Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Panning Photos


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Last summer when my husband and I were on
vacation in Whistler, British Columbia, I noticed
everyone was biking. They even have extensive
biking trails and obstacle courses.

I loved watching the bicycle acrobatics
and captured this fun shot as a FREEZE FRAME:



But I also wanted to try
Panning Shots to create movement in
the photos like these:



Even a blurry subject looks cool!


I was delighted to see that Sarah Halstead's

is about Panning Shots.

She gives a great explanation of how to do it,
so check out her Naptime Momtog blog.

If you want to try this...look for subjects
that are moving either left to right or right to left
past your camera.

Using a longer shutter speed...up to 1 second...
as the subject enters the frame, pan with them
so they stay in somewhat focus while the
background blurs creating motion.


While in Whistler, I sat on a slight hill facing
a bicycle trail.

I didn't want to look like some kind of
strange stalker,
so I acted like I was photographing the
woods next to the trail and when
a bike whizzed by, I panned with it.

The bikers didn't even notice me.



I had a ton of DUD shots.
It takes LOTS of practice, but
try this with anything moving.

Try this with cars passing on a busy street
or a child running during a soccer game.


I changed my location because
I noticed some purple flowers a bit
farther down the trail...


I like the purple streaks in
the background.

So look for interesting objects
and colors in the background.


Last month, a mother hired me to
take hockey portraits of her ten-year-old son.


I remembered the panning shots
and tried them here.

I LOVE that he is blurry...
looks like neat ART!


She loved them, too!



This summer should provide a great
variety of fun subjects for you to try this techinique.

Have FUN!

8 comments:

  1. Oh I love these!! Awesome shots. I will have to try with them all blurred too. Very cool!

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  2. Wow, so many great shots ;) I love these!

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  3. Your shots are great! You are right that blurred one really does look like art!! I had a tough time with mine, but I think if they come out right, they look really cool!! :)

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  4. THey look great! This is what we are working on in my class this week.

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  5. I am totally inspired - I seriously need to get out there and practice practice practice!

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  6. Great photography, love them all.

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  7. These are great! I love them! I'm sure my son can keep me busy practicing this summer

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