Lense or me

Note that the focus appears to be on the left rear shoulder of the girl to the left, putting the face of both subjects out of focus. Is this because the center focus point was probably located on the shoulder or is it an example of back focus.

24 -70 2.8 at 34 mm, at 3.5 1/800, ISO 400

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Looks like the focus was on the back shoulder and the faces are OOF because of the shallow depth of field. f5.6 would have been a much better choice for 2 people at close range standing at slightly different distances. Focusing on a face would have helped but f3.5 is still very shallow.

Thanks..sort of the conclusion i came to as well..... have had multiple issues like this and I think it is because of using the large f opening.....but I was reaching the point of second guessing myself.

DarenM wrote in post #8347606
Thanks..sort of the conclusion i came to as well..... have had multiple issues like this and I think it is because of using the large f opening.....but I was reaching the point of second guessing myself.

Depth of Field catches us all out at times.

Why not check the following table to see exactly how many centimetres or millimetres of depth you would have had with that lens, at that aperture, and at that subject distance.

It's a real eye-opener.

http://www.dofmaster.c​om/doftable.html

Common mistake shooting more then one person. I missed a whole night of shots at my company's xmas party when I first got my camera, left the AF point on the center AF point and clicked away shooting couple after couple.Once I got home I realized every shot was focused on whatever was between them.
You simply had the center AF point going between the two subjects. Put it on auto AF or select an AF point that will be close to one of the subjects face.

Thanks for the feedback