What happens when the ref runs in front of you

[ac12]

Lost my focus on the goalie

 

[smoke665]

A small slingshot might be a useful addition to hurry them along

 

[ndcisiv]

I usually end up getting a shot of his trunk like you did, then I just move to the side and avoid him

 

[snowbear]

Manual focus.

 

[Jeff15]

Ah, photography has its ups and downs...

 

[ac12]

Manual focus.

Yup that is one disadvantage of autofocus.
Someone runs in front of you, and your focus is messed up.

 

[ac12]

The only thing worse is when they STOP in front of you.
Then you get this . . .

 

[snowbear]

For the last one, cattle prod.

 

[jeffashman]

Honestly though, that first one isn't bad, with the ref in focus and the players in the background blurred. Now the one where the ref stopped right in front of you, yeah, a cattlprod...

 

[ac12]

Honestly though, that first one isn't bad, with the ref in focus and the players in the background blurred. Now the one where the ref stopped right in front of you, yeah, a cattlprod...

I've had #1 shooting baseball/softball.
Standing a bit past 3rd base, aiming at 1st, to get the out at 1st.
Then a runner comes from 2nd to 3rd, through my view, and the AF changes focus to the runner. Just like the first shot. GRRRR

Yes, there is an adjustment to make the AF less sensitive, so it will ignore a ref/athlete passing through the AF zone.
But, then when I NEED the AF to track a fast/erratic moving subject, or I switch from player A to B, I do NOT want the AF to be less sensitive.
So, as I tell my students, I shoot a LOT, so that I can throw out a lot, and still have plenty of pictures.

#2 is real common at basketball, when shooting on the end line.
One of the refs will run up and down the court. I watch to see which side of the court he is running on, and I switch to the other side. At high school games, I can move around the court. Although that does not stop him from going to the other side to follow the play. Win some, loose some.

I had one similar to #2 at a football game.
I lined up on the goal line, to get a pic of the runner crossing the goal line for a TD.
Then what happens . . . one of the refs runs up to the goal line, and stops ON it. ARGH !!!! He blocked the shot.
Then I found out, that one of the refs WILL stand on the goal line, to make sure they see the runner crossing the line. It is for those instances where there is a tackle at the goal line, then the question "did he cross the goal line?"
Now I stand offset from the goal line about 2 to 5 yards, so that I can see around the ref that stops on the goal line.

 

[Don Fischer]

Yup that is one disadvantage of autofocus.
Someone runs in front of you, and your focus is messed up.

Seems to me that didn't happen with my old Nikon FG. I could center what I wanted to focus on and hold the shutter half way them move the camera where ever I wanted and it stayed focused where I'd focused it.

 

[greybeard]

Use back button focus. Focus on the goalie then take your thumb off the focus button. Focus will stay on the goalie and ignore the ref.

 

[Original katomi]

Manual focus
Old school I use M as I cut my teeth on a Pentax k1000