treadwl Loc: South Florida

Today several people sent me PMs questioning what I meant by using proper panning technique when I shot the GBH in flight.
I didn’t answer earlier because this is a complicated topic and takes a bit of doing to understand.
Most novices think panning is about shutter speed but this is only partly right. Panning is about keeping the film place exactly parallel to the subject. If you do this correctly you will stop motion of the subject even if you are using a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second and panning an f-14 fighter plane because in relation to the film plane the jet has not moved.

Now the trick is to put this theory into practical application. My panning technique is designed to keep the film plane as close to perfectly parallel to the body of my target as possible. Shutter speed comes into play to allow me to stop the movement of those items in the photo that are NOT moving parallel to the film plane---that would be those darn wings! So, first my left hand is positioned under the barrel of the lens, and supports the weight of the camera and lens. I’m letting gravity push the camera down into the palm of my hand. I firmly press the camera against my forehead so my head acts as a brace point for the camera. My left eye is at the eyepiece and my right eye is open to help track the subject. I spread my feet about a shoulder width apart and is on soft ground actually wiggle them into the surface to get a firm platform. My elbows are tucked tight against my sides From this basic stance I twist at the waist TOWARD the direction from which my subject is approaching. Thus I will “untwist” (is that a word??) as I shoot the subject. The most important part is when to shoot and when to stop shooting. Basically you begin the shooting (either burst or single) when the subject fill your viewfinder and you continue to shoot and untwist at the waist. I continue to shoot until the subject is directly in front of me and I am fully untwisted. This is when I stop shooting BUT NOT when I stop twisting. I continue to twist until the camera is finished making noises. Sorta consider this as coasting to a stop. If you stop early you will end up with several of the last frame blurred and out of focus. All of this needs practice, and then more practice. As I noted earlier—I practice by tracking tennis balls as they bounce down the driveway.

OK---that is the hand held technique that I use. Put the camera on a tripod and some things have to change.

Larry

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

Thank you. This was a very good description of how you do this. It sounds a lot like shooting clays. I'm not very good at that either.

photogrl57 Loc: Tennessee

Excellent explanation

tainkc Loc: Kansas City

Excellent post!

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

Excellent dissertation, treadwl! You described perfectly a shotgunner shooting trap! As you indicate, follow-through is as important as any other portion of the procedure.
Thank you very much!

TheBirdMan Loc: Southeast Missouri, USA

Excellent, detailed explanation. An old timer once told me that when shooting doves, which fly very fast, to track them from behind with both eyes open and when the barrel of the gun covers the bird to start shooting and to keep follow the bird even after you stop shooting or you will stop the movement of the gun suddenly and you will miss most shots. I think this same principal applies in your description. Thank you for the information.

Cappy Loc: Wildwood, NJ

Great explanation!! Do a U-Tube on it.

rufus1 Loc: Winter Haven, Florida

Thanks you, very good information. Exactly what this site is all about.

Jacko Loc: Lansing, MI

Thanks for posting Larry. What type of settings do you typically use...ie: metering mode, shutter or aperature priority, etc.? Thanks...

bogeyeliot Loc: Signal Hill, CA

Great question to expand upon a great explanation of panning...I tried a couple of BIFs last weekend and my results were, shall we say, ?&%$#@

treadwl Loc: South Florida

As for my settings I shoot most often in aperture. (Sport shooting is a bit different--there the shutter speed take priority) As noted in one of my earlier posts my passion is wildlife photography and that is followed by nature photography. With Wildlife I am always concerned about the background and the only way i can control the background is in aperture mode. With nature I am really concerned about what is in focus so again the fstop is most important to me.

Consider this--most of us think in shutter speeds like 125, 250, 500 and so on. Well, if you shoot in aperture and set your fstop at f8 the camera selects the right shutter speed---which may be 135 or 162. so you actually get a more fine tuned exposure. I found this out several years ago looking at the exif info on several of my photos.

with bird I usually use a spot meter (12mm) and with mammals I'll switch to one of the other settings depending on the size of the critter.

With ISO I use the lowest I can get away with. I see no sense in getting a "killer" shot and not being able to print or sell it because of too much noise. Those high ISO are full of noise. This is not so say that I'll never use a high ISO---on occasion, but only if I can't figure out any other way. I can always shoot for peak action -- that split second where the critter are frozen on their own. It takes timing and practice.

For critters I always shoot set for continuous high speed burst. You never know what might pop up behind a rock.



Hope that helps.

Larry

davedeuce

Great posts Larry. Allow me to add my kudos and thank yous.

Jacko Loc: Lansing, MI

Thanks for you follow up post Larry :thumbup: