Portrait Photography Question - Autofocus or Manual Focus?

[pendennis]

I've done some model shooting, and a lot of candid shots at weddings as part of my old wedding photography business, and one of the things I practiced was to anticipate people's movements. With practice, it's a "sense" that you develop. People are generally predictable in their movements. Until auto focus came along, it was sometimes catch-as-catch-can. Manual focusing only adds to your workload, and you'll have to learn to trap your shot if you don't use AF.

I wouldn't consider manual focus for anything moving, today.

 

[sashbar]

Depends on the occasion. If the model agrees to wait each time you focus, I guess manual will be fine. If you are shooting a pro model who is used to fast posing, which is about 100 poses per minute, then AF is the only way, I guess.