Street photography tip: Use continuous focus for moving subjects
Thursday 22 June 2023, 13:31 by Michiel Heijmans | 2,579 views | 2 commentsThis article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.
Your camera usually has several autofocus modes. Continuous focus is widely used in street photography. Depending on your camera, this mode is called continuous autofocus, AL Servo or Continuous-Servo.
With this type of autofocus, you first focus on your subject. As your subject moves away from you or towards you, the focus will stay on that person.
If you have found a nice composition somewhere in the city and are waiting for an interesting person to walk into it, this is the way to focus. You focus on your subject, outside your composition, and move your camera along with them into your composition.
Tip for people walking: The best time to capture someone is when they are just in a big stride, with their legs forming an 'A'. By setting your camera to a low burst mode, you take several images one after another and won't miss that big stride.
About the author
Michiel is professioneel straatfotograaf en geeft workshops en lezingen over straatfotografie. Hij schrijft columns voor Focus Magazine en is erg actief op Instagram. Daar vind je dagelijks inspiratie en tips voor je eigen straatfotografie!
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2 comments
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MacBigfoot wrote on Monday 26 June 2023 at 22:32 | replyAnother setting with autofocus is the number of autofocus points you can use to find and select the subject.
Translated from Dutch.
Which setting do you use?
And do you also use eye detection, or face detection? -
Michiel Heijmans wrote on Tuesday 27 June 2023 at 13:48 | replyHi!
Translated from Dutch.
I have that set to the lowest number of points, so the camera has less choice. I can't substantiate this, but it seems like the fastest way to me?
I regularly use eye focus and face recognition, depending on the situation. But actually it's always on.
Thanks for your question!
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