Hi ,

I've got a valuable tip for you today, but bear with me on this first...

Imagine that you're really good at making sandwiches. Two pieces of homemade sourdough, some semi-soft Italian cheese, or maybe a nice firm cheddar, your preferred lunch meant if you desire, tomato slices, a few thinly sliced peppers, mustard, cracked pepper, maybe into the oven for 5-10 minutes, then topped with a handful of fresh greens from the garden and you've got something that is as good, or better than what you'd get at any deli counter. 

If you make sandwiches every day, or even 2-3 times a week, month after month, you could consider yourself an expert. You've got your ingredients down, your proportions are spot on, and your skills with slicing the tomatoes are second to none.

But what if, one time, you tried to prepare a 5-course meal? Obviously, that's a much varied type of kitchen endeavor that requires an entirely different set of skills, as well as thorough knowledge of temperatures, cook times, knife techniques, how to blend your ingredients and spices, and the timing of how to bring all our dishes together at the same time, so that everything is hot when it's time to serve, and nothing sticks to the pan.

If you only prepare a big meal once a month, or a couple times a year, you might say that this kind of cooking is "a mixed blessing that comes with its own curses," and that requires fancy knives and expensive skillets."

Someone who does this every day, like a professional chef, or even an experienced mom or dad, would have no problem whipping up an elaborate meal like this, and they could do it with cooking gear they got at goodwill. 

I bring this up, because someone, whose main photography revolves around shooting nature and skill subjects with manual focus, made a comment to me about autofocus with the exact quote above... except that it was about fast lenses instead of fancy knives. 

You probably know where I'm going with this, don't you?

Anytime you step out of your comfort zone with the camera, or with the skillet, the experience can be a mixed blessing that's fraught with potential curses. And, you'll think that you'll need better gear in order to do it right. 

Whether it's cooking or capturing moving subjects, the key being better is practice, practice, practice. 

Sure, better gear, CAN help, but it's not mandatory. If you have the skills, you can capture awesome photos of your kids soccer game with a kit lens. 

And how do you get the skills...? See above. 

It's easy to get discouraged with photography, especially when you're out of that comfort zone. The more you do it, the better you'll get.

When it comes to capturing moving subjects with the camera, which, [Spoiler Alert] is REALLY HARD, it takes TONS of practice, but it also takes knowing some fundamental techniques, one of which I'll share with you right now. 

When you're trying to capture a subject that's moving, there's some pretty heaving lifting going on under the hood. The camera analyzes the scene and tries to establish the subject's position in the frame, as well as its rate and direction of movement.

It then tells the lens which way to move, and how fast, in order to keep the subject locked on. When you're shooting in continuous mode, this repetition is a necessary process as the camera and lens make those fine adjustments. 

If the subject is moving quickly or erratically, then it may take a frame or two... or a few frames to get everything dialed, but eventually it gets into a groove. As it learns the subject's movement, it's able to establish and maintain a lock, which is what you want, right?

The Big AF Tip - Start Tracking Early

With all this in mind, one way to stack the odds in your favor is to start tracking early. Even if you think the killer shot is right when the subject reaches Point C, grab the subject when it's at A, so that it has time to figure out what's going on and establish a lock. 

Then, keep following the subject and firing in continuous mode as it moves through Point B. This gives the system even more time to get into a groove, so that when the subject finally reaches Point C, everything is working as it should. This will greatly increase your chance for sharp photos right when you want them most.

The worst thing you can do is to point your camera at Point C and wait for the subject to get there before acquiring and taking the shot. 

That's a recipe for potential failure when it comes to AF, but I see it all the time, people wait, then try to nail the shot at Point C, and get disappointed if the camera wasn't able to nail it. Then they blame the camera. 

The system depends on you shooting a lot of frames, so, next time you're photographing action, start tracking early and shoot all the way through the sequence. 

I guarantee, that will help you get sharper images. 

If you want more autofocus tips, check out my comprehensive course, Mastering the FUJIFILM Autofocus System. The course has helped hundreds of Fuji shooters up their game and become more proficient with their cameras. 

Do you want to be the person who bumbles the 5 course meal, creates a total mess in the kitchen and burns the main dish, or do you want to be the one who can manage all your ingredients, cook times and knife techniques with precision and confidence? 

Autofocus is the exact same thing. It's managing tools, skills, ingredients and expectations. Let me help you up your game with the camera, even if you don't have super expensive lenses.

Use discount code FALLFOCUS to save 15% on the course right now. It's fully guaranteed. If you're not satisfied with the course for any reason, I'll give you a full refund. 

In other news, I'm back to mountain biking and have been riding 3-4 times per week as I slowly increase my speed, distances and tackle more technical trails each time out.

As alwasy, thanks for reading and for your support. Have a great weekend and happy shooting!