Panning is swinging the camera sideways to follow movement. A slow pan, panning shot, panning across the crowd.
Done at the right shutter speed it keeps the subject sharp and smears the background, which is how the sense of speed in a racing photograph is made. The name comes from panorama. Quite separately, panning for gold is washing gravel in a pan, and panning a film means reviewing it savagely.
1nounpanningSwinging the camera sideways to follow movement.
“The director used slow panning to follow the horse across the field.”
2nounwashingWashing gravel in a pan to find gold.
“During the gold rush, men spent days panning in cold rivers for a few tiny flakes.”
panning is a technique.
Practised in Photography & Film, Rocks & Minerals