Automotive panning shots

Hey folks, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm to the point of shooting track days on the longest shutter speed I can manage. Not a high success rate, but it can be quite fun, and when you get it right, it looks phenomenal. Anyone else feel the same? Feel free to post up your panning shots.

1/40 f/9


​1/20 f/16


1/5 f/16


1/15 f/14

Those are excellent Doug! Definitely takes skill to do pans right. I have a friend who sometimes works for Nissan on shoots and his work has since attracted wealthy car owners wanting their vehicles photographed for sale promotion or just for the memories.

Excellent shots Doug!!

Some great stuff Doug! If I might make one suggestion, the composition of the shots would have been improved a good bit if you place the vehicles on a vertical third. This draws your eyes into the center of the image rather than out of it. Below is a very quick and dirty PS of what I am talking about:

Haven't been to any races sadly but did some practice with a buddy. They're not amazingly sharp but he was going >40mph so I was using a slightly to low of shutter speed to get the most blur. Not bad for my first try at panning IMO.

Very nice Doug!!! That last one getting squirrly makes me nervous just looking at it. The second one is my favorite.

STM said:

Some great stuff Doug! If I might make one suggestion, the composition of the shots would have been improved a good bit if you place the vehicles on a vertical third. This draws your eyes into the center of the image rather than out of it. Below is a very quick and dirty PS of what I am talking about:

Click to expand...

Thank you for the advice! I will take that into consideration.

​Thanks, everyone else for the comments.

Very good low shutter speed pans. I love the look it gives the photos, it is fast! Keep up the good work Doug.

That first one looks like he's on the way to a spin, his wheels are locked & he's becoming a passenger.

Here's one of mine with my Nikon V1 1/160 @ F5.6...

For pans of bikes, 100-250 or maybe 320 if the subject moves by you fast enough is the best. And f/6.3 in clouds or f/8-11 in sunlight. I personally like the wheel spin blur since it highlights the motion rather than makes the car look potentially parked. 1/40th sounds kind of slow with a lot of room for blurry subject.

This is about the best I have managed up to this point. Setting up for the bus stop at Mid Ohio leading to the carousel, so about 100-110ish right before braking.



1/320th sec

Doug Buttermore said:

Hey folks, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm to the point of shooting track days on the longest shutter speed I can manage. Not a high success rate, but it can be quite fun, and when you get it right, it looks phenomenal. Anyone else feel the same? Feel free to post up your panning shots.

Click to expand...

Great shots but now I have to ask. What is your success rate with these kinds of shots?

Success rate depends on shutter speed. I'd say I can nail 50% of my pans. When I shoot a race car pan it is usually a burst of 3 or 4 shots.

1/125 at F5.6 with a Nikon V1.

crashton said:

Success rate depends on shutter speed. I'd say I can nail 50% of my pans. When I shoot a race car pan it is usually a burst of 3 or 4 shots.

1/125 at F5.6 with a Nikon V1.

Click to expand...

Mid Ohio! Turn 9 vicinity?

I'll give the continuoous a try at the Nationwide race this weekend.

Yes turn 9 just before the Honda pedestrian bridge to the outside of the track. I plan on being at the track Friday & maybe Saturday. Maybe I'll bump into you. Continuous should work well for you. I follow the cars & start shooting as they approach & follow through. Sometimes you can get a nice pan with the car at a 3/4 angle to the lens coming or going.

I was under the tree right before the bridge. The angle worked out pretty well I think. I've had some decent luck at 1/400 and 1/320. Below 1/200 on the faster cars and I have lots of issues.

I think we may have been rubbing shoulders. 1/320 is a speed I use too. It still gives you a bit of wheel blur which looks better that frozen wheels. Keep practicing & you will be able to get your speeds down a bit more.

From the Nationwide race a week or so ago.

Very nice, those guys sure like jumping the curbs,

They really weren't hitting the curbs. The chassis flex that much in certain locations.

I would have though being tube framed with a hunking huge cage that wouldn't happen, but your picture does not lie.

Nice shot by the way!

I expected this from a Lotus.