SilvaSpot.com PhotoBlog

Panning Technique
By: Rich Silva
Often, action is occurring right before your eyes. Capturing a snapshot of an event is as simple as pressing the shutter button on your camera; however, showing a sense of motion in the image takes a bit more thought, planning, and skill. All of which are attainable by a little practice, knowing your camera, and understanding the relationship between ISO, Shutter Speed, and Aperture.

My passion is automotive and aviation photography, but these techniques apply to any fast-moving sport—or even the fast moving toddler. This technique, commonly referred to as “Panning”, requires the photographer to keep the moving subject still in the viewfinder while the subject is moving by them. By keeping the subject still, and by using a relatively slow shutter speed, the relative movement of the background will blur-out, all while keeping the subject tack-sharp. This effect works because you are keeping the subjects relative motion essentially zero by panning the camera and tracking the subject in the viewfinder, thus the relative motion of the subject is zero. The subject does not move in the viewfinders, but the background is whizzing by. The trick is to click off a couple of images while you are panning the camera with the subject.

In order for the panning technique to really show the relative motion of the subject, the shutter speed has to be relatively slow. Relatively is the operative word. Shutter speeds for fast moving objects require a faster of the “Slow” shutter speed, say 1/90th to 1/250th; while slower moving objects will require even slower shutter speeds, around 1/20th to 1/60th. These shutter speeds are by no means a hard and fast rule, but rather are determined through practice, experimentation, and constant review of the images in the camera’s LCD.

Controlling aperture has the benefit of helping keep your images sharp. Recall, aperture controls the depth of field of an image. A small aperture (F2.8 – F5.6) results in a shallow depth of field, where only a small portion of the “Depth” of an image is sharp. A large aperture (F8-F16) allows for more of the image to be sharp, foreground to background. Therefore, when panning, it is best to keep the aperture as wide open as possible. This will help keep more of the subject in focus as you have move depth in your image.

Of course for any set ISO, the shutter speed slows as the aperture is decreased. What this means—as the aperture of the lens is closed in order to increase the depth of field, the shutter must stay open longer to let the required amount of light to the sensor for the exposure. Therefore, keeping an eye on your shutter speed and aperture is crucial, and by adjusting the ISO for the light levels, you can keep the shutter speed relatively low and keep the aperture small.
So you have the basics, now you have to go out and shoot, practice, shoot some more, and get some really exiting movement in your images. Good Luck!

Rich Silva is a freelance photographer and writer. Copyright 2009-All Rights Reserved.

JPG Magazine: Art Imitating Life

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F2.8
1/60 sec
ISO 200
200mm

Coopers Hawk

I think he is a Coopers Hawk.

F10 @ 1/40th ISO 800
70-200 F2.8 w/ 2x extender
taken at 350mm.

The Idea

Susan asked me what I would like to do for my birthday.  After some thought I said, “I think you will get mad at me for saying this, but, I would like to go camping for my birthday.”  Susan wasn’t too pleased, and suggested going to the beach instead.  I insisted that I would like to go camping.  And so it was set, we were going camping on Labor Day weekend. After some thought, Labor Day weekend for camping probably isn’t the best time to go…as everyone else who likes camping and has the long weekend will be joining us at wherever campsite we end up picking.  It will be packed.  Originally I thought I would go to Pyramid Lake, Nevada—a recreational area north-east of Reno and approximately an eight hour drive.  I changed my mind to Navajo Lake, a three to four hour drive.  Navajo Lake resides in the Dixie National Forest of Utah near the summit of Cedar Mountain.  This is a modest peak for Utah, summiting around 9910 feet.  Navajo Lake is around the 9000 foot mark (give or take).

Susan came to the realization that she did not want to go camping, but rather, wanted to stay home and do some homework.  I took this as she didn’t want to freeze in the woods; but rather, she would go shopping — which she ultimately did.The Trip – Friday I took off at noon from work and rushed home.  I threw all the gear I packed the night before into the bed of the truck and packed the rest of the gear—Clothes, sundries, refrigerated items, etc.  Once the truck was packed, off to school I went to grab the boys and head off to the Utah Mountains.  Once I got all the kids in the truck and all things loaded, we hit the road at about 2:45 pm.

The drive was uneventful and took approximately three and a half hours.  However, when we left Las Vegas, the car thermometer read 110 degrees.  When we arrived at the campsite, at 6:15 pm and at approximately 9000 feet elevation, the temperature was a chilly 56 degrees.  The campsite we chose was first-come-first serve.  Most of the drive-in campsites were taken, but there were a few walk-in campsites open.  I chose one of the walk-ins’ that was not too far from the parking area and restrooms, but still far away from the RV-ers in the drive-in spots.

The boys were eager to get out of the truck, so to pacify them I gave Lewie a walkie-talkie, and we chatted back an forth while I unpacked the truck an brought everything up to the campsite.  Once I got the truck unloaded, I off-loaded the boys and they helped me set up the tent, start the campfire, and get generally settled in.  The campsites were a bit too close together for my taste—within earshot of the next site.  But the campsites were well equipped with a pick nick table, designated tent area, and a nice fire-pit with a cast iron cooking grill.  We had hot-dogs cooked over the open fire for dinner as we got settled in.

After setting up the tent and making some hot chocolate for the boys, night settled in at the lake.  The temperature was dropping and the boys were fading.  This was the last time I looked at the time the rest of the weekend.  It was seven-thirty.  I got the boys in their sleeping bags and settled in for sleep.

I returned to the campfire for some warmth and pulled out my camera gear.  The moon was not full, but deep in the forest with no other light pollution, the moon was bright and illuminated the whole area as it set behind the mountain trees.  Later, as the moon set below the horizon, the stars were bright and the light from the campfire made the trees glow.  As I kept warm in front of the fire, I watched the time spin away. Saturday morning I woke up to the stirring sound of other campers—not exactly the natural sounds of birds. Navajo Lake was just a few hundred feet from our campsite.  The early morning lake was glass.  So I grabbed my camera to take some pictures:

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