An Ironman 70.3 race was held in my town today and the bike course went right by my neighborhood. I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to give panning photography a try. This shot was taken shortly after the start of the bike portion of the race on a long hill. It was impressive to watch the athletes cruise up it with amazing speed. This rider is one of the lead women. I liked the blur of the red car in the background and the athlete's smile for the cheering crowd.
@amandal Thank you so much, Amanda! Since most of the shots were blurry, it was very exciting to have this one turn out well. I'm glad you liked it, too!
This is an awesome shot Lisa! I haven't tried panning shots yet, but plan to do so. Love the 2 different modes of transport, your composition with the red car in the background and the fact you've caught a smile (or a grimace!) from the rider. Definitely an iron woman!
I love this image Lisa. I am often trying to photograph my son cycling so I appreciate how difficult it can be to get motion blur into an image! This is a great shot!
I'll confess, I'm not normally much of a fan of panning shots, but there is still some movement in the rider and bike, despite the rider's upper body being sharply in focus. I'm really impressed with this, Lisa, really impressed. Great technique, and a fav.
This is a brilliant panning shot, Lisa - looks really clever, and you've captured a terrific sense of motion, which really great viewed large. Has to be another fav. (Glad there are women in the Ironman race!)
Brilliant shot Lisa. I have tried panning and it is so difficult, at least for me. You did a fantastic job capturing the feeling of movement in the background, while keeping the rider's face sharp.
You have caught this absolutely perfectly, really well done. I have been wanting to try this, but I just cant remember all the necessary settings when the opportunity arises, I think I'm just going to have to make a day of it! Fav btw.
Wow well done! your focus on the girl is perfect and I love the spin of the wheels. Great combination of panning, fantastic focus and shutter speed to give a terrific shot.
are you racing too? ;) love that red and pink juxtaposed. fantastic that you took advantage of the event for a perfect panning opportunity and took an amazing shot. fav!
Great action. Last September, I was the swimmer in the 70.3 Ironman RELAY--so I finished after 1.3 miles down the Savannah River--my cousins did the other two legs. Panning is great here! I always get confused between panning and motion blur....hmmmm.
so many good things in this photo.
the athlete, the car blur, the colour, the composition....
I would love to do the ironman one day, but I would have to take swimming lessons ; )
I also posted a bike race pix today. We must be on the same wave length!
Thank you all for you comments and FAVS on my first panning attempt. It is definitely a tricky technique. I took gobs of photos and had less than a 10% success rate. Each one that turned out in focus was a thrill. I'm ready to give it another try soon. Thanks again for wonderful comments!