A few days ago I browsed around flickr and stumbled upon a very interesting photo taken somewhere in Jogjakarta, Indonesia by javajive. It was a photo of a moving “becak” on the street, the interesting part was I can really feel the movement, you can see the photo here. I learned that photo is taken using a technique called panning shot.

What is panning shot?

Well in plain english it means shooting a moving target where the moving target is in focus while the background is blurred. This technique is often employed in sports such as running, motorbike racing, cycling, aerosport etc, simply because it helps viewers to easily acknowledge that the subject of interest is in motion and thus making the photograph more attractive and complete.

The following are tips that I wish to share with many new photographers to create a successful panning shot:

1. When photographing a moving object, it’s best to move the camera in a way that tracks your subject all the way through exposure. Of course you want to keep the camera pointed at it while you set up your shot, waiting for the perfect moment to hit the shutter release. The critical part is that you shouldn’t stop moving when you hit the button. I know that we should be still when taking a shot, but you know what, you are being still, relative to your subject.

2. Hold your camera with both hands, if you are using DSLR camera then put your right hand at 3 o’clock position, the left supporting your lens at the 6 o’clock position. Start from one extreme and begin tracking the subject in a smooth horizontal motion. When you release the shutter, keep panning in the same direction, as if to follow through. This helps keep your motion smooth. Your whole upper body is involved in the movement, hips included. If you guys are trying to pan with a point and shoot, while viewing the LCD screen on the back of your camera, make sure your subject is at the center, if you have a view finder, I advice you to use it.

3. If your camera has multi-shot feature, you will want to use it as it will increase your chances of getting your desired outcome.

4. To minimize jerky results, It has to do with how you position your body. Say, when you pan from right to left, you end up facing left when your done. Plant your feet and body in the “finished” position of your pan, then twist your body to your pan “start” position. This way, when you shoot, it’s a more natural movement for your body to return to your center stance.

5. Another thing that I’ve learned with panning is that you should be aware of the background. It really helps when it’s colorful and “busy” so that it contrasts with your subject. Otherwise you’ll end up with terrible shots just because of the lame background.

6. As the saying goes “practice make perfect”, in order to take a good panning shot you need a lot of practice and also patience.

Conclusion

Panning shot technique allows a photographer to capture a moving target such as car racing, running, or simply the city crowd. In order to do this technique apart from the tips I’ve covered above, it also related to shutter speed which can be manipulated if you are using DSLR camera, however panning shot can still be done using point & shoot camera (pocket camera) nicely. I disagree with the comments on the relative merits of a DSLR vs point & shoot for taking motion shots. Since I don’t have a DSLR camera, I took all panned photos in this post using Canon Ixus 500 and Kodak M863, and I am very pleased with the result.

I hope this post helps and check out another post of mine about tips on photographing children, here!