Panning Help

Can anybody offer suggestions to help me with panning...I can't seem to get it right as often as I like. Occasionally I get lucky, but most seem to have focus problems...or is it camera shake?

These were taken with a Rebel XT w/ 70-200 4.0L. Center metering, Center focus point, 1/100 or so shutter speed with auto aperature.

I am getting somethings in focus, but not the entire picture. Is it my focus setting? Camera shake? Technique?

One more thing, I am using AI Servo as well.

Strange.. looks like you caught focus on the rear of the vehicle every time so it doesn't look like a camera shake issue.

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Canon 350D Digital Rebel XT
Canon 70mm-200mm 2.8L

Can you post more EXIF info ? It would help greatly if we knew what was the f stop for instance. Looks like you have a shallow DOF, as the rear tires seem sharper than the front ones.

My guess is that you were at f/4, but I could be wrong, as I'm no expert at panning myself.

Try M mode at f/7.1 or f/8, 1/125 sec, and ISO to acheive that or close to. A monopod would also help here.

Let us know,
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Robert Gravel
http://www.pbase.com/rgravel

You need to be steadier.

There are two components to a panning shot. Vertical and horizontal. Looking at your pictures you are getting motion blur in both directions. The vertical component can be controled with a monopod. The horizontal component takes practice because you have to track the subject.

Pick a spot on your subject and hold a focus point over that spot very carfully as you pan. When the mirror blocks the view continue to pan with the subject and when the mirror moves out of the way you should still be over that same spot on your subject. Practice following.

A monopod can help. You are probably using very low shutter speeds for the focal length and a monopod will steady things.

Here's how I use a monopod to steady things while tracking. At the very least it removes camera shake from the low shutter speeds:



Notice the remote shutter release in my hand. Although not entirely neccesary it does help remove any shake or motion from having your hand on the camera and pressing the shutter button.

I use this setup for birds in flight and have had good success. It provides some stability while leaving enough mobility to track fast moving subjects.

Practice is the key. Keep steady, stay with the subject, practice.

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CityLights
http://www.pbase.com/citylights/favorites
http://www.pbase.com/citylights/favorite_animals
.

To me, it looks like a focusing issue. In every shot, the wing on the rear of the car is pretty sharp, but the rest is not. If it was motion blur, the entire image would be blurry.

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-ERiC

http://www.ERICJHWANG.com

I shot some race pictures (my first) in Malaysia a few weeks ago, and had no trouble. The main difference is, I shot with f/8 (getting a wide field of focus), and with no autofocus. Instead I focused on the point I wanted the car to be and followed until that point to take the image. I don't really trust the AF servo system enough to get it right.

Of course, your images are much nicer for lots of other reasons



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Japan: http://lucs.lu.se/people/jan.moren/log/current.html
Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/

McB said:

Occasionally I get lucky...

Click to expand...

McB, I think you have found one of the secrets of photography. There is some luck involved. Practice will make your efforts better, but don't be discouraged on your path of learning. I have tried panning and know how hard it is. I have never had the subject matter you have so you are fortunate. Too many people believe if they have the best equipment, most expensive lens, and all the gadgets they can get, then the pictures just come out right. It ain't always so. Please share some of your pictures that have worked out.

Jan Moren- While an excellent shot this is really not a "panning" shot. You are stopping the action. Otherwise the guard rail the background would all be a blur. Great shot though.

John

I actually looks to me like it's a slightly different form of camera shake: only on the right side of the picture. Notice the closest end of the airfoil in the back of the car is in focus but the guard behind the drivers head isn't even though they are about the same distance from the camera. I noticed a similar issue in some of my early(er) pictures, although maybe not to that extent. When I finally figured out what I was doing wrong it turns out I was tilting the camear as I panned. To combat this I practiced in a relatively dark room that had a solid piece of molding on one wall. I put the camera at the same height as the moldind, set my shudder to half a second or so, and practiced panning while taking pictures until the top and bottom of the molding were as sharp as I could get them.

