Panning Shots - "Noob"

Just looking for some honest critique of a couple recent shots.

Canon XSi
Canon 70-200 F4L IS

IRL Car
F16 1/250 ISO400 @ 200mm

Aston Martin
F7.1 1/125 ISO 100 @ 130mm

I'm not going to claim I would have done better,
but in #1, the composition is unfortunate (you cut off the front an the back, halfway the weels). #2 would have been better if you had him before you passed you, so we saw his front.

They don't appear 100% sharp, maybe if you use a little faster shutterspeed, the background will still be blurred while the cars should be sharper.

Not saying these are bad, just giving some advice on how to do even better next time.

A lot of factors enter into it, but the most important thing is to try to keep one focus point on one particular point of the car & keeping the pan smooth with a good follow through.
Lotsa' links! First shoot with moving cars need advice.

Thanks for the links to the other threads.

The "cutting off" shot was intentional as I wanted to focus on the cockpit of the car and contrast the blurred background with the helmet paint job and the chrome look of the car. Just going for something a little different.

Thanks,

Aaron

Did you have your lens in Mode 2?

GregoryC wrote in post #16424881
Did you have your lens in Mode 2?

I think I had IS off but can't remember. I tried with and without and just don't remember which shots were which.

Aaron

Here is another one from the series. Not much different in results, although I think this one was taken with a Tamron 70-300 f3.5/5.6 Non IS version (Cheap lens). This is my normal lens, but I borrowed my friend's 70-200 F4L for some shots to see how different the results were.