Panning

Panning is the act of following a moving object with the camera, usually horizontally, during an extended exposure.

Most photographers take great care, through the use of tripods and fast shutter speeds, to reduce blur in a photograph, unless they want to show something moving past a still background.
Panning reverses this second case, with the object being to make the main subject appear to be stationary, while the background magically “moves” around it. The result is like a shot taken with a very shallow depth of field, but with the background being re-cast into solid lines instead of blurry blobs of color.

One of the most common subjects where photographers use panning is moving vehicles, so we will use that as our example. However, literally anything that is moving independently from its surroundings that you can take a perpendicular aspect to is a possible target for a pan shot.

Whoa! Big phrase up there: Perpendicular aspect. All it means is that you are able to point your two little photographer’s feet so that, if you drew a line out from them, the line would be perpendicular to the path of the moving subject.

Think for instance, about a metronome. You can focus on the weight at the head of the metronome and blur out the rest of it with a quick pan shot.

Panning is also possible with things to which you can only get a diagonal aspect, but we’ll keep this simple.

Panning is not for sissies. If someone hasn’t already told you that, during normal photography, you should be ecstatic if one picture out of 36 is something you can show others, you will absolutely learn that during panning. If you do not have the guts to accept that even your best panning shots will be some part lucky timing, well, don’t say I didn’t warn you. People who are experienced at doing this still only get it right on occasion.

Take our moving car. You are safely placed on the sidewalk along the street. On the other side of the street is the stationary background that is going to become your moving background in the pan shot.

Let’s start with the background. You should take some practice shots, panning through the background without a main subject, to get an idea of what it is going to look like. If you don’t like the look, move to the next block, or the other side of the street.

Shoot in shutter-priority mode, since nothing is more important than the amount of time the shutter will be open for this. Now, you have to do something a little counter-intuitive. This rule applies only for objects that are going to pass all the way by you in a pan shot. Point your feet towards where your shutter is expected to close, not perpendicular to the path of the subject. Then aim your camera back behind you, literally looking over your shoulder at the beginning of the shot. When the shutter closes, you should be facing the same direction as your feet.

Why? Because panning, like swinging a baseball bat, requires follow-through. If you want crisp, straight lines in your background, you should get into the habit of continuing the panning movement after the shutter has closed.

If your feet are perpendicular to the path of the moving subject, there is a chance that you will reach the limit of how far your body can twist before the shot is over. It may be barely noticeable in your body, but your shot will notice any decrease in the speed of the pan at the end, by bunching up and blurring the moving subject, or causing little “hooks” at the end of the exposure. The hooks are caused by your body actually reaching its limit and moving back slightly before the shutter closes.

• Continue a line perpendicular to the path of your subject out to the background. This is the middle of your pan, and the objects (and their colors) directly across from you will dominate the background of the shot because they will be in the frame longer than anything to their left or right. If you have the option of picking between two differently colored buildings to be in front of, pick them based on the color of the oncoming car, and how it will contrast.

• The more time it takes for you to execute the pan (the slower your moving subject) the more solid and identifiable the colors in your background will become in the final shot. On a highway, that street sign may not show up at all. On a city street, it could be a solid line through the whole shot.

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