Had a crack at Panning
Discussion
emenel said:
What sort of shutter speed would you suggest? I'm either getting a sharp image with little movement in the background or I get plenty of motion blur but struggle to keep the subject crisp.
it depends on what you are able to do, and what kind of result you want. if you want really blurred backgrounds you need to practice panning quite a lot to be consistently good. then you can use a longer shutter speed.
eg:
this is a recent shot on a bright sunny day at f5.6 and a 1/640th second shutter speed. so it is all very sharp. no need to actually pan at all:
whereas this was taken in bad light which forced me to expose for much longer to get anywhere near enough light into the photo. it resulted in many more failures due to an inability to pan consistently but i quite like the result. this was f1.8 iso 400 and 1/15 second exposure.

You've also got a load of oppertunity around the GP circuit up by hawthorn, westfield and stirlings, very little in the way of barriers up there and you can get reasonably close to the racing. There's also a tree on the outside of Hailwood Hill before the bridge, if you've got a long enough lens you can get an over head shot at the bottom of the dip which usually look pretty good.
I've not been to Brands this year, last time I went was for the DTM, they'd just built new huge fences around Druids, and it looked like they were going to buiild more - is there any more tall fencing, you used to be able to get a stool or a step ladder on the outside of Druids to get some fantastic shots.
gfwilliams, where did you take that shot from - one of the grandstands?
I've not been to Brands this year, last time I went was for the DTM, they'd just built new huge fences around Druids, and it looked like they were going to buiild more - is there any more tall fencing, you used to be able to get a stool or a step ladder on the outside of Druids to get some fantastic shots.
gfwilliams, where did you take that shot from - one of the grandstands?
emenel said:
Constructive comments would be appreciated...
Thanks.
Thanks.
hi marcus ... i presume from your thread title that you are a panning beginner ?
if so, the shots are very good, and a fine base to build from.
a wee bit of advice is:
i) time at the track is expensive time.
whenever you find five minutes, nip to your local motorway (or similar) and just fire out shot after shot of the traffic passing by.
digal photography costs very little (esp. at the side of the motorway) ... you can analyse the shots, make mental or written notes of your results and successful settings, and then take that knowledge to the trackside next time.
ii) dont be frightened to set up and experiment as slow as 1/30 of a second ... it will come off with time and practice.
iii) set your camera to multiple or continuous shooting ... you may find that the first two pics in a "run" are a tad shaky, and similarly with the latter two, but the two in the middle are generally keepers.
iv) as always, practice, practice & more practice
d F308 MAN said:
just fire out shot after shot of the traffic passing by.
set your camera to multiple or continuous shooting ...
as always, practice, practice & more practice
d
set your camera to multiple or continuous shooting ...
as always, practice, practice & more practice
d Thanks Dave I will do just that and post the results when I'm happy with them
(and yes, it was my first attempt)
Edited by emenel on Wednesday 28th March 13:44
rhubarb said:
gfwilliams, where did you take that shot from - one of the grandstands?
yeah, up on paddock hill bend - took a few attempts to get it right....
another of my panning shots that I tought, using a 18mm F3.5:
all of my shots from the day: here
this was my first attempt at panning
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