framed realitymotion blur http://www.framedreality.com Photography tips, tutorials, theory and inspiration Tue, 26 Jul 2011 11:05:53 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Increase the experience of action in your photos with panning http://www.framedreality.com/use-panning-to-emphasize-action http://www.framedreality.com/use-panning-to-emphasize-action#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 20:57:44 +0000 Marius Waldal http://waldal.no/framedreality/?p=181 Did you ever see an action photo of a cyclist where the rider is in perfect focus yet the photo is full of speed? That’s because the background has lots of motion blur, revealing that the rider is actually moving very fast. This effect is accomplished by panning.

What is panning?

Panning with a moving subject increases the feeling of movement in a photo. Panning means that you move your camera, following your subject and keeping it on the same spot in your viewfinder. The effect is that your subject remains in focus, while the background is blurred out by the motion. This motion blur is perceived similarly as if you were glancing out of the window while driving (except on a photo you are able to study it!).

When to pan

Common subjects are athletes, race cars etc. A photo of a rally car rounding a curve where only the car is in focus creates a dramatic effect, enabling the viewer to literally feel the speed of the car. Panning is essential to anyone needing to incur a sense of speed in their photos.

How to do it

To achieve any kind of blur in a photo, the shutter speed needs to be slow enough to capture motion. This means that you will probably need a tripod to take successful panning photos. But not necessarily. It also depends on the speed of the subject.

If you’re shooting a fast-moving car, very short panning will be necessary to record the motion blur. If your subject is a person walking, you will probably need a longer panning movement. Also, the distance from your subject to the background determines your shutter speed. If the background is relatively close, the motion blur will be greater than if the background are distant trees. Planning and testing is essential.

Felix' first ride by Marius Waldal

Felix' first ride by Marius Waldal


For this photo of my son’s first bicycle ride without support, I was rollerskating beside him. So instead of just panning my camera, the whole photographer was panning (which, by the way, did not make it easy to hold the camera steady…)! This is effective if you can photograph through the window of a car etc. A turning motion with your camera is then not needed. And besides, you don’t run the risk of running your rollerskates in a hole in the road, breaking both yourself and your camera…

Think differently

Almost all panning photos use horizontal panning. Of course, this is a result of the fact that, by far, most moving things are moving on the ground, or level to it. But try if you can catch falling subjects using panning! It will be difficult, but all the more rewarding. Autumn is a great time to try this, as there are leaves falling from the trees. Try with any object, and get a friend to help you drop something from some height.

If you manage to pan vertical movement, share your accomplishment with us here!

Your comments and inputs are welcome as well.

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