Cycle racing

[Richard Hla]

Annual event for local people.My first experience with panning shots,I welcome the opnion

[Chris350]

I'll go since cycling is my primary subject. I ride and I shoot semi pro.
So... Shots like these need a focused element. To achieve that a steady pan is step one. Good shutter speed choice and aperture are next. The next element is choosing when to make the exposure. To enhance the subject I find that the closer the subject is moving perpendicular to the focal plane the better the chances are that you will get a focused element. It may only be the branding on the frame or one art of the rider because everything is in motion relative to the camera. By tracking the subject across the frame instead of toward the frame, you will minimize the effects of the subject moving through your focal plane. Also try to fill your frame as you did in #3. #2 is the closest to success in my eyes, but it would be a more powerful image if it were framed like #3.
In situations like you have here, you can try a zoom blur to freeze the subject and blur the surrounding elements. It's a different effect but often works better when the subject is moving from back to front into your frame.

[Bob32]

Richard,

You don't specify what shutter speeds you were using here, but I suspect that you were using shutter speeds that were too slow for panning for this particular situation.

Here's a shot taken during a downtown racing criterium that I attended earlier this year where I was panning the action as the cyclists raced by. This example may be of use to you in your efforts to photograph cycling events. This was shot with a Nikon D700 + 70-300 VR. Exposure was 1/125 at f/13 with lens zoomed to 100 mm. I first tried shooting at slower shutter speeds but was not able to obtain consistent acceptable results until I increased the shutter speed to 1/125. This was still slow enough that good spoke blur resulted.

Bob