Panning is a technique used to give the idea of movment and to capture a fast moving object. It works best when the object to be photographed moves across in front of you from left to right or right to left. You focus on the object and follow it movement and at the appropriate point press the shutter to capture the object as sharp as you can whilst at the same time keeping the background blurred to give the idea of movement. It is very important that you follow the motion even after pressing the shutter button as with all sports the follow through is important. Getting the speed right is the hard part particularly with fast moving objects like sports cars. (also if you have Image Stabalisation on the lend with 2 types remember to turn off the horizontal stabilisation).

Below is a picture where the speed was just right the carriage driver is just sharp and the background is completely blurred.

correct panning

Below is a photograph with the speed too fast so nothing is sharp.

photograph too blurred

Below is a photograph where the panning motion was too slow (probably due to too fast a shutter speed) so the image is too sharp.

The above photographs were all taken at Farliegh House near Basingstoke during the carriage driving trials, the driver is Karen Bassett who was warming up before the cones part of the competition.

photograph of 2 knights jousting

As I am very much into horses one of the star events for me was the jousting, real people on real horses with real armour rode towards each other with lances (note I didn’t say real lances). They start  at opposite ends of the arena and charge towards each other and 2 strides out stop to a walk aim the joust pole at the shield and the end falls off very easily, I think if the pole breaks the knight gets a point, the rules wer not too clear. There were 4 knights who rode against each other and the black night from abroad won (she was the only female participant). It was quite a laugh with lots of audience participation and well worth watching. Click on the link below to view their website for next years dates:

www.EnglandsMedievalFestival.com