Help pls focussing.... blue flower

[imposter]

hi,
im a newb with a canon powershot a80. ive just started using manual controls on mine. i have a hard time getting things into focus. below is an example. can someone pls help me how i can get over this.

i liked the blue flower below... except the focus is on the leaves and not on the flower. i got some more pics ruined like this. :(

http://img287.echo.cx/img287/221/img07967yg.jpg

[rent]

it looks like your cam maybe back focusing a bit. do a simple test with your camera on a tripod (or steady on a table), place a ruler in front of the camera but at a 45 degree angle so one end is closer to the camera and the other end is further.

focus on the middle of the ruler and take a shot. you can then check to see if the area you focused on was indeed in-focus.

if not, consider having your camera serviced.

-alex