Typically, most DSLR shooters lock their focus by pressing the shutter half way, recomposing, then pressing further to record the image. It's a tried and true technique that I still use to this day.
But there are situations, such as portrait shoots and action photography, where you might want to move focus activation to a different button. This technique is often called "back-button focusing" because the most common repositioning is the button on the back of the camera.
Improve Photography has published a good article on this technique titled, Back-Button Focusing: Easier Than You Think!.
We'll be practicing back-button focusing at the upcoming TDS Action Photography Workshop, and also at following events later on this season. It's worth having in your bag of tricks.
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Amen to this… absolutely a hugely better way to work, once you get used to it!
-Joseph
I still need to do this on my camera...actually, with the 7D's AF button it's really pretty easy to do, except for when I hand my camera off to others (which for me is fairly frequent, though with custom settings it shouldn't be a problem).
When I first got used to the idea a long time ago with a 30D, the lack of custom settings made it hard with sharing my camera, so perhaps it's time to revisit this. :)
Finally broke down and changed my E-M5 to back button. It definitely makes shooting quicker, though I'm still getting the hang of it. I can always just pop it into iAuto mode when I need to hand it off to someone, I guess.