Taking photos of a moving subject can be quite hard if you do not know the basics of digital photography. If you merely point and shoot your camera without the proper settings, most probably, you will get a blurred image. In shooting a moving subject, the first thing you want to do is to freeze it in order to capture it sharply. For those who know a little about digital photography, you would probably use a fast shutter speed. The downside of doing this is your picture will look very static. A great technique used in shooting moving subjects is called panning. This technique results to a blurred background, but still with sharp subject. In effect, motion is now evident in your photos. To know some tips and techniques of panning photography, see below.
1.Since the objective of panning is to make the movement of the subject obvious in the picture, use a slow shutter speed. The right shutter speed may vary due to lighting and as to how fast your subject is. Keep in mind though that using long shutter speed can result to camera shake. Thus, creating unnecessary blur on your subject.
2.If you feel that you can’t avoid camera shake, you might want to use a tripod for support. Since you’ll need to follow the subject when doing a panning shot, make sure that your tripod is capable of swiveling. On the other hand, if you are not using any tripod, pin down your feet on the ground and just turn your body’s top half when following the subject while you shoot. This is to ensure good quality panning pictures.
3.Some cameras are powerful enough to auto focus a moving subject. You simply have to half press the shutter and the camera can already focus on your subject. If your camera cannot keep up with the speed of your subject, make sure to prefocus it on the spot where the object will be passing.
4.When releasing the shutter button, again, make sure to avoid camera shake. Also, you need to continue to follow your subject even if you heard the camera lens closed. This is to ensure that the motion blur created is even until the end of your shot.
5.You can also use flash when panning, but take note that this only works when your flash is capable of emitting powerful light or when your subject is close to you. Flash can also improve the freezing of your subject and, at the same time, blurring its background.
Taking photos of a moving subject can be quite hard if you do not know the basics of digital photography. If you merely point and shoot your camera without the proper settings, most probably, you will get a blurred image. In shooting a moving subject, the first thing you want to do is to freeze it in order to capture it sharply. For those who know a little about digital photography, you would probably use a fast shutter speed. The downside of doing this is your picture will look very static. A great technique used in shooting moving subjects is called panning. This technique results to a blurred background, but still with sharp subject. In effect, motion is now evident in your photos. To know some tips and techniques of panning photography, see below.
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Since the objective of panning is to make the movement of the subject obvious in the picture, use a slow shutter speed. The right shutter speed may vary due to lighting and as to how fast your subject is. Keep in mind though that using long shutter speed can result to camera shake. Thus, creating unnecessary blur on your subject.
-
If you feel that you can’t avoid camera shake, you might want to use a tripod for support. Since you’ll need to follow the subject when doing a panning shot, make sure that your tripod is capable of swiveling. On the other hand, if you are not using any tripod, pin down your feet on the ground and just turn your body’s top half when following the subject while you shoot. This is to ensure good quality panning pictures.
-
Some cameras are powerful enough to auto focus a moving subject. You simply have to half press the shutter and the camera can already focus on your subject. If your camera cannot keep up with the speed of your subject, make sure to prefocus it on the spot where the object will be passing.
-
When releasing the shutter button, again, make sure to avoid camera shake. Also, you need to continue to follow your subject even if you heard the camera lens closed. This is to ensure that the motion blur created is even until the end of your shot.
-
You can also use flash when panning, but take note that this only works when your flash is capable of emitting powerful light or when your subject is close to you. Flash can also improve the freezing of your subject and, at the same time, blurring its background.
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