Success with Panning (Cycling)

Deiberson · 06-19-2011, 02:51 AM - **1 Like**

I took some shots the other day at the State Time Trial's to see how my panning technique was. It was much harder than I thought. While I managed to get some great captures, many of them were OOF. My dilemma was the shutter speed. I wanted the background completely blurred. In order to do this, I found that my shutter speed needed to be around 1/60th. While I was getting more consistent results at 1/250 the background wasn't quite what I was looking for. I went into this thinking that 125/250 would be enough. I never thought I had to go as low as 60. Here are a few of the better results (posted in another thread). This is the look I was trying to capture. My question is...did I really need 1/60th to do this and does distance play a role in determining this?

Shots taken with the K5 and Tamron 28-75 @ 1/60

stevbike · 06-19-2011, 05:17 AM

Nice pictures. They work good. As to the "look" is what you have in mind is what counts. The 1/60th of a second works good in these pictures. You can try even slower shutter speeds to get some very interesting results. As to shutter speed/ distance, it does make a difference. Once again just experiment to see what you get.

steve1307 · 06-19-2011, 06:27 AM

These look great. I notice how you have the edges of the railing in the backgroud sharp, meaning your panning movement is perfectly aligned (parallel) with the cyclist's motion.

The shutter speed to use kind of depends on the speed of the subject. With cyclists pedalling, maybe a slower speed like 1/30 (or maybe 1/15) would get more motion blur on the legs.
I would think the best panning shot of a cyclist would be a long but slight downhill where the cyclist is seated and pedalling fast. (their head & shoulders is more steady with less bobbing motion compared to uphill riding). This way you try to nail the focus line on the head and their legs convey the movment. Uphill is better for facial expressions.

I first tried to do this at the Sydney2000 Olympics road cycling event (with a Pentax film SLR) and...... failed miserably..... 5 rolls (=$100) of blurry junk.

I tried some panning technique a few weeks ago (albeit with motor racing). What I found worked best was SR OFF, 1/50 - 1/60 sec for more consistent and 1/30 give better "look" but I was less consistent. Tried 1/15 but this exceeded my abilites.
I was using a 55-300 and a DA70 posted my gallery & "DAzoom club" and "DALtd club"

slip · 06-22-2011, 04:30 PM

great panning shots!

06-19-2011, 02:51 AM - 1 Like	#1
Deiberson Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Photos: Albums Posts: 734	Success with Panning (Cycling) I took some shots the other day at the State Time Trial's to see how my panning technique was. It was much harder than I thought. While I managed to get some great captures, many of them were OOF. My dilemma was the shutter speed. I wanted the background completely blurred. In order to do this, I found that my shutter speed needed to be around 1/60th. While I was getting more consistent results at 1/250 the background wasn't quite what I was looking for. I went into this thinking that 125/250 would be enough. I never thought I had to go as low as 60. Here are a few of the better results (posted in another thread). This is the look I was trying to capture. My question is...did I really need 1/60th to do this and does distance play a role in determining this? Shots taken with the K5 and Tamron 28-75 @ 1/60

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06-19-2011, 05:17 AM	#2
stevbike Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Newbury, Ontario Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 268	Nice pictures. They work good. As to the "look" is what you have in mind is what counts. The 1/60th of a second works good in these pictures. You can try even slower shutter speeds to get some very interesting results. As to shutter speed/ distance, it does make a difference. Once again just experiment to see what you get.

06-19-2011, 06:27 AM	#3
steve1307 Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Sydney Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 1,130	These look great. I notice how you have the edges of the railing in the backgroud sharp, meaning your panning movement is perfectly aligned (parallel) with the cyclist's motion. The shutter speed to use kind of depends on the speed of the subject. With cyclists pedalling, maybe a slower speed like 1/30 (or maybe 1/15) would get more motion blur on the legs. I would think the best panning shot of a cyclist would be a long but slight downhill where the cyclist is seated and pedalling fast. (their head & shoulders is more steady with less bobbing motion compared to uphill riding). This way you try to nail the focus line on the head and their legs convey the movment. Uphill is better for facial expressions. I first tried to do this at the Sydney2000 Olympics road cycling event (with a Pentax film SLR) and...... failed miserably..... 5 rolls (=$100) of blurry junk. I tried some panning technique a few weeks ago (albeit with motor racing). What I found worked best was SR OFF, 1/50 - 1/60 sec for more consistent and 1/30 give better "look" but I was less consistent. Tried 1/15 but this exceeded my abilites. I was using a 55-300 and a DA70 posted my gallery & "DAzoom club" and "DALtd club"

06-22-2011, 04:30 PM	#4
slip Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: 2 hours north of toronto ontario canada Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 3,535	great panning shots!