Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anytime for advice by clicking here.Most photographers have already practiced horizontal panning; when a moving subject travels past the photographer, the camera lens follows the subject. This allows the subject to remain relatively sharp, while the background becomes blurry in a linear fashion.
The same technique can be effectively used for vertical shots as well. I was working on a series of advertising photos for Mitsubishi Motors, and one of the shots needed to be an aerial photo to show off the top of the car. A helicopter would have worked, but a much quicker and cheaper option is to simply photograph from a highway overpass.
I wanted the shot to be taken at dusk, so the shutter speeds would automatically be slow enough to cause vertical motion blur. In fact, the driver was only traveling at 20 miles per hour. This slow speed was a good choice for just a slight amount of blur. Simply follow the car with your camera on a loose tripod, and take the shot at will. The amount of blur will be dependent on the duration of your exposure.
While you may not be interested in photographing cars, vertical panning is a good technique to practice, as it can be implemented in many diverse forms of photography.
Mark's photographic prints for your wall can be purchased at
www.markhemmings.com
Title : VERTICAL PANNING
Description : Dear reader, if this entry or my other blog entries don't answer your specific photography questions, you can call me on the phone anyti...