Before we begin, what is panning? In a nutshell, it's a technique that lets you convey a strong sense of motion in your photo by freezing a fast-moving subject, but allowing the background to blur. When done well, panning shots virtually scream action and excitement. Here's what you need to know to take your own.

When you pan for the action, you need to track the moving subject in your camera's viewfinder as accurately as possible, keeping it in the same relative position in the scene as it moves. You don't want to be moving when you do this; simply pivot at the hips. That means you should space your legs so you're steady and well-balanced. Hold the camera right up to your eye. Don't try to do this with the camera dangling out in space a foot in front of you, or with the camera down at your hips. I've seen people try both of these positions, and trust me--they don't work very well.

Also, I recommend that you hand-hold the camera rather than mounting it on a tripod. You might think you can put the camera on a tripod and keep the head loose so you can spin the camera to track the action, but in reality this is really hard to do, and you won't track the action as smoothly and consistently as if you just hold the camera and pivot with your body.