Tag Archives: #pan photography

photography

Mastering the Night Pan.

Mastering the Night Pan

As a follow-up to yesterday’s Tracking the Light post, “Perfecting the Art of the Pan,” I am continuing the theme by detailing my night-panning technique as a means of making effective railroad action photos at night.

Many modern digital cameras, with their exceptionally sensitive image-capturing capabilities, now make it possible to expose photos of moving trains in extremely low-light situations. However, even with these tools, I’m still faced with using slower shutter speeds than would be needed to “freeze” a moving train.

My solution has been to combine a very high ISO with an extremely fast lens, using a very wide aperture in the f/1.4 range, and employ my panning technique. After exposure, I process my RAW files using sophisticated software, specifically DxO PureRAW, to minimize the effects of high-ISO pixelization, correct lens imperfections, and boost contrast.

Consider this sequence of Norfolk Southern symbol freight 36A rolling through Washington Boro, Pennsylvania, at about 35 mph.

I worked with my Nikon Z6-III in “A” (aperture-priority) mode, which allows me to set the lens to a wide setting, f/1.6, while letting the camera select the appropriate corresponding shutter speed for the lighting conditions.

This is beneficial because I don’t need to try to adjust the lens setting as I’m panning or anticipate the most effective exposure combination in advance. Instead, I can concentrate on making a smooth and uninterrupted pan and releasing the shutter at key moments.

ISO 32000, f1.6, 1/13 second, aperture priority, ‘pattern’ metering mode.
ISO 32000, f1.6, 1/13 second, aperture priority, ‘pattern’ metering mode.
ISO 32000, f1.6, 1/13 second, aperture priority, ‘pattern’ metering mode.

A couple of other tips:

  1. I turn off the image stabilization features.
  2. I begin panning long before the train reaches my desired locations.
  3. I handle the camera gently to avoid unnecessary jarring motion.

Pan practice helps.

See:

Perfecting the Art of the Pan

Tracking the Light Explores Railroad Photography!

photography

Norfolk Southern Pan at Marysville

Two weeks ago I made these panned views of Norfolk Southern SD70ACC 1813 at Marysville, Pennsylvania using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens.

Below are a sequence of frames and the arrangement of photos as they appear in Nikon’s NX Studio sorting/editing program.

I varied my shutter speed from 1/50th of a second to 1/125th of a second.

1/50th second; 150mm; f7.1

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photography, Tips and Technique

Berkshire Scenic on the Move-Art of the Pan

Our recent ride on the Berkshire Scenic included several stops and photo run-by. On the return run from North Adams, we paused at the South View Cemetery. I opted for a position well away from the line in order to make pan-photos.

For these images, I set the camera lens to f22 to allow for use of a comparatively slow shutter speed (1/30 second at ISO 200). Then as the train passed, I used my body to pan with the train to keep my desired point of focus in constant movement with train. The slower shutter speed lets the background blur while camera motion keeps the train sharp.

Perhaps the most important thing about executing a successful pan is to release the shutter while continuing to move with the train.

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