Richard Smith in a Caterham @ Rockingham

Canon EOS 7D, f/8 @ 146 mm, 1/125, ISO 100, No Flash

Speedboat panning shot

A slow shutter speed and careful panning renders the boat sharp, but the surroundings stay blurred suggesting movement.

To get this shot I used the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 with 1.4x II extender fitted, but turned the Image Stabiliser to mode 2. This is to stop the stabiliser try to correct for my panning motion in following the boat.

I used servo focus, set the shutter speed to 1/80second (trial and error here to get the right blur) and I carefully panned, following the boat from the distance until it passed me, trying to keep it at a constant position in the frame. If I hadn't done this, the boat itself could have been too blurry.


EXIF Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II, f/9 @ 280 mm, 1/80, ISO 100