Digital Photo Assignments

Assignment 4Panning

“I am not interested in shooting new things—I am interested to see things new.”

—Ernst Haas

Purpose: To Freeze Subject Motion While Blurring the Background.

Panning allows you to keep your subject in focus while streaking the background, creating an illusion of subject movement. The best way to pan is to imagine where your subject will end up and point your feet 45 degrees in that direction so you can “unwind”—like a baseball or golf swing. Then rotate your upper body towards your subject (friend, automobile, bicycle), following with your camera until the subject passes the point where you want to release the shutter, and follow through with the camera.

Panning works well at 1/15 or 1/30 second, but can be done at both slower ...