Project 5: Panning with different shutter speeds

The aim of this project was to depict motion by moving the camera with the subject. I chose a busy roundabout where I could focus on people walking past, cars and cyclists all moving around the roundabout. I took a lot of photos, and many of them didn't work at all - this method takes patience and lots of practice to get all the elements right, yet alone in a balanced photo! It was hard to choose the amount/speed of panning required to keep the subject sharp (especially as it was hard to judge the speed of the subjects motion). I also found that when the cars were moving through the roundabout, their speed across my viewfinder wasn't constant (ie they moved towards me first and then across the frame), so it was hard to judge this, and it resulted in cars that were partly blurred and partly sharp! Anyway, it was a fun exercise and one that I will work on more and experiment with to try to get a good photo out of it.


Photo 1: Man is sharp, background is blurred, but not much motion.

50mm, f/2.8, 1/40sec, ISO 400

Photo 2: Woman is sharp, and blurred cars in background. She looks quite static.

50mm, f/3.2, 1/40sec, ISO 400

Photo 3: Car - front is sharp, back is blurred!

50mm, f/4, 1/40sec, ISO 400

Photo 4: Blur adds to sense of motion, even though car isn't sharp.

50mm, f/4, 1/40sec, ISO 400

Photo 5: Truck - parts are sharp, and parts blurred. Clearly it's a busy scene.

50mm, f/5, 1/40sec, ISO 400

Photo 6: Lots of lights and other vehicles in the background contrasting with the sharp nature of the car show a busy scene with lots of movement.

50mm, f/5.6, 1/40sec, ISO 400

Photo 7: Cyclist - he's very blurred, but all the lights in the background are interesting, and the bike is clearly a bike! I like the reflection on the road also.

50mm, f/7.1, 1/13sec, ISO 400

Photo 8: Pedestrian, with cyclist and cars in background. There is a real sense of motion, in her stride, the almost invisible cyclist, car at the roundabout and in the distance, all with lights on, and the blur of the background. I really like this photo.

50mm, f/7.1, 1/13sec, ISO 400

Photo 9: Blurred cyclist - fills the frame more, obvious blur due to motion.

50mm, f/9, 1/13sec, ISO 400

Photo 10: Car at roundabout - sharp at the front, wheels clearly moving, other moving vehicles in background - a busy location is evident.

50mm, f/7.1, 1/13sec, ISO 400

Photo 11: Cyclist entering roundabout - not sharp, but again a clear sense of motion. I decreased shutter speed more here, to increase sense of motion, but it's hard to get the panning the right speed relative to both the movement/speed of the object, and also to the shutter speed. Practice is required!!!

50mm, f/9, 1/10sec, ISO 400

Photo 12: Cyclist in roundabout. Background totally blurred, it's obviously a bike moving.

50mm, f/8, 1/10sec, ISO 400

I think I like the dynamism that these photos have compared to the more static photos of the moving water that I did for Project 4.