PANNING
COMPOSITION - Panning with your camera
Panning is when you follow the motion or speed of your subject with your camera and shoot when you have matched its speed. This means the subject will be in focus whilst the background being static, will be blurred and therefore shows movement. If you held your camera steady as your subject went past you, the chances are the subject would be blurred but the background would be in focus. So keep your camera tracking your subject and don’t take you’re eye off it and fire when you have the moment. This way the subject will be nice and sharp with a soft or blurred background.
These have all been shot by ‘panning’ the camera as the subject moved. Some subjects will be quicker than others, like the Jet powered ‘Thrust’ car. The aircraft were all travelling at the same speed I was, so it’s a lot easier. The giraffe and drag bike were quite close, so panning is the only choice in situations like this.
All photography and text © Jon Davison 2022.