Panning is a technique to show some movement and speed to the object in the picture. Set the shutter speed low and move your camera with the object, so that the picture is focused on the object but the rest of the picture has the motion blur. This is one of the most advanced technique and very difficult to get it right. Set your feet shoulder apart, point your toes toward to where the object is going (left side in this case), turn your body to from where the object starts (right in this case), then release the shutter that's set slow (1/30 in this case). Follow the object while you are focusing on the same spot on the object as the object moves. It looks so cool when you get it right. Practice, practice, practice. Move your camera perfectly parallele to the direction of the movement. On Nikon lenses you can actually use their active VR function to help focus better on a moving target. (Fuji X-Pro1, Fujinon XF18mmf2R, 1/30, f/2, ISO = 2000)
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Got this shot at Bad Water, Death Valley. From the parking lot just off the highway, it's about 10 minute walk toward the salt plane in pitch dark. The moon light and flashlight are the only help to find a way (Don't forget your flash light fully charged!). Looking north to get this circular star trails with 10-minute exposure. Alternatively, you can combine multiple 30 sec exposures on Photoshop, but the air in Death Valley is so clean that the longer exposure is possible without getting too much noise.
In the foreground, I used the flashlight to "paint" the hexagonal salt, crystal-like pattern on the ground. You have to find a right setup with the manual mode. Because it's dark, the camera won't focus with the auto-focus. You can use your flashlight to manually focus your camera to about 1/3 from the bottom of the picture. You really need to play with ISO and aperture. I like around 400-800 on ISO and 4-8 on aperture. I broke my lens protector filter, dropping my camera in the dark, but this was worth it. I wish I did longer exposure for trails of the stars. (Nikon D800E, Nikkor 16-35 mm, ISO=400, RAW, 10 minute exposure, foreground artificially painted with a flashlight, tripod, f/4) I took this at Death Valley. I was about to leave the dunes and I saw few kids with the dress. It looks like I took this picture in 1950's. Conveniently, I had my 70-200mm on my D800E to capture this shot, compressing near and far in one plane. Don't go there in summer. This was in February and already 80 degrees. (Nikon D800E, Nikkor 70-200mm 1:2.8 at 200mm, handheld, took in JPEG Landscape mode)
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