Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

The last several weeks I have been practicing "panning" and this afternoon when I went with my son to the airport where he has his plane, I had another great opportunity!
My problem is, that I know to keep moving as I press the shutter release button, but my fingers and head don't always remember that, and some of the panned photos I took in these past weeks are good for the garbage bin only.
This picture is what I came up with this afternoon. The plane is reasonably sharp, and the trees are blurred. But I still don't see "movement" in this photo.
Anyone have any suggestions how I can get this feeling of movement, and generally improve taking this kind of photo?
I'd much appreciate it.

(Download)

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

For this shot, you need a slower shutter speed.

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

Thank you, RWR! Just got out a recipe card, and wrote on it, "Slower shutter, slower than 1/160th"
Tomorrow we'll be going to an airshow, so I'll have plenty more opportunities to try.

Kuzano

Presume you are using a panning head on a sturdy tripod? Then slower shutter speed with smaller aperture. Longer depth of field so the motion shows in the background as a function sharpness and movement, NOT out of focus.

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Kuzano is correct, definitely smaller aperture, and the slowest speed you can and still keep the subject sharp. I'm sure you know to lock on to the subject as closely as possible, and keep panning after exposure - follow-through is important. I'd like to see your results, but if you post them here Admin may move them. I'll be checking the Gallery! Good luck!

R.G. Loc: Scotland

A slower shutter speed [EDIT - not faster. Thanks for the correction, Ron (see below)] is definitely what's needed, but the trouble is it makes it harder to keep the moving subject sharp. When I was thinking about your problem it occurred to me that it might be worth putting both shutter release and auto-focus on continuous (if you have that option). Not only will it increase your chances of getting a sharp subject, it'll help you overcome your tendency to stop moving to take the shot.

A small aperture is also needed, but you're already using f/16, and I don't think there's much to be gained from going up to f/22, especially since the point of focus seems to be fairly distant. In the posted shot I suspect that you're focusing well beyond the hyperfocal distance.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Faster shutter speed? A keyboard lapse here?

Tripod, slow shutter speed, aperture depends on subject/background distance (needs to encompass both the main subject and background) and mostly... Experiment, experiment, experiment...

Why the small aperture? Simply because if the background is not within the dof it is just blurred instead of 'straight' lines. Check pictures of car racing to verify this.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Oops! My mistake . (See above for correction). But a slower shutter speed does make it harder to keep the subject sharp. Some people use traffic to practise their panning.

American Loc: Forida

The plane is way to far away to get the kind of swing that you need. Try to get closer

Wanda Krack Loc: Tennessee, USA

Practice, practice, practice!!

PhotoArtsLA Loc: Boynton Beach

What you need is the right kind of HEAD on top of your tripod. In the movies, we use FLUID HEADS, designed to pan and tilt smoothly and work wonders in allowing slow shutter speeds on lateral moving action. What happens when you get a fluid head is an assessment of your tripod, that is, IF you are also shooting video. Many tripods have legs which torque, ruining otherwise smooth shots. You get what you pay for. With fluid head tripod combinations, for big movie rigs they can cost like a car. But for stills photography, normally even the cheaper fluid heads will open up a world of wonder:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/896857-REG/Benro_S6_Video_Head.html

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1026244-REG/benro_s8_pro_video_head.html

gawler Loc: rural south australia

i would suggest if you are any where near seagulls or other birds that will take a free feed , throw some bread or seed around and start shooting great pratice
if you can get the birds panning on a plane will be easy or if you have lots of take off and landings at that airport spend half a day just shooting planes and play with some settings as well

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

While it's till quiet in the house (grandkids still sleeping) and before we head to the air show today, I'll answer a few things here:

Kuzano: The "sturdy tripod" was me. This opportunity came up unexpectedly and I was glad to have my camera with me!

RWR: It's exactly the follow-through during and after exposure that I've been working on.

R.G.: My focus was exactly ON the plane, single focus point.
I have thought about traffic, but near our home I'd be taking my life in my hands doing that - I prefer to live a bit longer :)

Rongnongno: Experiment, yes! for this I'm thankful that someone figured out how to keep the exif data with a photo!

American: How close should I get? I pulled up the airport on Google Earth, from my vantage point to the centre of the runway is 235 feet or 72 metres.
Legally, I could have gone to 130 feet or 40 metres but other planes were using the taxiway, and I still like my skin....

Wanda: I'm actually enjoying this kind of practice, so, yes, I'll keep at it.

PhotoArtsLA: Whether I NEED a fluid head or not makes no difference if I'm in a location where tripods are a plain nuisance (no pun intended) or are not allowed.
Later today we will be at an air show, and there will be too many people around. "I" will be the tripod again...

Gawler: There were 3 or 4 planes doing circuits: take off, fly a circle, land and keep going for take-off again.
Birds in this location, not so many as they try everything possible to discourage birds from landing there.
Unfortunately, in a bird-plane collision, sometimes both lose!

So, the hints I have gleaned I've added to my recipe card and I can refer to it instead of trying to remember it all.
Thank you all very much, I will post tonight or first thing tomorrow morning, even if I get only poor results.
I am determined to get this thing beat!

American Loc: Forida

good luck and keep us informed

R.G. Loc: Scotland

The main part of my suggestions was to try continuous shutter release mode (the camera continues to fire off shots for as long as you hold down the shutter release, or until the buffer fills up). My guess is that the high speed option would be best. And you wouldn't have to get too close to the traffic to use it for panning practice. Good luck with your future attempts.