicer and much more fun!
Photos by me and ttstam
And that's all I can teach you about panning, if you want to learn more go outside and practice, practice a lot, that's the only way to get this technique right!
PS: I'll write an article soon about how to fake this effect in photoshop, but don't rely on it, keep practicing, it's nicer and much more fun!
Photos by me and ttstam
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