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How do you go about getting great panning shots of things like cars and bicycles so that the background is nice and blurred but the target is sharp as can be. I have tried on many occasion to do panning shots and I just can't get the setup right.
What lens setup, shutter speed would be a good place to start?
I find a long lens helps 200-300mm, as you have to move the camera more side to side, being closer and using a shorter lens will give you problems with the subject coming toward you and then going away. Being further away yields a more consistent side to side panning motion which is easier to perform consistently. A strong deliberate sideways motion also helps overcome any slight vertical motion that can blur your subject.
I try to lock my elbows at 90 degrees like a sort of tripod and move from the waist when doing this sort of panning. A long lens and fast subject requires fast panning so I use a shutter speed of around 1/200 - 1/250s for motorsports:
This was shot @200mm, 1/200s, f/4
Another one @200mm, 1/250s, f/7.1
This one was done with a wider lens @75mm, 1/250, f/7.1 due to space. A longer lens would have given me more movement and better blur.
Even with the best lens and technique you will probably still miss more often than hit, so it always takes time and patience.
You need to place yourself in a position that the object you wish to photograph passes in front of from one side of you to the other.
A good starting setting (not essential or always appropriate, but will help get things started) is to use shutter priority (named Tv on Camera dials). The shutter speed you select will determine how much background blur you get during the pan. The faster the object travels past you, the faster your shutter speed can be and still detect movement in the background. There are other considerations when you select your shutter speed. When shooting propeller aircraft you have to be mindful not to freeze the propeller blades by selecting too fast a shutter speed; equally with vehicles, you don't want to freeze the wheel rotation as either of these make the aircraft / vehicle look stationary. Jet aircraft typically have no give away moving parts visible so you can get away with a slightly faster shutter speed (bearing in mind that you still want background blur)
For focus settings, set your camera to AI Servo (this is what Canon calls it, use the equivalent of your brand) and select a single focal point from your AF system which should be placed to cover the area of the frame you wish to keep sharp while tracking the object. The AI Servo setting will constantly adjust the focus of the moving object.
Metering settings will vary depending on the subject - if it is sunny and the subject has highly reflective surfaces (aircraft canopies etc), using spot metering is a risky option as you could meter off the glinting sun and your camera would expose for that rather than the whole scene, I tend to use partial center weighted metering.
The challenge is to smoothly pan the camera along the path of the object without introducing any conflicting movements which will introduce motion blur in the final image. Improving this is down to technique and practice mostly, although some lenses have 2 mode image stabilisers which stabilise only in the direction across which you are panning (if panning left to right they stabilise for up/down movements and vice versa if panning down to up).
Your posture is quite important to provide a solid base on which to perform the panning movement.
You can buy specialised heads to assist with using supports (gimbal heads) but they aren't cheap. I never pan supported as I find it too restrictive in movement, especially when in a crowd of spectators: you will have to move around your tripod as you pan, which a lot of time there just isn't room to do.
I used to shoot a lot of motorsports photography, cars mainly and my main advice is to practice, lots!
It is easier with a longer lens as you are less likely to get distractions in the background.
This leads me onto my next tip, choose a location where the background is plain - a lone tree, or (even worse) a marshal in bright orange overalls can ruin a shot.
Shutter speed is the key to controlling motion blur, so set your camera to shutter priority. As a beginner I would advise starting at 1/125th and adjusting from there. I find that unless you are dealing with something extremely fast 1/250th doesn't give enough motion blur.
For the technique I advise tracking the subject as soon as it comes into view, give the camera a chance to focus on it, press the shutter then continue tracking the subject as it goes away from you, this should be one smooth movement of the upper body.
I found that having second cameras and or camera bags on my shoulder got in the way of the smooth panning movement, so this is also something to bear in mind.
