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Technique3 min read

LESSON 58

Motion blur and panning

Showing speed by letting things smear.

IN THIS LESSON

  1. Blur on purpose
  2. How panning works
  3. Why slow subjects are harder
  4. In practice: the swing

Blur on purpose

A fast shutter freezes motion; lesson 02 explains how. Sometimes a frozen picture looks static: a racing car seems parked, a cyclist seems balanced on the spot. Letting something blur shows that it moves. There are two ways. Keep the camera still and the moving subject blurs against a sharp background, which suits water, crowds and dancers. Or move the camera with the subject, so the subject stays fairly sharp and the background streaks behind it. The second is called panning, and it gives the strongest sense of speed.

How panning works

In cinema and photography, panning means swinging the camera horizontally from a fixed position, the way you turn your head. For a still picture you keep the moving subject in the same place in the frame for the whole exposure, so the background slides past and blurs. The exposure has to be long enough for that blur to show. How long depends on the subject's speed, the focal length and the distances. The source gives an example: a Formula 1 car on a straight may give a blurred background at 1/250 second, while a running person may need as slow as 1/40.

Why slow subjects are harder

Fast subjects allow faster shutter speeds, which makes a smooth pan easier. With slow subjects the shutter must stay open longer, so any jerk in your swing shows, and it is harder to hold the subject steady in the frame for that time. A tripod or monopod with a head that turns freely in one direction and stays firm in the others helps. Image stabilisation can also help if your lens has a panning mode, which steadies only the up-and-down shake.

In practice: the swing

This section is working practice. Stand with your feet facing where you will take the picture, and twist your upper body to pick up the subject early. Track it smoothly, press the shutter as it passes in front of you, and keep turning after the click, the way a golfer follows through. Use continuous autofocus and shutter priority. Start at 1/125 second, then go slower as you improve. Expect a low hit rate; even practised photographers throw most frames away. A plain, busy background, such as trees, railings or a crowd, gives better streaks than an empty one.

Try it today

  1. 01Stand at the side of a road, a cycle path or a running track.
  2. 02Set shutter priority at 1/125 second and continuous autofocus.
  3. 03Pan with ten passing subjects, following through after each click.
  4. 04Drop to 1/60 and then 1/30, and see how the streaks grow and the hit rate falls.
  5. 05Keep the camera still for one set and compare it with the panned set.