# First attempt at Panning... What am I doing wrong?



## Silverado_13 (Dec 27, 2008)

Either the front or the back of the car was always blurred. I couldn't get the whole car focused... Do I need to move farther away?

Any tips?

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## Heck (Dec 27, 2008)

Maybe your shutter speeds were too long? Being new at panning my also mean you have not got the feel for it even if your following good advice on how to do it.. Being too close should not be a issue..


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## Ls3D (Dec 27, 2008)

BTW - On the 70-200 IS, there is a mode 2 IS, that is designed to stabilize in one direction during a pan...  I wonder if I could get the shot.  I'm sure it is a matter of practice as suggested...  like thai chi or yoga. 

-Shea


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## Silverado_13 (Dec 27, 2008)

Heck said:


> Maybe your shutter speeds were too long? Being new at panning my also mean you have not got the feel for it even if your following good advice on how to do it.. Being too close should not be a issue..


 
Shutter speeds were anywhere from 1/40 to 1/125. By no means did I expect these to come out perfect, just trying to learn from my mistakes. But I realized that all of the pictures have the same problem. At least one part of the car is blurry...

Trial and error I guess. :thumbup:



Ls3D said:


> BTW - On the 70-200 IS, there is a mode 2 IS, that is designed to stabilize in one direction during a pan... I wonder if I could get the shot. I'm sure it is a matter of practice as suggested... like thai chi or yoga.
> 
> -Shea


 
Good to know. :mrgreen:


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## Dubious Drewski (Dec 27, 2008)

It has nothing to do with shutter speed; you can use whatever shutter speed you like for this kind of shot. It's all in the focal length.  You need it to be longer.  What's happening is you are rotating to pan with the car, but due to perspective changes, the back and the front end of the vehicle change in size. The blur you are seeing is due to this perspective blur.

These shots look like they are 50mm and below. Were you shooting this with an 18-55 lens? You'll need well over 100mm to do this without getting this effect.

EDIT: otherwise these are some nice pans. Good steadiness!


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## Silverado_13 (Dec 27, 2008)

Dubious Drewski said:


> It has nothing to do with shutter speed; you can use whatever shutter speed you like for this kind of shot. It's all in the focal length.  You need it to be longer.  What's happening is you are rotating to pan with the car, but due to perspective changes, the back and the front end of the vehicle change in size. The blur you are seeing is due to this perspective blur.
> 
> These shots look like they are 50mm and below. Were you shooting this with an 18-55 lens? You'll need well over 100mm to do this without getting this effect.
> 
> EDIT: otherwise these are some nice pans. Good steadiness!



Gotcha! Guess I'll need to use my Sigma next time and find a better spot farther away. 

I appreciate it! :thumbup:


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## SandShots (Dec 28, 2008)

pretty good for your first time, keep at it and youll get better.

my suggestion is to get parralel with the car so your moving your camera from left to right and the car stays at the same distance from the camera.

the way youre doing it now is that not only are you trying to pann but the subject is also changing the distance to the camera.  you are positioned in a way where the car is comming to you or away from you wich makes it harder.


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## Bevel Heaven (Jan 2, 2009)

SandShots said:


> pretty good for your first time, keep at it and youll get better.
> 
> my suggestion is to get parralel with the car so your moving your camera from left to right and the car stays at the same distance from the camera.
> 
> the way youre doing it now is that not only are you trying to pann but the subject is also changing the distance to the camera. you are positioned in a way where the car is comming to you or away from you wich makes it harder.


 
I agree with the above. I also always tell people starting out at panning, to use a shutter speed around 320 to start. Be perpendicular to the object. Shoot 11ty billion shots of the same thing. After that, change your shutter speed to the next slower setting and shoot 11ty billion more.... Repeat. You will find that eventually you will get the vehicle sharper, wheels and blackground blurred. The goal is to get the entire vehicle crispy and sharp, wheels blurred, background fuzzy. The background does not have to be complete blurred out beyond recognition,... That just hurts the eyes and your shots wil not get published or purchased.


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## xtort- (Jan 4, 2009)

Agree with above, definitely good for first try!


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## DRoberts (Jan 9, 2009)

Set your auto focus to "AI Servo"
Distance isn't the problem. Are you locking your auto focus on to the cars as they are coming or are you panning and then trying to get the shot at the last second?
Your shutter speed in these situations won't do much more than lighten or darken your photos.
Looking at the shots you got, its a fairly well lit day so your shutter speed should be around 1000 +/-, open your aperature a touch for background blur, and use a medium to low ISO, ISO 400 or less...
Here are some examples at about those settings...

#1 From a distance...





2. From about 6 feet away





3. From about half track away...





4. Right under...actually on track.


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## bdavis (Jan 15, 2009)

For panning you need to set your focus, aperture, and shutter where your subject is going to be. When they are approaching the area, put your camera on them and follow them as best you can, then when they get to the area where you focused, press the shutter then continue to follow them until the camera is done taking a picture. 

The only reasons I can think why yours aren't completely in focus is maybe because you were using too wide of an aperture or maybe you weren't panning smoothly.


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## Silverado_13 (Jan 15, 2009)

bdavis said:


> For panning you need to set your focus, aperture, and shutter where your subject is going to be. When they are approaching the area, put your camera on them and follow them as best you can, then when they get to the area where you focused, press the shutter then continue to follow them until the camera is done taking a picture.
> 
> The only reasons I can think why yours aren't completely in focus is maybe because you were using too wide of an aperture or maybe you weren't panning smoothly.


