Panning is a technique in photography. Using the panning technique, you can capture subjects in motion. For e.g. a moving car or a horse.
Lets go through some shots captured using the panning technique and learn more about how to capture moving subjects.
If you keep your camera held in one position and wait for the subject to appear in your viewfinder and press shutter, your moving subject will be blurred.
To keep the subject sharp and also get a motion blur in the background, you should point your camera at the moving subject and move your camera along.
By moving your camera along with subject, you keep the subject in focus. But the background is moving in the opposite direction and appears blurred.
As a prefernce we choose to capture panning shots in moderately lit outdoor setup, as we are going to use slower shutter speeds.
If you're a beginner, keep your camera in shutter priority mode and select a shutter speed of 1/60s initially to practice.
With practice, you can go for slower shutter speeds like 1/30 and 1/15 to get more blur on background.
An ISO of 100 should be good with moderately lit up outdoor setup. You may want to go for a higher ISO if you choose to shoot at night.
Some experts recommend usage of tripods in order to avoid any vertical camera shake if you're using side to side panning technique.
So, practice & practice until it comes to you naturally. And capture some great panning photos.