Tuesday Tips #288 – The Secrets of Panning

Want to know something funny? As cool as the panning technique is, it was discovered by complete accident. Apparently, photographers back then didn’t have film with speeds fast enough to give them the fast shutter speed they needed to freeze their moving frames. Luckily, the technique is all ours today and I think its overwhelmingly unanimous that we find it thrilling every time we nail the idea of motion in a shot.

Now if panning is brand new to you, please dont run out there assuming you’re going to perfect it the first time. Honestly, it can take dozens upon dozens of photos to get just one right. First up, shoot manual so that you can choose your shutter speed, because a slow shutter speed is essential. Second, keep yourself at the same distance from your subject from start to finish because any variation between you and the distance from them will cause you to lose that tack sharp focus on your subject. Third, move your shoulders in near perfect motion at the same speed with your subject and fire off that shutter. If it didn’t “pan out”, fire off another dozen until you get that thrill we are talking about!

“All that is important is this one moment in movement. Make the moment important, vital, and worth living. Do not let it slip away unnoticed and unused.”
― Martha Graham