Panning Technique

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Joe on July 13, 2009 at 12:11pm

While I'm not nearly as good as I'd like to be with this, I have gotten some good shots from time to time.

I think what has helped me the most is a very large flash memory card. :)

I'm not sure that I've found anything to practice on that has helped with the technique besides being at the track and trying different things. I have heard others suggest birds in flight as a good practice, but they don't usually travel in a straight line. The other difficult factor is the speed to pan. I find that usually it takes me at least 10 shots before I start getting close to where I want to be in keeping with the cars.

Shutter speed obviously has a significant effect. I'll usually start with a little bit faster shutter speed (1/750) and work my way lower as I get more comfortable with panning with the cars on a particular day. Depending on the track and car speeds, I have gotten some good images with shutter speeds as low as 1/200. Any slower, and they are usually too soft to do much with. I'm sure others with a steadier hand may have better success with slower speeds.

My 2 cents at least...

Here's a decent shot of Danica at the Glen, shot at 1/320

Attachments:

• Danica_Glen.jpg, 242 KB

Permalink Reply by Joe on July 22, 2009 at 3:44pm

Wow, I'm away from the site for a few days, and then all the replies come rolling in! Wow, some awesome shots on your flickr site. I'm envious! Out of curiosity, how does one go about getting a press pass/photographers credentials for the races? I'd love to be able to get a little closer to the action at some of the tracks.

You're right, road courses do seem to be the best for getting a good clear unobstructed view of the cars for practicing your panning techniques. I see you discouraged alcohol before shooting, I'll also add to that too much coffee. Caffeine isn't good for a steady hand, at least not with me!

Another question, kind of unrelated though... How do you find the time to get through all the images you come home from a race with? I find that while I have some great shots, finding the time to process thru them all and pick out the best is a very time consuming task. Any suggestions?

Permalink Reply by xorpheous on July 31, 2009 at 11:03pm

Trying out some of y'all's suggestions. Where can I improve? It still doesn't seem as sharp as I think it could be.

Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/11.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
Focal Length: 201.6 mm
ISO Speed: 200

Permalink Reply by xorpheous on August 1, 2009 at 10:33pm

Tried at 400 today. Good tip!



Exposure: 0.004 sec (1/250)
Aperture: f/13.0
Focal Length: 200 mm
Focal Length: 201.6 mm
ISO Speed: 400

Permalink Reply by Joe on August 4, 2009 at 1:54pm

Some nice shots X. Bikes have got to be tough to shoot. How close were you for these shots? I find that it's usually easier to pan when I can get closer to the action and go with a shorter focal length, somewhere around 70mm is nice if you can get closer to the action.