Side-on Panning
There are various methods of panning, but here are some basics to get you started, you will probably find you then adapt this to suit your own style….
Setup
- Set the shutter speed to 1/320 as an absolute maximum, any faster and you won’t get the blurred effect.
- Change the focus mode to “AF-C” (also known as ‘AI_Servo’, or whichever setting on your camera will continually re-focus as you pan) if possible, this will force the camera to continually refocus, important when a car is about to pass at 80mph.
- As a dry run track a car as it passes, find a good level of zoom so it fills the viewfinder nicely when in front of you.
Shooting
- Track the car through the viewfinder at the earliest possible opportunity
- Hold the shutter release down half-way to initiate focus
- Continue to track the car with the button half-pressed, the camera will continue to refocus
- Fully press the shutter release at the point where you want to capture the car
- Continue to track the car in a smooth movement
The most important thing is to ‘follow through’, there should be no pause or abrupt end once you have taken the shot, continue to pan smoothly and you are more likely to get the shot.
How far do you go with the shutter speed? Well that depends entirely on how successful you are with it, here are some examples, along with a very fast shutter speed to show what happens if you took a ‘normal’ photograph of a passing car…
1/1600 - no blurring of wheels or background, very easy
1/320 - slight blurring of wheels and background, reasonably easy
1/250 – good blur in wheels and background
1/160 - great balance of difficulty/result
1/80 – completely blurred wheels and background, difficult
