Panning help!

[candidrachel]

I'm bummed that that photo didn't come out as I'd hoped. I tried various shutter speeds and this is probably the best of the lot! I so wanted Chloe sharp in the chair carousel and a blurry background but at £2 a ride and only about 3x round in a circuit it could easily cost over £20 to get the right shot given the number of photos I take lol!

What did I do wrong??

Here is the photo:

ISO 200
f 16
speed 1/30

[Sterling]

I'd say it's just a matter of practice. Did you mean to have her way out on the edge of the frame like that? Or was it just tough to get her in a better position while you panned? If your shutter speed and your panning speed perfectly match the subject speed it will be sharp. I'm guessing you were panning a little faster than the carousel was moving which caused you to be a little "ahead" of your subect which in turn led to some blurring on the subject.

[candidrachel]

Thank you Sterling for replying. No I didn't intend for her to be way out in the corner like that and yes it was hard to get her right in the position to be able to get her sharp in the shot. Actually the carousel was going round quite fast SO I thought that 1/30 would be slow enough. It wasn't a very big carousel so I kept waiting for her to come back round for me to try again arrrggh.

We're going to a theme park on Wednesday next week so I'll take your advice and try to get the shutter speed and panning speed to match.

Once again thanks for taking the time to reply.

[Sterling]

For something like a carousel, I would take a few minutes and just practice the pan to get my panning speed right. Concentrate on keeping one person, horse, whatever in the centre of your frame for the entire duration of your pan. I think a lot of people have a tendency to stop their pan at the moment they click the shutter. Like any kind of sports swing, you will get better, more consistent results if you follow through smoothly past the point of shutter release. At the moment you click the shutter the viewfinder will go dark. Concentrate on continuing with the subject in the centre of the frame after that brief darkness.

[DanaD]

So I know this is a little weird but I get the best panning results when i stand with my side to my subject and when they come into frame i turn my upper body to the left to pan with them. I think it slows me down some and its a nice fluid motion turning at the hips. I know, I know its silly but If im doing sports photos and for some reason having trouble getting the focus when i know my settings are correct. I turn to this trusty technique and it works. And for panning, practice makes perfect : ) I wrote this tutorial awhile back, im sure its not the only way of doing it, heck i dont even know if its the right way but it works for me.

Danas Spot: Lifetime Avalanche Photos Online!

Good Luck!

[candidrachel]

Once again thank you for the replies. I've been reading alot today about panning techniques and like Sterling says to carry on the pan even after pressing the shutter and thank you Dana for the tip on having the the body sideways and turning from the hips during the pan.

I'll keep your tips in mind next time and let you know how I get on.

[AdrenoJunkie]

I was just reading about this earlier in the book Understanding Exposure. Maybe try a faster shutter speed. Up to 1/60. It could be you're too slow and it's catching any movement or vibrations from her. Looking at it closely the chain in her right hand from just below her hair and on up is fairly sharp.(relatively speaking) Especially between her hand and hair. So maybe just a lil faster shutter to freeze any lil movements of hers. I've never tried this techniques so, ya know, grain of salt and all that.

[RichardTaylor]

This tute (of mine) was for motor sport, however similar principals apply so you may find it come in handy. Are you on the carousel as well.
If not try that as well. Then you won't need to pan to get the blurry background. Just focus on your subject and shoot (lots) with a slow shutter speeds.

Panning: Motor sport

[Mike367]

Since I'm right handed, I find it easier to pan from left to right than from right to left. I position myself such that I will be facing straight ahead when the shot is taken, then twist at the waist in the direction the action will come from.

[NicoleScraps]

sorry for the dumb question, but what does panning mean? Do you physically move the camera to follow an object in motion? I am thinking from your discussion that this is what it means.