And... Action!!!. . . . . . . . . . [ magnify ]

Bleeeeerrrp!!! They race past the start to the sound of a klaxon. Going hard at it to impress the other crews, they race off down river. This race is approximately 7km and will take about 30mins. There are two turns on the race. They race through the small town of Henley-on-Thames, going around small islands at each end of the course.

Dragon boats, when they are moving, are quite difficult to photograph. Close up is the best, but they are very long. The full sized boats have crews of 20. So in-close they make a very long picture. It is difficult in close ups to capture the whole boat. If they are going fast it is even more so.

In this shot, taken at the start of the race, I have tried to pan the shot so the boat is sharp and the background speed-blurred. In the boat there are 20 people moving independently; the boat is unstable so rocks from side to side; the paddlers bounce the boat up and down as they rock back and forward each stroke. In addition the dragon head is usually slightly wobbly - the dragon is often blurred. Then, to cap it all the boat has some structural 'give' so the front and the back of the boat go in and out of alignment during each stroke. Add that lot up and you have a pretty difficult shot to get sharp!

This photo is taken at the start. The boats are timed on the move as they pass the line. Nevertheless the paddlers are going for it. You can see the effort and the movement in my panned shot here.

[Robert Zurfluh]

You got the shot. Very well done.

I want to try that with our high-speed (actually not that high) train in NJ. Pan and get it in focus. Something I have not done yet.

[Cheryl]

awesome crew shot! Nice panning- and I enjoyed learning about the structure of the boat!

[Cindi C]

This is so great!

[Mike Warren]

Nice shot. I think if I lived in London that I wouldn't mind being on a dragon crew. Looks cool.

[Kerri]

Awesome capture

[Diana]

Super shot! And well edited with the description of dragon boating...I have a friend that instructs but have never tried myself!

[Mary]

I'd love to see that in person! What a wonder capture. I love the colors and the action!

[mittens (Marilyn)]

Excellent action shot.

[Janna E.]

You mastered the challenge quite nicely - great panning job!

[John Brown]

Fantastic action shot.

[Caroliene]

Wow, love this action-shot!

[Nadine]

Fab action. We have dragon boat racing here in Cape Town too. Never photographed them though.

[Brian Buccigrossi]

Great action,very cool!

[Jen E]

Nice action shot!

[Vicki Dixon]

I love this!

[lorihiro]

What an awesome action shot! They are digging deep! :-)

[Vicki Kell]

i bet their arms are dead when their finished, such high adrenlin sport

[paula goff]

wonderful action shot! you are right, must be magnified to get a really great view!

[Yvonne]

fantastic action shot!

[Mair]

Brilliant panned shot.

[june milner]

brilliant catch.

[Brian Baptie]

Great shot and I love the commentary!!

[Angie Vega ☮♥ シ]

great action capture

[Lisa]

Fantastic!

[Shanne]

great panning for this

[stephanie dp]

great action shot

[Caren]

Wow great motion!

[Peter Auliciems]

stroke

[Sue Wilde]

Terrific shot

[James]

Very nice action shot. I use to row eights a bit further down river (Barnes), where the oars and movement is a bit more synchronised!

Great panning though - really good sense of motion.

[karenann]

Only an experienced photographer could get an action shot this good!! I know what you are saying, but I could never do this . . beautiful candid shot here, net. Great work!!

[mihaela oprisan]

great action photo!

[Diane]

Very nice action shot--I love the panning. Great job.

[Howard N]

Well done Damon!!! Lot's of action there. Auto's have to be much easier with fewer moving parts... cars don't have oars!

[scooter]

Wow, excellent!!

[Sharonlc]

Great action shot :)

[Alison Hewitt Bailey]

Wow! Brilliant!

[Shirley Chetwynd]

awesome action shot.

[Beth]

Great action shot. The processing show the action well. What you wrote about the race is very interesting.

[Lael]

Nice action shot, sounds hard to paddle too.

[Carole Imes]

Terrific action shot with great colors and reflections.

[Pepita Liang]

Great motion!!

[Vicki K]

Brilliant action shot and love the movement in it, very cool:)

[Rick Schies]

Good shooting and action

[jerry plume]

Wow, awesome! Great action shot!

[Lennon's Mom]

Excellent!! Wow!!

[Tatyana]

I almost feel the wind in my hair;-) Very live.

[Dione Giorgio]

Amazing capture. Love it. We were in Henley-on Thames some 2 months ago. Wish the race was then - would have been fun to watch.

[Carolyn White]

Wow!!! Awesome capture and information! The dragon boats are so interesting!

[Amy Spada]

Oh lovely! What a great action shot!

[Carly]

clever panning :D

[eva]

Superb shot!

[lesley allen]

Great action shot, they seem to be doing well not to many splashes as the oars enter the water. lovely

[Tabbycat]

A bunch of white folk in a Chinese boat with one ninja! Interesting! Panning is not easy, but you've done well!

[Shirley]

great action shot.......well done!

[argie]

nice action shot !!!!!!

[Diana Moss]

Wow amazing capture.

[Natacha Murphy]

awesome action shot!! perfect panning!

[John]

Fab motion, great PoV.

[Paula Cook-Farkas]

You did an excellent job capturing the action. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up!

[lil Buddha]

Fantastic! Love the blur.