Granted I'm still relatively new at this whole thing myself so I could be totally wrong about your pictures...

Isaac

I should clarify..not only on the right side of the picture, just more pronounced.

Isaac

I have tried various methods including using the AI servo but here is what works best for me and I dont use a monopod or tripod..

First of all pick the spot you want to use and do a couple of dummy pans to see at what point you will actually take the shot. I then focus on the track at the point the vehicle will be when I take the shot and hold the button half pressed till I am ready to take the shot. As the vehicle approaches I start panning it from a resonable distance off to get a smooth movement and as it passes the point where I had already focussed I take the pic but continue to follow trough after the pic has been taken.

The reason for that is agian to create smooth movement. Its a bit like a golf swing...

I also prefer to be at right angles to the vehicle as this reduces the chances of focus issues.

You really need to experiment on the day with your shutter speeds to. Too quick and you will not get the blurred background and too slow and ...well everything is blurred!

I usually shoot in Aperture priority and if I am struggling to get the right exposure i will bump the ISO up.

If you want a very blurred background then I would suggest the use of a tripod. I dont like hiking around circuits with a lot of gear so I tend to shoot
handheld.

To the original poster. Your shutter speed is far too slow. It will depend on the speed of the objects but you really would have needed a far faster shutter speed there... say around 1/320

balloonchasers said:

McB said:

Occasionally I get lucky...

Click to expand...

Jan Moren- While an excellent shot this is really not a "panning"
shot. You are stopping the action. Otherwise the guard rail the
background would all be a blur. Great shot though.

Click to expand...

Well, it is a panning shot, just with a bit too fast exposure time. I'm very much learning, and this was my first time for something like F1. As you say, it's not movement-blurred enough.

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Japan: http://lucs.lu.se/people/jan.moren/log/current.html
Images: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jannem/

The odd part of the photo is part of the car appears to be in focus. Please post your aperture setting. I suspect it is a combination of a shallow DOF and panning together, because of the focal length and the size of the car a large aperture can result in a part of the car OOF. For cars - which I try to fill the frame - I usually need to use a moderate to small aperture (typically f/8 or smaller).

I also shoot Tv (shutter priority) not aperture priority - shutter speed depends on the speed of the subject - see exif for what I used below. The first car in the picture was going about 100 to 140 mph when the photo was taken and I took the pic at 1/200sec. The second (the Porsche Spyder) was going closer to 160 mph - see the 100% crop which I took at 1/250sec. 1/100sec may be too slow.

I also almost always use a monopod. And very important - practice on moving objects - it takes a little time to get use to keeping the object in the fame while shooting.

Far better than 50% of my panning shots are sharp - most often the reason I don’t have a “keeper” is I didn’t capture the entire car in the image (since I try to set to focal length so the car fills the view it’s easy to end up with only the front or back of the car) - or the shot just wasn’t interesting.



1/200s f/13.0 at 140.0mm iso200



1/250s f/16.0 at 215.0mm iso400

and 100% crop



Keep practicing on any moving target - I'd like to see more motorsports pictures posted here.

I did a bit better today. Not great but suggestions here and more practice has helped some. I need to buy a monopod for the futue

Much much better. I like the last shot best - the angle and size - still looks a little fuzzy in the front (aperture?). Do you know what made the most difference - before and after? Also I’d be interested in seeing your exif for the shots.

I believe the monopod will be a good investment. Also, I try to fill as much of the frame with the car(s) I’m taking a picture of since I like to enlarge some of my best shots to poster size - they look awesome on a 16x24 or 20x30.
Thanks for posting the shots.

I think you're doing a good job, but in all honesty, the pictures don't look tack sharp to me. I think the panning part is good, but the sharpness could be better. What lens did u use?
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Kind regards,

Endless Quest
http://www.Rivian-Art.com