7D MFA test shots

Please let me know if you think I am close on this. Played around quite a bit and ended up at +13 applied to spec lens (as opposed to camera). I posted a couple in sports also (don't know how to link it...under "7D first shots boys lacrosse").
First shot AF spot was on neck/bottom of helmet, second shot AF was directly on his face.
Still learning the camera, used spot with expansion, ISO 200, f/2.8, 1/2000.
Thanks

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Here's two more...

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For that kind of light, I would cut down the aperture to f8, also cut down the speed to 1/1000 or a little higher, and bring ISO up to 800 or more. This will give you better depth of field. The first impression for me, looking at these shots, is that the 7D is capable of sharper images. I'm not sure what the problem is though, but I do think you could have more contrast, more saturation, better mid-tones... but all of that will come with how you treat your shooting and then what post-processing you are doing.

Are you using Lightroom? Try the develop module in Lightroom to gain power in color rendition in your final images.

Thanks, I was using f2.8 because I wanted my DOF to be thin for MFA. I am using Aperture and the only PP on these was crop and mild sharpening. I am just wondering if I can take care of this in MFA or do I need to take it to Canon...

Mike-

I agree with the f/8 suggestion. It's been a recent learning curve of mine. I LOVE shallow DoF and shoot as wide open as I can much of the time... but unfortunately the "pop" that comes from bokeh is often lost by the lack of definition in your three-dimensional subject. It's become a balancing act for me, but shooting at f/1.8 and f/2.8 like I used to is becoming less and less of an option these days. Sad...

If you are using the shallow DoF to specifically show the MFA adjustments, you may want to do a 100% crop of your subject focus area... it may make it easier to determine sharpness.

Take a shot of a brick wall at 45 degree angle have DPP show the focus spot. I try this at about 10 feet and then at about 20,

DW

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try using a wall and other lenses to see how they come out.