Panning
Photo: lukes.photos
Match your camera movement to a moving subject - a cyclist, a bus, someone running. Slow shutter (1/30 or slower). The subject stays relatively sharp. The background streaks horizontally.
Requires practice. Expect a high failure rate initially. The good frames will be obvious.
Watch for: vertical camera movement creeping in and ruining the horizontal streak. Keep the pan level. Follow through after the shot.
Shutter: 1/30 or slower | Track the subject | Follow through after firing
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Get the full deckWhat panning gives you
Panning is the technique of tracking a moving subject with the camera during a slow exposure, so the subject comes out sharp while the background smears into horizontal motion blur. It is the classic way to convey speed in a still image — a cyclist, a bus, a runner rendered crisp against a streaked, abstracted street.
On the street it does two jobs. It turns a mundane moving subject into a dynamic frame, and it abstracts a messy background into clean colour and line, hiding clutter you could not otherwise compose out. Done well it is one of the most eye-catching techniques in the genre. Done badly it is just a blurry photo — the margin is all in the shutter speed and the tracking.
Settings
Shutter speed is everything. Too fast and you freeze the background, losing the effect; too slow and you cannot keep the subject sharp. Start at these ranges and adjust to the subject's speed:
- Walking people: 1/15–1/30
- Cyclists: 1/30–1/60
- Cars and buses in town: 1/60–1/125
- Fast traffic: 1/125–1/250
Shutter Priority (S/Tv) is the natural mode — set the shutter, let the camera handle aperture. In bright light you may need a low ISO (100) and a small aperture, or even a polariser/ND filter, to avoid overexposure at these slow speeds.
Continuous autofocus (AF-C) with burst mode improves your hit rate — the camera tracks the subject as you pan and you fire several frames through the movement, keeping the sharpest.
Image stabilisation: if your system has a panning-detection IS mode, use it; otherwise turn IS off, as it can fight the horizontal pan.
The technique
Track before, during and after. Pick the subject up early, match its speed with a smooth turn from the hips (not the arms), press the shutter mid-pan, and keep following through after the exposure ends — like a golf swing. Stopping the pan at the click is the commonest cause of a soft subject.
Move from the hips, feet planted. Rotate your whole upper body as one unit. Swinging with your arms alone introduces vertical wobble that blurs the subject in the wrong axis.
Shoot subjects moving parallel to you. Panning works on subjects crossing your field left-to-right or right-to-left, at a steady speed, at a consistent distance. Subjects moving towards or away from you will not pan.
Pre-focus where you can. Set focus to the distance the subject will pass, or use continuous AF, so focus is not the variable that fails.
Common mistakes and getting the hit rate up
Expecting a high success rate. Panning is a numbers game even for professionals — one sharp keeper in ten or twenty is normal at slower speeds. Shoot a lot, delete most, keep the gems. Do not judge the technique by a single miss.
Shutter too slow, too soon. Start at the faster end of the range for your subject (a cyclist at 1/60), get consistent keepers, then push slower (1/30, 1/15) for more dramatic blur as your tracking improves.
Jerky tracking. Smoothness beats speed. A steady, continuous rotation matched to the subject is what keeps it sharp; any hesitation or acceleration smears it.
Cluttered exit. Because the background streaks, strong simple colour behind the subject (a red bus lane, a coloured wall) reads far better than busy detail. Choose your background as deliberately as your subject.
Field Questions
What shutter speed should I use for panning?
It depends on the subject's speed: 1/15–1/30 for walking people, 1/30–1/60 for cyclists, 1/60–1/125 for town traffic, and 1/125–1/250 for fast traffic. Start at the faster end, get consistent results, then slow down for more dramatic background blur.
How do you pan for a sharp subject?
Track the subject smoothly by rotating from the hips with your feet planted, match its speed, press the shutter mid-movement, and follow through after the exposure like a golf swing. Use continuous AF and burst mode, and shoot subjects crossing parallel to you.
Why are my panning shots blurry?
Usually the tracking, not the settings. Stopping the pan at the moment you press the shutter, swinging with your arms instead of rotating from the hips, or jerky movement all soften the subject. Keep the motion smooth and follow through after the click.
What subjects work best for panning on the street?
Anything moving steadily across your view at a consistent distance — cyclists, buses, cars, runners. Subjects moving directly towards or away from you cannot be panned. A simple, colourful background streaks more cleanly than a cluttered one.