Try Panning To Capture Action Or Sporting Movements Clearly

Panning is the art of capturing motion around a moving subject while keeping the subject sharp and clear in the picture.

Once mastered, panning can add an amazing sense of motion and movement, trapped inside a static photographic frame. It may sound easy to do, but requires much practise to perfect the co-ordination needed.

1. Choose the spot in front of you where you want to take your photograph when the subject reaches it.

Pre-focus your camera on that spot by half depressing the shutter until the camera locks its focus. Don’t release that pressure or you will lose the focus lock, but don’t press so hard that you take the picture.

2. Move your camera into position ready to start smoothly following the motion of your subject when it appears. If you are matching the subject’s movement, your subject will stay about the same place on the back viewscreen of your camera.

3. When the subject reaches the point you have focused on, GENTLY squeeze the tip of your finger down fully on the shutter button, BUT STILL KEEP THE CAMERA MOVING SMOOTHLY AT THE SAME SPEED AND LEVEL.

4. The subject will disappear off the screen as your camera takes the image then processes it. Your natural inclination will be to stop the camera moving but you MUST keep a smooth follow-through movement going.

Stopping the camera at the moment you take the photograph will result in the subject, and probably the background too, being blurred and shaky.

This is NOT what you want! Just imagine that you have to keep pointing at the subject as it goes all the way past you. It does take practise to become successful at panning.

You may find it a bit tricky at first to co-ordinate all the elements together. Perhaps anticipation means you fire the camera too early, or getting a smooth fluid movement may not come easily. Practise opportunities are all around you and cost nothing.

Use moving vehicles going past the bus stop. Get your children or your pets to run past you in the garden or on the beach. The more practise you put in, the easier it becomes.

Combine your panning expertise with other techniques, such as using Burst Mode to produce great effective action sequences.