What is Panning photography?
Panning photography is a technique used to show movement in an image, If you use a fast shutter speed to freeze the movement it can make the subject look a bit like a statue, especially with images I take at bike racing.
But if you use a slow shutter speed and pan with the subject, Which means following the subject with you're camera and matching its speed. You can capture a more dynamic photo where the subject is in focus and the background and anything not moving becomes blurred which adds a sense of speed.
Panning is not only useful to show speed but can also be used to blur distracting backgrounds and focus the viewer's attention on the subject, It is a technique that takes a lot of practice and good camera-holding skills, It also becomes a lot more challenging to get sharper shots as you lower the shutter speed but when you do get a shot in focus it's worth it!
The settings
If it is your first time attempting this technique start with a faster shutter speed of around 1/125 then you can lower the shutter speed once you get the hang of it, Lower the shutter speed for more blur and use a faster shutter speed for less blur. I always shoot manual but if you can always shoot in shutter priority, don't be afraid of a high aperture remember the background will be blurred anyway, especially with the slower shutter speed pans.
if in manual set your shutter speed and then your aperture to get the correct exposure if needed then raise your ISO
set your camera to continuous shooting
Make sure you are in continuous autofocus, select a single point or zone autofocus area
If you have image stabilization turn it off unless you have an option for sport mode which will only stabilise the vertical movement and not horizontal movement.
The technique
This is the tricky part and will take quite a bit of practice, You want to make sure you standing in a stable position legs shoulder width apart, when you pan you only want to be moving your upper body as you turn with the subject in a twisting motion to keep the vertical position of the camera as stable as you can.
I use back button focusing so way before the subject gets to the intended spot I want to take the image I press the AF on button to start focusing on the subject and following it. before it gets to your intended spot start shooting while keeping your autofocus point on your subject and matching its speed while you twist your upper body around, you want to try to keep the motion as smooth as you can and remember to follow the subject before you start shooting and after as well to keep the motion smooth.
Summary
Remember panning gets increasingly harder the slower shutter speed used but the effects are more impressive, you will find you come away with loads of blurry shots from a pan and maybe just one or two keepers, It gets easier with plenty of practice though so don't be disheartened if you don't get the results first time, stick with it its worth it.
Below are a few images where I used the panning technique.