Focus-then-Recompose (FTR)

This is a technique used by the majority of photographers. It involves half-pressing the shutter to focus, then re-composing the image and full-pressing the shutter in order to take the picture.

Most modern digital cameras have more than one focus point. On advanced models you can choose which point the camera should use to acquire focus. Many photographers who use the FTR technique will switch the camera to the central point and leave it there.

For cameras that take a while to focus and have some delay between pressing the shutter and taking the picture, this can help getting the right moment, because the camera will be ready to shoot when the shutter is half-pressed.

Also if your camera has multiple focus points, the central focus point is usually the one with the highest precision. This way you can take full advantage of the precision.

If you have very shallow depth-of-field, the rotation of the image axis during re-composing might be enough to throw the subject off-focus.

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For more information on this topic, you can also listen to TFTTF show 03 - FTR / perspective