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Panning is a difficult technique, but if you are patient – and a little lucky – the reward is worth the effort. The basic concept behind panning is to move, or pan, your camera along with the moving subject. When it works right, you end up with a blurred background and comparatively sharper subject.
You’ll need to experiment, but start by selecting a slightly slower-than-normal shutter speed. Start by shooting around 1/8, and progress to around 1/60. Take a bunch of shots until you get the results you want.
Great sports and action snapshots are rarely accidents, but that doesn’t mean they are difficult to shoot. While there are a few technical tricks, much of your success will come from being prepared when the moment arrives and taking enough photos to achieve the results you’re after.
Use long focal length lenses
Photojournalists repeatedly emphasize that great sports photography comes from getting as close as possible to the action. Long lenses will get you closer without getting in the way of the game. Compared to the 35mm film format, the Four-Thirds Standard gets the photographer twice as close with the same focal length lenses. For example, the Zuiko Digital 90-250mm lens is an effective 180-500mm lens, and the Zuiko Digital 70-300mm lens is an effective 140-600mm lens when compared to a 35mm film format lens. This means the photographer is getting more reach with less weight -- and less cost! Many Olympus Zuiko Digital long focal length lenses also feature a tripod-mounting collar for attaching a monopod.
Stop action with a high ISO
Using a higher ISO will freeze sports action by allowing higher shutter speeds to be used. It will also diminish camera shake when using long focal length lenses by using higher shutter speeds. The E-3, E-510 and E-520 have Image Stabilization (IS) technology that mechanically shifts the imaging sensor to compensate for camera shake, meaning all Zuiko Digital lenses used with these models will have Image Stabilization. Olympus digital SLRs that have Scene Modes may also have a DIS Mode and/or SPORTS mode that also increase the ISO automatically.
Continuous Autofocus and Continuous Autofocus + Manual Focus
Use the Continuous Autofocus (C-AF) or Continuous Autofocus + Manual Focus (C-AF+MF) focus modes when shooting sports. The C-AF mode will continually track focus on a moving subject as long as the shutter button is depressed halfway. Using this focus option also automatically enables Predictive Autofocus, which anticipates the next focus point of a moving subject. C-AF+MF activates the manual focus ring on the lens so that the autofocus can focus the lens and then the photographer can manually fine-tune the focus. C-AF autofocus is not recommended for static subjects because the camera is expecting changes in the subject motion and velocity.
Sequential Drive Options
Set the [SCENE] mode to [SHOOT & SELECT1]: The camera will be set to high-speed sequential shooting and will continue shooting pictures as long as you continue to hold the shutter button down. The pictures taken in the sequence will then be displayed on the LCD and you can select and save the pictures you like. Note: the image size is reduced when using Shoot and Select mode.
Panning is a difficult technique, but if you are patient – and a little lucky – the reward is worth the effort. The basic concept behind panning is to move, or pan, your camera along with the moving subject. When it works right, you end up with a blurred background and comparatively sharper subject.
You’ll need to experiment, but start by selecting a slightly slower-than-normal shutter speed. Start by shooting around 1/8, and progress to around 1/60. Take a bunch of shots until you get the results you want.
