Panning: A photographic technique to indicate movement
I've pushed myself to try new things in my photography this year, including exploring different shutter speeds to either freeze motion or show motion.
Freezing Motion
For example, at the end of summer I wanted to capture the movement of water as the boys played with Zoey in the backyard. This requires a fast shutter to ensure the water isn't blurry... and a whole lotta patience. (I took 42 images, and only kept TWO!)
Sigma Art 1.4 35mm, f 4.0, ISO 500, 1/4000
This was the first image that I noticed, what gave me the idea to shoot. Our dopey dog chases rocks when they're thrown into water, so that's what's happening here. I wanted to capture the scene, but ended up not loving this angle - I wish I was even higher (suspended over them??), but I couldn't safely do that from the deck I was standing on, and I don't have a drone.
Ultimately, my goal was to play with capturing the water as she splashed in, so I decided to change my angle.
Note: Trying something new, making just the right picture, comes with a lot of discards. Check out all the throwaways!
Ultimately, the image that I loved the best that captured the water's motion was this one below. The angle is better, the water is captured, and at the end of this exercise, I have much more practice using high shutter speed to capture motion.
Sigma Art 1.4 35mm, f 3.5, ISO 500, 1/4000
Panning
In one of my photography groups, we were challenged to try something new to indicate motion in our images: panning. Panning is the horizontal movement of your camera to match your subject's movement, typically while they're moving parallel to you.
Imagine turning your head to watch your kiddo as they run past you in the yard. That's the concept of this technique, with the intent that you as the photographer are following the subject's movement and matching their speed/direction as closely as possible.
The ultimate goal is to show motion - not to have a blurred subject, but to indicate motion around them. This is a challenge, because typically a slow shutter speed means you get a blurry image.
I decided to try on an evening in our front yard, asking James to run a straight line in front of me while I practiced with some settings.
Sigma Art 1.4 35mm, f4.0, ISO 100, 1/25
I liked this one, but wished his face was sharper. So as I mentioned before: I stayed stationary and tried to avoid camera shake with such a low shutter speed. As he ran by, I moved my camera as smoothly as possible to track along with him and pressed the shutter as he ran.
Sigma Art 1.4 35mm, f 4.0, ISO 100, 1/25
This one was getting better - I like that most of him is in focus, but you can see the movement in his legs and feet. The only thing really missing is his face, right?
Sigma Art 1.4 35mm, f4.0, ISO 100, 1/25
So finally, this is my favorite from the session. You still can't see his face, but I love the effort you can see here with his head down and feet in motion.
This was a fun attempt at something new - a new technique and way to add vibrancy to my images. Kids are moving all the time, so why not try to capture that in a new way?