Hi all, I’d consider myself an advanced photographer but not an expert. I take lots of photos of my son’s (American) football games and have been really happy with my progress but am still learning. Here is my gear:

- Nikon D500

- Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR

I mostly shoot shutter priority anywhere between 1/1000 and 1/2000 depending on conditions and allow the camera to choose f-stop and ISO. However, as I’ve become more comfortable, recently I’ve been experimenting with manual mode using the same shutter range but locking into f/4 for a bit more depth of field. Most of his games are during the day.

Here’s where I’m struggling…

I only have the one body and lens (for now). I like to not only capture the fast action on the field but also the kids doing things on the sidelines, the coaches, fans, referees, etc. As you can imagine, I have to react quickly to catch a moment and what often happens is with the wider aperture, the auto-focus will lock, for instance, on a player’s helmet, hand, or other piece of gear and thus their face is out of focus because of the wide aperture and often zoom length. I want to be able to quickly change the shutter and/or f-stop when I’m not shooting action for greater DoF on these shots.

With my Nikon D500, is there a way to easily do that or do I just need to quickly spin the back and/or front dials to change the shutter speed and f-stop? I was hoping there would be a button for a pre-set (or several pre-sets). I’m open to other suggestions as well.

Thank you for the advice!