Panning help?

mrbez

mrbez

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Hi Guys,

I am going on a driving day tomorrow where my friend and I get to drive numerous cars, including a Ferrari and a Lamborghini.

I want to get the static shots in, but also try some panning. I have never done it before, and was just wondering how I should go about it. Is it worth trying it, as I would hate to take 100 attempts and all of them are rubbish.

Thanks.
 
Go for it, tomorrow is as good a time as any. There's a couple of hours of daylight left to get some practice in now if you want. :)
Start off with a shutter speed of 1/320 then try 1/250 then 1/200, you may find yourself getting to 1/100. Keep the camera steady, I find it best to tuck your elbows in but try not to get too stiff and rigid. Keep your feet firmly planted to the floor and spin from the hips. Pick a good clear spot infront of you at which to press the shutter button but remember to keep moving with the car after doing so.
 
I usually set on Shutter priority and let the aperture sort itself out. This isn't really down to laziness (that's my story and I'm sticking to it) but you will find light conditions changing all the time if it's sunny and there's clouds too. It gives you one thing less to worry about as you practice your panning technique. Just make a mental note of roughly what the aperture is each time then you can always switch to Manual and make your own adjustments when you feel ready.
I doubt anyone is perfect first time at panning, some will produce better results than others but don't be afraid to try. I still manage to take really bad shots, ok I don't get to take shots every week and I'm not a pro but other times I can get the sweet spot and get a very good success rate from shot 1.
Best of luck.

If you have a monopod, use it it's so much easier to hold the camera steady and make sure it only moves on a vertical plane.
 
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Pretty good advice from Nilagen there.

Only thing to add really is about metering, esp if you're using a semi-auto mode. Tarmac is pretty much 18% grey so a good place to meter from. Beware metering from the cars if they're different tones as you'll get a different exposure every time.
 
My take on panning:-

Shutter speeds as mentioned. I normally aim for 1/125 which provides a good sense of speed but experiment.

The key is in your posture. Generally when watching motorsport we point or bodies towards the oncomng racers - but for panning this doesn't work too good.
Get yourself in a position where you would be comfortable taking a static shot in the area the car will be when you are panning - then rotate your hips/waist towards the cars where they will come into view. By doing this when you are panning your body is moving naturally back into position and not over exerting - my hitrate went up at lower speeds when I begun doing this.

Personally I don't use a monopod - I find it restricting.
 
what AF mode do you guys use?
 
Chr1stof said:
what AF mode do you guys use?
Click to expand...

AI Servo only.

Don't get tempted by the AI Focus mode which is supposed to detect when the subject is moving and switch automatically. It's about as useless as a useless thing with bits that don't work.
 
RichardtheSane said:
AI Servo only.

Don't get tempted by the AI Focus mode which is supposed to detect when the subject is moving and switch automatically. It's about as useless as a useless thing with bits that don't work.
Click to expand...

Thanks :)
Not single shot either I take it lol
 
I meant one shot AF rather than shooting mode :) I know it sounds obvious to use AF servo but I was wondering if one shot AF was faster than servo and would work better when you know you wont be doing continuous shooting?
 
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