Tips on effectively shooting wide open (below f/2) @ 35mm

So I bought a 35L about 4-5 days ago and tested it the other night at my NYE party. The goal was to practice shooting wide open. Here are 2 random photos from that night (shot f/1.4-1.6):

Well, seems like you have the right idea already - if you are shooting something that has eyes, really make sure that you hit them with the AF point. You can have slightly blurry noses or lips, and the pic may look fine, but if the eyes are blurry the photo is done for!

I always try to manually focus when shooting wide open. Although the center point can lock focus much better than the outer points, training your eye to see focus is going to be more consistent than the camera's AF system. This is especially the case when the subject you want in focus is off center. In short, practice, practice, practice...

yep, when the lens is wide open as its not easy to get the focus right

I would agree that manually focusing can be more accurate for precision focusing. The AF will often catch an eyebrow or the rim of the glasses rather than the eye and at wide apertures, it can be quite apparent. Also, be sure to shoot ASAP after getting focus. The slight movement of your body (or your subjects body) as you breathe and simply keep your balance will move your focal point enough to make you ever so slightly miss the shot.

So basically you guys are saying the Canon AF system is generally not super accurate and this problem is magnified when shooting wide open. So when shooting below f/2 it would be to my benefit to shoot using MF instead of AF.

Ooo, interesting background on the 2nd shot. Really makes the subject stand out.

Tee Why wrote in post #9339394
Ooo, interesting background on the 2nd shot. Really makes the subject stand out.

Tee, you took the words right out of my mouth! All that perspective really makes the subject pop out at the viewer. I'm going to have to play with that more myself. Nicely done, Ken.