This is a real common question because, well, the answer is not really obvious, and varies from photographer to brand. Here’s what I do with my Nikons FWIW. I’m always in AF-C and either select S = Single, GRP = Group Dynamic or Auto = Auto Area AF (what I call AAA). Auto Area seems to bring the most confusion to folks, here are prime examples of when I use AAA. It’s when I have subjects against a clean background such as bird or aircraft in flight. The one aspect of AAA one must understand is for Nikon, it’s the one focus mode where Closest Subject is used. In the Snow Geese photo, you can see where it locked on the closest goose. On the Wildcat, it locked on the engine cowling. As long as you know this you can use DoF to your advantage to tell your story. Hope this helps.
