Just a quick post because I am not sure where to put these photos without going on a side tangent, but they are a great opportunity to talk about focusing modes for moving subjects and they relate to yesterday’s post since it was at Crash Boat in Puerto Rico.
Focusing on a moving subject can be a challenge but if you are using a modern DSLR or Mirrorless camera, it doesn’t have to be. Most cameras come out of the box set to single-shot focus. This means you half press your camera’s button and it focus on your subject and then you full press it to take the picture.
That set up is great if your subject isn’t moving.
Fortunately, most modern DSLR (at least 2010s on so modern has a long reach here) and Mirrorless have focusing modes that help with moving subjects. The focusing mode you are looking for depends on the brand, but they all pretty much accomplish the same thing. Here are the modes for Canon, Nikon, and Sony – I am not too familiar with other camera brands.
Canon - AI Servo
Nikon - AF-C
Sony – Continuous AF
In this mode, your camera will attempt to continuously focus on your subject when you do that half press. Or better yet, there is a back button focus button on most of these types of cameras. If you learn where that button is and get the hang of using it your photography life will get much easier and it works very well with this mode. You still need to press shutter button but that back focusing button will improve your overall quality.