We unfailingly see some new perspectives and creative work coming out during our photography workshops. At the photography workshop last Sunday, we were returning from field session at Lalbagh to continue with the indoor sessions. Before we headed indoor, some participants decided to experiment on panning the camera, which we had discussed the previous day. One after other, everyone gathered by the road and waited for vehicles to pass by. I stood next to them, ready to assist with camera settings and to help them if needed. But everyone was already pretty comfortable with their cameras and knew precisely what to do. The next 10 minutes were spent by the road, aiming the cameras at the vehicles passing by. Below are a couple of photos taken by the participants in this short duration.
Image Courtesy: Benoni Doss
Image courtesy: Srikanta
How to: Panning the camera and blurring the background
Panning is a simple process for effectively showcasing motion and adding dynamism to the image. Follow these steps to create images similar to the ones above.
1. Set your shutter speed to a low value. Somewhere between 1/10 sec to 1/30 sec may work well, though the exact values depend on the speed of your subject, its direction of motion and your distance from the subject.
2. Although not strictly necessary, it may help to set your focusing mode to continuous (AF-C in Nikon Cameras, AI Servo in Canon Cameras).
3. Choose a moving subject. Easiest subjects are vehicles moving at 30-40kph. Two wheelers are relatively easier than cars, as cameras can focus on them more quickly compared to cars.
4. As you click, move the camera in the same direction as the moving subject quickly. You may not get the perfect image at the first attempt. It requires some practice to figure out the speed at which you need to pan the camera to get the best results.
5. Best results and crispest images can be made by sitting in a moving vehicle and photographing a vehicle moving parallel to you at the same speed, instead of moving the camera with your hands.