Bikes, kids and panning

[Flyfisher]

Hello,
I'm a fan of panning so everytime I go out with my son (red shirt) - if he's with his bike - I try to capture the most sharp and focused panning. These are 2 I tried with low light (cloudy evening) but the focus was better than any previous tries. I would really appreciate any c&c especially those which can help me improve panning skills
Thanks!

[Mark von Kanel]

Im not an expert but i think 1/30 of a sec is to slow id try 1/250 and make sure your is is off if you have it, let us know how you get on.

[Andrew1]

Practice then practice some more. Panning is not as easy as some think. Mark's right, 1/30 is too slow for you to do this hand-held unless you've got the technique down very well. We did a circle-track race last year and even in the corners where speed was lowest it was hard to get a good panning shot with a car in focus and the background blurry. Stance and repetitive motion helps. As for your particular situation, jack up your speed to the point where the boys are in focus. If the spokes in the wheels are stopped with the lowest shutter speed you can manage then you've got more practice to do. You don't want the bike to look like it is standing still. Plant your feet and pivot at the torso only. You need to get your rhythm going so your son may have to do a ride-by quite a few times. When you get the shutter speed down here's two things I found that helped me. If you've got a center frame circle or metering square in your view finder use it as a target sight and concentrate holding it on a single point like the chest or head. Second, follow-though. Don't stop the lateral movement when you press the shutter. (both of those actions are good for moose too).

When practicing just concentrate on the sighting and panning. Don't worry about composition until you get closer to the results you want. It'll come.

[Mark von Kanel]

Jeeez thanks for all that, not something ive tried but obviously isnt an easy technique! what focus mode would you normally use ? i suppose it would be camera dependent and something else to practice?

[Flyfisher]

Thank you both for the advices! I will try, next time, with a higher shutter speed... after more practice I should see some improvements
Can you advice me also about the settings of metering and focus for my D3100 to be able to obtain better panning pics, please?

[Shadowman]

I saw the comments on the shutter speed and wonder if the photographer was looking to get streaks of color in the background. If that is the case you should get the kid to pedal faster.

[Andrew1]

The camera settings are going to be different depending on a few factors including speed, light, etc and you have a few options to use in getting the results you want. Everything in the triangle contributes. I would personally use spot metering in manual but as a place to start with a moving object, to get the look you like, shutter priority in auto would be the first choice. DOF can be adjusted as you develop. By the way, you can help blur the background with a shallow DOF so it need not entirely be motion blur. I would imagine very few of us are experts at panning. We just don't do it often enough to maintain proficiency. Put the camera in continuous release mode and it will help in your success rate.

[plixy]

I like this thread because I never get good result for high speed object, practice is important and luckily digital camera no need expensive old negative Film, so always happy to delete bad photo