my first attempt at panning

[pinakibaidya]

This is my first attempt of panning.C&C are welcome.

[Donald]

A good first attempt. I think panning is one of those skills that you do have to keep practicing and practicing until you get totally comfortable with it.

There is still some movement blur on the bicycle, particularly at the front. I think with a shot like this that you'd be striving to get the child and the bicycle sharp, with just the background showing blur.

[Geoff F]

With a relatively low shutter speed like you used here, there is always a risk of subject movement even if you pan perfectly.

I wonder if also showing the wheels, with suitable motion blur would give a better indication of speed. Probably still work if you doubled your shutter speed.

[IvorJRoberts]

Panning is difficult, and do not give up despite any critiscm. The only thing I would say, is choose a better location, and try to avoid the backgound distractions such as the fence lines passing through the boys head, and the white board that appears to be heading straight for his head. Keep trying, you will succeed

Ivor at Letchworth in the UK

[Shadowman]

Much better than I can do, there is never enough blur in the background.

[mammarazzi]

Really good attempt - much better than I could do - still trying, could do with a masterclass as I do lots of sports photography and would love to capture that movement....anyone out there who could give us a lesson.....please

[rpcrowe]

IMO, a lens with two-mode IS helps, using mode 2 for panning.

However, panning will only stop motion that is directed along the path of the pan.

If the subject is moving in other directions (such as a runner's legs and arms pumping or the wheel of a bicycle turning) no pan in the world will stop that. However, that type of blur is often positive in that it portrays motion.

An example is that a car is easier to get a shap image when panning than a runner with irregular motions of the limbs.

[dubaiphil]

A good first attempt.

So you shot at 1/50th, f8, ISO100, Manual Mode. Here's another thing you might lie to try with a willing subject:

The above exposure is right for the ambient and subject. How about trying something a little more creative.

Set your flash to rear curtain mode. Pop the flash up.

1/50th at f8 is about right, so try dialling in around 1/30th at f8 or maybe 1/15th at f8 or even 1/8th at f8 or f5.6. Your scene will then be two stops under exposed and darker. I think you may need to add some flash exposure compensation of around +2EV but try to play around with the levels while you have such a willing subject (presumably he's your son).

Now have the camera in AF-C and continually focus on him as he cycles towards you. Pan at the same time and shoot. The rear curtain flash should freeze the motion at the end of the exposure and you'll have some nice background blur and a slightly less flat image.

The Flash Exp Comp I gave above is an estimate (Nikon and Canon flash exp comp work differently I think so a canonite correcting me may or may not be right in your case with a D60!) - have a play and see what you can come up with.

[Fstop Manalo]

Great first picture of panning! But there are some blurred portions of the bike. Try increasing the shutter speed a little bit, that may help. And take a picture of the whole bike/kid plus the road, it might look a little better. Still, amazing panning shot. I had much trouble when I first tried Panning but you did it stupendously with minor troubles. Congrats!

[pinakibaidya]

Thank u friends.I have done a few mistakes while shooting.Firstly i did not put the camera on tripod though i have one.Second,I was wary of using continuos focussing mode as i had previous bad experience of erratic focussing with my F65 film camera.I had know idea that focussing technology had improved a lot in recent years.Third,background and subject to camera distance was wrong.I should have keep adequate distance to show the wheels of bicycle.And last but not the least, i could use rear curtain synchronous flash (as beautifully pointed out by Phil ).I will try again and post here to know how much i have progressed.In the meantime can someone teach us this difficult subject lucidly?