Panning and Zooming Techniques

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     The three camera settings that control the exposure are the aperture, ISO, and the shutter speed. If one of these setting changes, one of the other two settings must change to have an equivalent exposure. For example, if we have an exposure of f/5.6, 1/60, and ISO 100 and change the f-stop to 4.0, we must change the shutter speed or the ISO speed by one stop darker. Our new equivalent exposure could be f/5.6, 1/60, and ISO 50 or f/5.6, 1/125, and ISO 100. As any experienced photographer knows, all of photography is a compromise in one way or another. Learning what camera setting to change for the best quality picture can be a challenging task. Once you begin to master the concepts of exposure vs quality, you should try to be creative with your photography technique. These techniques will help you to keep your photographic juices flowing.

Panning Technique

Shutter 1/30, Panning at Full Sprint

     The panning technique uses a slow shutter speed combined with continually panning from left to right or right to left. The correct shutter speed to use varies by the subject matter. To blur a NASCAR stock car can take shutter speeds up to 1/250, a pedal biker can take shutter speeds around 1/60, and a person running can take a shutter speed of around 1/30. For the best results you should follow the subject with the camera before pressing the shutter button. The goal is to maintain the subject in the same portion of the frame throughout the entire pan. After pressing the shutter, you should continue to follow your subject in the frame of the camera. The results create a relatively sharp subject with a motion blurred background and foreground.

Zooming Technique

Shutter 1/30, Zooming from 28mm - 180mm

     This technique is limited to cameras with zoom lenses that have manual zoom rings. The zooming technique is similar to the panning technique because it requires a slower shutter speed. Instead of panning while pressing the shutter, you quickly zoom in or out during the exposure. The shutter speeds can vary anywhere between ½ - 1/30 of a second. Because the center of the lens always remains the same, the center portion of the picture will look relatively sharp while the rest of the picture will have streaking lines that appear to be coming forward in the scene.

     While both techniques can be closely mimicked in editing programs like Adobe Photoshop, I believe you will find it more rewarding to experiment without the need for post-production editing. A great panning or zooming technique may take lots of practice but the results are always a thrilling success.

Shutter 1/30, Panning Technique