Technique: Panning shots

Over the past few weeks I’ve been experimenting more and more with shoots that involve really complicated scenes with clutter, minimal time and moving subjects. One of the best ways to isolate subjects in these kinds of scenes is to use the ‘panning’ technique. Basically you pop the camera into shutter priority mode and slow the shutter down a bit (a good start is 1/20) and use auto ISO. The idea now is to pan your camera (using your hips) at the same pace as the subject that is moving past you. Take the photo as you’re moving. If you get your timing right, which is very difficult, the subject will not have moved significantly in the frame but the background will have. This gives you a directional blur in your backgrounds resulting in a true feeling of motion as well as the ability to isolate the subject, even in a complicated environment. I’m off to Indonesia this week so I can’t wait to use this around the markets. Want to learn more about it? Join my Travel & Street Workshop!