I’ve been experimenting with techniques I’ve not tried before – panning and night shots… with a twist.

Here’s my latest example of a panning shot.  Technically, it’s not the best- the bus isn’t crisp but you get the idea that it’s a bus racing by.

Can you guess what these shots are?

Any ideas?

Aside from being my new photography obsession, these are buildings.

There’s absolutely nothing to this technique.  Find a building that has interesting lights on it.  Slow the shutter speed and zoom in and out.  Or ROTATE the camera from side to side or in a circular motion.  There’s no right or wrong way – you’ll get different results with different movement.

The Dallas skyline is perfect for this sort of experiment.

Cars!

Camera used:  Big Bertha (Canon EOS 5D Mark II)
Additional equipment:  Tripod (helpful for night shots, though with the ‘artsy’ techniques used in this session, not absolutely required)

These techniques are so simple and obvious – but we’re often trained to keep everything steady and on a tripod – it certainly never occurred to me to zoom in and out with a slow shutter speed.  That’s why it’s a good idea to enroll in a photography class at a local university in your area.  You might pick up a few tips and techniques that will open up new reasons to take photos.  That’s how I picked up these tips.