Photographing moving subjects comes to us all, and there are two
major ways of doing so - plus, these days, auto focus systems
that do it for you !

I have to say, here, that the continuous autofocus in my Canon
EOS is extremely good, and, so long as the main subject remains
in the middle of the viewfinder, the chances of a sharp result
are very good.

You could, of course, rely on depth of field to a degree - using
a small aperture to hope the subject is within the plane of
acceptable focus when the shutter is released. The other
consideration is shutter speed. If correct focus is achieved, a
rapidly moving subject can still be unsharp due to movement. A
suitably fast shutter speed can solve this, but then everything
is sharp. In motor racing, for example, you may prefer a sharp
car and a blurred background ?

PANNING - used regularly by movie makers, it also applies to
still photography. Shutter speed will vary the effect, but a
quite slow one will give excellent results once the technique is
mastered. The skill is to keep the subject relatively stationary
in the viewfinder by moving the camera relative to the subject.

Choose the viewpoint and decide where the shutter release point
should be. Focus on that point with manual focus, or 'one shot'
auto focus systems and lock the focus at that point.

With the feet placed comfortably for a good stance at the shutter
release position, and without moving the feet, twist the body to
find the approaching subject. Pick up the subject and 'pan' with
it, keeping the movement smooth and the subject in the same
relative position in the viewfinder.

JUST before the subject reaches the preplanned release point
squeeze the shutter button. This allows for the time lag from
pressing the button to the shutter firing. Keep moving with the
subject as the shutter fires AND AFTERWARDS.

This is exactly the same technique as the successful shooting of
a gun against moving targets. Panning works well for fast moving,
or any subject, moving across your front. Positioning yourself
on the inside of a bend can be very useful as, if the planning is
right, the camera to subject distance then remains the same as
you pan.


PRE-FOCUSSING - For most cases where subjects move towards, or
away from you, pre-focusing is the best bet. Speed is not
important, but timing is.

Knowing the desired composition, focus on a point that you know
the subject will pass. In the case of walking or running people,
a suitable tuft of grass, say.

Follow the subject in the viewfinder and, just before they reach
the pre-focused spot, squeeze the shutter release. The time delay
will depend on the speed of movement of the subject. It doesn't
matter if the pre-focused spot is not in the composition - I keep
both eyes open in these circumstances so that I can still see the
relevant spot.

Continuous auto-focus systems will try and do this for you, but
can have difficulty predicting speed. A well practiced manual
method still has a lot going for it.