Panning Zebras

[Stephen Earle]

50D, ISO 320, f22, 1/60. I always try to make some panning shots when the light isn't good and there's action. Your comments will, as always, be appreciated.

[Morkel Erasmus]

works well here Stephen - sharp enough where it needs to be. I'm wondering if a B&W conversion would improve this even more?

[Marc Mol]

Doesn't quite work for me Stephen, you need to get your SS down to around 1/20s to evoke a sense of pan blur. The light here is a little strong, your ISO probably needed to be around 100 or less.

[Harshad Barve]

I am with Marc here
TFS

[Ken Watkins]

I am with Marc here
TFS
I am afraid I have to agree as well, I also think the downhill does not work, sorry!

[David Fletcher]

Well seen Stephen and thanks for sharing. Agree with comments raised and guess that's good enough excuse to pop out again. :):):)

[Stephen Earle]

Thx guys for the honest comments. I must say from experience that the chances of getting a sharp head at 1/20 is so slim that I didn't even consider it. I'm not sure how an ISO of 100 would have improved the harsh light or changed the scenario either way (except dof, which didn't attract a comment)??

I also wondered about the downhill but that's the way it was so I decided against any rotation.

Morkel, I tried your b&w conversion and must say I like it. Will do a decent one and post.

[Morkel Erasmus]

thanks Stephen.

I hope you don't mind but gave it a quick go...

* Went for a blue filter in B&W and put back in some red and yellow tones
* Added 5% blacks to the black channel, 4% to neutrals channel, and 20% to whites channel
* selectively sharpened the head of the front zebra
* did a multiplied layer on the highlights and burned them, blending back @ 35% opacity

to me this works well since the nearly high-key grass that draws the eye is neutralised, the sense of motion is much stronger and it actually shows up as a great shot.

IMO the downhill is fine - a diagonal line works much better than a straight line more often than not.

the DOF of f22 was probably because you shot in Shutter Priority - hence adapting aperture to suit your chosen shutter speed. the narrow aperture is fine as with panning you blur the surroundings anyway.

anyway - just my suggestions since I have been dabbling quite a lot with B&W these past few weeks. Looking forward to your official B&W version. :D

[Fabs Forns]

I like it as presented, agree that chances are very slim going slower and it does look blurry on the feet.
Wish it were mine.

[Marc Mol]

I'm not sure how an ISO of 100 would have improved the harsh light or changed the scenario either way (except dof, which didn't attract a comment)??


Stephen
My reference to lowering the ISO to 100 minimum (more like 50) was purely to get your SS down to around 1/20 and less.
As you said we can't improve the harsh light, which is why it gives us a reason to attempt such pan blurs.
I agree that it is extremely difficult to get the head/torso pin sharp but you can get enough definition worth trying for. I'll post a shot soon that I took recently of a Gnu pan attempt, that certainly took a shitload of patience and practice! :D

Cheers
Marc

[Marc Mol]

* Went for a blue filter in B&W


Am a fan of that as well Morkel :D

[Stephen Earle]

Thx Morkel, the conversion looks cool. Marc, point taken,looking forward to your shot.

[Jasper Doest]

Excellent choice to go for a pan when the light gets harsh...as it allows you to keep on photographing for a couple of more minutes. Your pan was well executed...as it shows the detail, movement and interaction very well. Nice.

[Ed Cordes]

Well, I like it. The pan gave a good amount of blur to the BG and still maintained some detail in the animals. The legs are nicely blurred and detail in the leading head is good enough to be comfortable on my eyes while still showing action. Only suggestion would be to have a bit more room to the left.