How too Panning Shots

Stangman98

Senior Member
Will love to hear suggestions on the how to of proper panning while shooting auto sports. I have been work on this for a while and still am no good at it.
What are your tips and tricks to getting great motion shots at the race track?
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Damon, I used to be a corner flagman at my local motorcycle race track. I was fortunate that I was able to bring my camera with me and take shots of the riders as they blew by me.

I used a monopod to steady the camera, set to Shutter Priority, at 1/1000th sec, ISO 100. The trick is to track your subject as they approach you and then take the shot just as they go by. I've used a variety of lenses to take these shots....18-105.....55-300...28-105. Set the camera to AF-C priority in your Custom Settings Menu. Shut off VR when on the monopod. And practice, practice, practice. :) Sometimes I'd even set my burst mode to 5 fps, just so I'd be sure I'd get even ONE good shot! :)

Here are some examples of what I shot:

DSC_9434.jpg

Yellow Ducati.jpg

DSC_0038.jpg

DSC_0040.jpg

I hope this helps in some small way.
 

AC016

Senior Member
Taking photos of airliners that take off or land at a couple 100 km/h, i can tell you that it's not the easiest thing to do, especially - in my case - keeping an A330 in frame. Put your camera into burst or multi shot mode. This will insure that you will get atleast a few decent shots - the first one may not be that great. Follow throw with your panning - move with the car. Don't jab the shutter button - press it gently. USE VR! Have a fast shutter speed: 1/320.... from here, you can try and go slower and see what results you get.
 

Stangman98

Senior Member
Damon, I used to be a corner flagman at my local motorcycle race track. I was fortunate that I was able to bring my camera with me and take shots of the riders as they blew by me.

I used a monopod to steady the camera, set to Shutter Priority, at 1/1000th sec, ISO 100.

Am I reading that right? You were shooting at 1/1000? I am going to assume you added an extra zero on that.
 

westmill

Banned
The correct way to pan a shot is to hold the camera steady to the eye but instead of moving your head as you would normaily you turn and twist from the hip ! :D This minimises the up and down motion you are trying to avoid whilst being very smooth :D
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Am I reading that right? You were shooting at 1/1000? I am going to assume you added an extra zero on that.

Yeah, you're reading that right. :) But actually, the 3 shots I posted were shot at 1/250th and in Aperture Mode. I picked the wrong ones to demonstrate the 1/1000th shots! LOL I have those on a DVD in my collection, but was too lazy to dig them out. :) Some of my best shots were at 1/1000th of a sec at F8, ISO 100 at the track. Even the wheels looked to be at a dead stop! :)

And like Westmill said, use your hips to pan with the subject, not your eye. Just keep your eye glued to the viewfinder and be smooth, use burst mode, and remember to follow through. Keep practicing....you'll get it. :)
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
Some of my best shots were at 1/1000th of a sec at F8, ISO 100 at the track. Even the wheels looked to be at a dead stop!

Nice shots, Jack.

Your shutter speed is going to depend on how fast the subject is moving. Yoy the background to be blurred . . . Too fast a shutter speed can "freeze the background too while you're panning.
 

fotojack

Senior Member
Nice shots, Jack.

Your shutter speed is going to depend on how fast the subject is moving. Yoy the background to be blurred . . . Too fast a shutter speed can "freeze the background too while you're panning.

Thanks, Helene, and you're absolutely right about the fast shutter speed freezing the background, too. Those motorcycles are traveling at over 120 MPH!...so I wanted to freeze the rider and bike as much as I could. Some were shot at 1/500th, some at 1/250th and some again were at 1/1000th. All have their own particular quality and purpose. I used to get requests from riders that wanted certain "looks" as they rode past.


By the way.........what does "yoy the background to be blurred" mean? ;)
 

ohkphoto

Snow White
By the way.........what does "yoy the background to be blurred" mean?

LOL. "you want" is what I meant to say . . . now I'm having "keyboard" issues . . . typing faster than the computer can handle I guess :)
 
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