All a bit of a blur

Get to grips with AF and exposure to inject motion into your fast-paced action images

For photographers, an out-of-focus or blurred shot is generally a bad thing. We combat this by using fast shutter speeds to stop camera shake when handholding and also aim to reduce the amount of subject blur. But for action shots where your subject is speeding past, such as an animal, car or a motorbike, slowing the shutter speed down and tracking the subject at the same rate at which it's travelling - a technique called panning - can achieve amazing results.

By tracking the motorbike at the same pace it's travelling while you press the shutter button, the bike and rider are pin-sharp but the background is transformed into an amazing rush of movement. This looks much more impressive than a perfectly sharp shot.

If your lens has multiple image stabilisation modes, be sure to use the one that only corrects for a shake on the vertical axis but not the horizontal axis, so it doesn't interfere with your horizontal panning action. To give yourself the best chance of catching a shot with the perfect balance of sharp subject and blurry background, activate your fastest drive mode. Here, we'll show you how it's done...