 
That's what I was doing. I'm pretty sure I set the aperature too wide. Going to the track again on Sunday so I'll try again.


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## Blank (Jan 16, 2009)

Firstly, I dont post anything on here, i just read, because I am far from an expert. The responses on this topic though are scattered and varied and will do nothing to help answer your question. I, will add my amateur "opinion".

Panning is not easy and takes practice. The results of your panning attempt will depend on what you like. No one ever said that the object you are panning has to be completely "in focus". If though, that is your intent, it is best your moving subject be at roughly the same distance from you during your panning sequence. A1 servo is the desireable setting for continual focus tracking. All apeture has to do with panning is the amount of light you require for correct exposure.

You shutter speed has everything to do with it, but mind you, the shutter setting will be proportional to the disatnce from your moving subject. I dont want to get into it, but the samples DRoberts has shown (in my opinion) do not show examples of panning, not that they arent' good photo's, just not good examples of panning for me. Unfortunately, I cannot post any images myself for a comparison, as soon as I can, I will. Anything around 1/1000th is way too fast (unless your panning a bullet). The whole idea of panning is to have a distorted lineal background and sharp subject (at least part of).

To wrap all this up, practice the following:
I use manual most of the time.
* Set to A1 Servo
* Set your drive to continuous
* Adjust your apeture for correct exposure
* Your subjects path should remain at the same distance from you for best results (get the basics down first!)
* Depending on the distance of your subject and the speed it is travelling, set your shutter to anything from 1/15 to 1/125 (try different SS for different results).
* Pick your subject (say a car) and half press the shutter release for AF.
* Pan with it and shoot a 4 or 5 sequence burst. Even after the final frame, pan with the subject to have consistency in your blur.

Hope I havent confused you more. You dont need to wait to go to a drag strip for practice either. There is a million subjects to practice on right at your feet.


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## bdavis (Jan 19, 2009)

Silverado_13 said:


> That's what I was doing. I'm pretty sure I set the aperature too wide. Going to the track again on Sunday so I'll try again.



The image from the Supra is telling me that your settings are the following:

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS
Shutter 1/100 sec.
Manual Mode
Aperture f/22
ISO 400
Focal Length 23

Doesn't look to me like your aperture is the problem, I was thinking it was a small aperture = small depth of field, but at f/22 that wouldn't be the case. The 1/100 sec shutter would offer a decent blur of the background so to me it looks like you may not be panning smoothly. I would practice panning until you go to the track again. When I practiced it took a few times but I started getting the hang of it. 

An exercise I used to get better was just standing on a street corner and trying to photograph cars going by. If you live on a busy street, you get a lot of practice 

I also have a tripod with a pan head that helps me out too.

Keep practicing!


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## christm (Jan 19, 2009)

A couple quick tips. 

1. I always use a tripod when panning
2. Play around with your shutter speeds, I recently used 1/60 which worked well on a powerboat


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## gsgary (Jan 19, 2009)

DRoberts said:


> Set your auto focus to "AI Servo"
> Distance isn't the problem. Are you locking your auto focus on to the cars as they are coming or are you panning and then trying to get the shot at the last second?
> Your shutter speed in these situations won't do much more than lighten or darken your photos.
> Looking at the shots you got, its a fairly well lit day so your shutter speed should be around 1000 +/-, open your aperature a touch for background blur, and use a medium to low ISO, ISO 400 or less...
> ...


 

Sorry thats totally wrong :lmao:, shutter speed needs to be 1/160 max going down to 1/30, 1/1000 will get you no blur, set your camera to shutter priority and start at 1/160 you need to be as smooth as possible and not moving the camera up or down keep your elbows tight to your side and do a few practice runs as you click the shutter follow through don't stop as you press the shutter and sqeeze it gentle so as not to move the camera , then as you get better start to lower your shutter speed

here's one at 1/40


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## gsgary (Jan 19, 2009)

Silverado_13 said:


> That's what I was doing. I'm pretty sure I set the aperature too wide. Going to the track again on Sunday so I'll try again.


 
You did not have it wide it was at F22 1/125 for first shot


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## bdavis (Jan 19, 2009)

gsgary said:


> You did not have it wide it was at F22 1/125 for first shot



Thats what I was saying, the supra was taken at f/22  1/100 sec....

Actually he might be able to open his aperture a bit to f/8 - f/16 to hit his lens' sharpest aperture...but mostly its the pan.


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## bdavis (Jan 19, 2009)

gsgary said:


>



This is a textbook panning shot...nice work!


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## gsgary (Jan 19, 2009)

bdavis said:


> Thats what I was saying, the supra was taken at f/22 1/100 sec....
> 
> Actually he might be able to open his aperture a bit to f/8 - f/16 to hit his lens' sharpest aperture...but mostly its the pan.


 

Looking again i think the OP may have had a bit of up and down movement ?


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## gsgary (Jan 19, 2009)

Cheers mate


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## Jklersy (Jan 19, 2009)

I use a mono pod to do all my panning when I am at the track, it has helped me immensly.  This is one I liked from last year.  It was still early in the weekend and I was kinda rusty so this was 1/320 at f8, not as much background blur as I wanted but the car is crisp and the wheel blur is nice.


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## bdavis (Jan 19, 2009)

gsgary said:


> Looking again i think the OP may have had a bit of up and down movement ?



That's kind of what I'm seeing. I think your tips about keeping the elbows in and a smooth press of the shutter would help a lot in this case.


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## Silverado_13 (Jan 21, 2009)

Very helpful advice everyone! I really appreciate it!


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