Capture an action photo using panning

Challenge 2 Paul Brewer

For the second challenge, we felt that a dedicated panning round would produce some distinctive images of the event’s action. “This was one of the first shots I took when I arrived, of the seniors and women race,” Paul says. “I wanted to capture the contrasting colours of the dry grass and the colourful kit of the rider. The first part of the winter has been unusually dry, so there wasn’t too much mud flying about, but the colourful cycle kits did look cool under the winter sun.

“I used a slow shutter speed of 1/50 sec to lend a sense of acceleration as this rider sped away from one of the obstacles on the course. The image stabilisation on my lens steadied the shot well and allowed me to get enough of the rider in focus. Again, I faced away from the sun so that the colours popped. I’m pleased with this image, but if I was taking it again, I would get down a little lower to include more of the grass and connect more with the rider and the environment.”

Expert opinion

A difficult day for panning shots given the bright sun and little cloud cover. At 1/50th sec, you’ve done well to stop the rider being too blurry.