Hi kuuan,
missed your post.
You are dead on with panning - I referr to the pan pot on a mixer. In the center the signal goes equally to both sides.
With a little mixer you should be able to do a lot of experimenting with your mics. There is a bit of conventional wisdom in the area, but as always the only way to learn is to make all the experiments yourself. Good tools makes life so much easier, a few mics, a mixer, good headphones, but I guess you already know this, and what kind of hole it makes in the wallet. After a while in gear land the appetite seems to grow, my mic locker and the accompaning bank loan is testiment to that.
Gunnar