Steve M.
Veteran
I was thinking the other day (always a dangerous activity) that I don't take any action shots since I moved from auto focus cameras to manual focus gear years ago. Most everything is either a static subject, or I freeze the subject w/ a fast shutter speed.
So the other day at the bus stop it occurred to me that the stretch of road right in front of me might be a good opportunity to try some panning shots, something I haven't done in a long time. It's hard to do at first because the natural inclination is to stop following your subject once you press the shutter, but you really need to follow through after that, like a batter I suppose. The shutter speed needs to be slow too, to blur the background.
It took me a while because unwanted traffic kept getting in my way, and my one killer shot didn't happen because I had forgotten to cock the shutter beforehand, but I finally got a motorcycle. Not the best shot, focus was a little off, but a start. It was taken w/ a Nikon EM w/ a Nikkor H 50 2 non AI lens. I need a LOT more practice because w/ the slow speeds I need a big aperture, which cuts down on the DOF. It' really difficult trying to figure out where the focus needs to be before anything shows up down the road, at least for me. Trying this in a curve doesn't help. Anyone have any pan photos to share?
So the other day at the bus stop it occurred to me that the stretch of road right in front of me might be a good opportunity to try some panning shots, something I haven't done in a long time. It's hard to do at first because the natural inclination is to stop following your subject once you press the shutter, but you really need to follow through after that, like a batter I suppose. The shutter speed needs to be slow too, to blur the background.
It took me a while because unwanted traffic kept getting in my way, and my one killer shot didn't happen because I had forgotten to cock the shutter beforehand, but I finally got a motorcycle. Not the best shot, focus was a little off, but a start. It was taken w/ a Nikon EM w/ a Nikkor H 50 2 non AI lens. I need a LOT more practice because w/ the slow speeds I need a big aperture, which cuts down on the DOF. It' really difficult trying to figure out where the focus needs to be before anything shows up down the road, at least for me. Trying this in a curve doesn't help. Anyone have any pan photos to share?
