treadwl Loc: South Florida

This is something I don't don't do very well so have at it so I can learn something.

I captured this big horn sheep running across the tundra. Panning should have something in focus so I think I got the head pretty well and tried to capture the element of the racing sheep. You all can tell me how I did. I reduced the resolution to manage an upload. shutter was 1/100 lens was 200-400 with tc1.4 attached, handheld.

You will have to check the download to see the real effect of motion blur. The panning does not come across very well in the page shot. Probably due to my technique.

Thanks for looking and commenting.

Larry

Panning shot of Big Horn Sheep

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Your panning shot froze the ram's head quite nicely. Great timing on that! The problem is, all those rocks in the background and foreground that detract from the main subject. Panning shots should be against a fairly simple background, usually in-line with the subject, so that you see movement by comparing it with elements in the background, but not get waylaid by it. Perhaps a very narrow crop around the ram itself? I mean, like crop away the top 20% of this photo and the bottom 10%.

The other thing you might do is to lower the contrast and brightness of the background. For a comparable panning shot, please view "Hold that Tiger" at http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-150041-1.html

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I agree with Bob. Great focus on the ram, just not an ideal setting for the technique to be a knockout. My eye keeps wanting to look at all the rocks :)

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Larry, the other thing I notice is that you were trying to get a panning shot using a 200-400mm lens. That's a beast of a lens to trying panning with, especially at a distance. And again, I noticed that you shutter speed was 1/100 sec, whereas the better panning shots are much slower, around 1/20 or 1/30 sec.

minniev Loc: MIssissippi

Is is possible to improve the look of this shot by selecting the animal and using the photoshop motion blur filter just on the background? I am asking because I know there are PS gurus on here who can do that kind of higher end stuff. I have never tried such a thing. I have trouble enough with simple cloning.

I was interested in the suggestions. I have tried some panning with horses and toddlers on tricycles but with poor results.

Nice sheep!

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

I cropped this photo to remove a great deal of the rocks in the background that were leeching attention away from the sheep, then lowered the contrast and light levels in the background. Following Minniev's suggestion, I selected the background only and induced a 5 degree, 20 pixel motion blur.

Variation on Big Horn Sheep Panned

treadwl Loc: South Florida

I like what you did. Now if I could only do this IN camera. :)

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

For Panning shots, it's best to shoot in full Manual: Shutter speed at 1/30 or 1/20 sec to start, ISO 100, and Aperture fairly shallow, like f/f.6. It may be that you have to employ a Neutral Density filter to absorb some of the light.

jonsommer Loc: Usually, somewhere on the U.S. west coast.

Wow, Bob, your pp skills are GOOD! I think your crops and blur have come as close to salvaging this photo as we've seen. The tighter crop also causes another problem for me, though, as it shows that the ram's focus is still too soft.

Nightski

I have a question. Parts of the Ram are OOF and parts are in focus. Isn't it the goal to have the whole ram be in focus?

What type of lens works best for panning?

Should you use a tripod for this?

Why wouldn't you want a faster shutter speed if you're shooting a moving subject?

Bob Yankle Loc: Burlington, NC

Nighski, panning shots are shot at slower shutter speeds so the background has a streak to them ..... almost like you were trying to capture that car's light approaching at night. You're not trying to stop the subject in place, you're making it appear solid while everything else is flying by. In the case of the Ram, the movement in the feet caused a blur, and that's actually preferable than if they had been frozen in mid-air. Most of these are shot hand-held because you're trying match the speed of the target - a tripod would cause too much drag.

A mid-range telephoto, like Canon's 24-105mm f/4L IS is usually the best candidate for lens because ideally, you'd be shooting in that range to get the biggest bang for the buck on a panning shot. And the very best ones are when your capture it directly in front of while you target is running ACROSS your path (perpendicular), not coming towards you or going away.

Nightski

Well, I learn something here every day. :-) I didn't know any of that.

Country's Mama Loc: Michigan

I think you accomplished your goal here. This is a technique that I don't do well either and I think you are really close to nailing it.
I like Bob's crop also for all the previously stated reasons.

oldtool2 Loc: South Jersey

Larry,

I see your lens was at 170mm so you could have shot this without the TC. Unfortunately you are like me and once it is installed that is what you have to work with. I have been caught like this more than once. I would have used a faster SS than 1/100, probably more like 1/500 to 1/1000. F20 seems odd, I would try around f8 to f10 (1.4 X f8=f11, 1.4 X f10=f14), especially sense you are using a 1.4X TC. It appears you used spot focus which is good. Your metering seems to be fine also.

How far away was the ram? Your focus, on the head is good. Most say it should be on the eye but that is not possible unless you have a VERY small spot focus the head is the best you are going to be able to get. All in all I think you did very well with your panning. If you had been too slow, or too fast, the head and horns would not be as sharp as it is. It is a good crop showing the ram running to the left as it should. I do agree with Bob that a tighter crop does work well with this photo. Also the increase in contrast helps. If I remember right you, like me, don't have CS6 or its equivalent. Changing the contrast is probably as close to what Bob did that we could get.

I think you did well Larry, I like the photo. Very nice.

Jim D

treadwl Loc: South Florida

Jim
Thanks for the comment. Let me tell you a little bit about this shoot. The tc1.4 was attached because there were several rams at distance. This fellow suddenly came up from the ravine you can partially see behind him. Suddenly, there he was running across the tundra. I know you have been in this situation, if you have a tc---there is not always time to change and take it off if you want to get the shot. I get this critique quite often. "You should have taken the tc off." Frequently these folks are not the ones out there. I was backpacking, and only had one camera with me. Thus no second camera with a shorter lens. So I was stuck. I was shooting at a much higher shutter speed, to capture the sheep who were at the greater distance. I was in aperture mode. Then here comes this runner. I wanted to try the pan shot, and with only seconds to spare I simply raised the aperture to drop the shutter speed. Thus these are the setting I had to deal with. I did use spot focus and tried to fix the head (in profile it is on the same plane as the eye) I always try to think about composition, even when hurried, so I forced the ram to the right side (rule of thirds??). I did not crop this photo before posting, I wanted to see what others would say. I use Lightroom to process my photos and I did drop the contrast a bit (I could do more) and I agree with Bob on using a tighter crop and on my final work up I will crop. I could work the background in Lightroom, but I'm not sure I will. Maybe a blur.

Thanks again for your comments, I appreciate your time.