motion blur?

[Lois khalafalla]

I just got my first dslr. It is a canon rebel xs. I have been playing around with it and learning what is what. I was wondering if this is considered motion blur? Is her whole body suppose to be in focus? I was holding the camera too. Thank you for any tips you pass my way.
shutter speed 1/50
no flash
focal length 49mm
F/number F/5.6
ISO speed 500

[Pen]

well to me there appears to be mostly motion blur, her blurred legs and arms are from motion, im guessing you were panning a little too? which would explain the background and then her face and stuff is just from probably not an absolute perfect pan to follow her motion so i guess thats kind of camera shake, were you trying to get the motion blurred effect in this shot?

[Lois khalafalla]

I didn't know what I was doing except trying to see what would happen if I tried to get her running. I am just expermenting... I guess I was panning, though I didn't think about that before you mentioned it. Thanks for commenting.

[Chip]

I think you did well. Panning photos of people who are running isn't easy, because the body parts are all moving at different speeds. Here, the face (the most important part) is in focus and is fairly sharp.

Sure, there's a bit of blur in the face, but it's not bad at all.

If you could've pointed the camera down just a bit, so all of her body and less trees would be in the shot, that would've been an improvement.

Good work.

[Lois khalafalla]

Oh okay, you are right about pointing the camera down more. Ya know, learning photography reminds me of learning to drive. So many things to remember at one time. Like take your foot off the gas when you press in the clutch and stay in your lane and watch out for that car...but I am encouraged because I drive pretty well now. So, just time and practice and I will get the photography right too. And people like you guys who teach us. Thank you so much. Lois

[Preacherman]

Hi Lois. Bearing in mind I am very new to all this too I will put a comment in. I have a lens with IS that has IS vertical and IS horizontal. If yours has the same, dont forget to have just the vertical set so that you don't get up and down blurr due to camera shake. That will make a big difference. Hope I got that right!!! PAUL

[photolover]

Getting panning photos of anything isn't easy for anyone and given that you are still in learning mode, it's not bad at all.
While panning, you are preoccupied in keeping the object in focus that you forget that your camera starts shaking and that is the reason of blur.
But you are going to get better, once you realize ( which i can see you already have) that you are panning, your mind will automatically keep your hands steady if you are not in a moving objects yourself.