[kirbinster]

If you use some of Nikon's software (I forget which right now) it will show you where your focus point was. In the picture with the trees in the background it looks to me that the focus might have been on the pine trees rather than the people. The needles around the man look sharper than the people. The other issue might be that your lens is off and either backfocusing or front focusing. As a test I would suggest you set the camera on a tripod and do the following: Set the lens wide open and take a picture of five or seven batteries standing on end that are spaced about 1/2" apart and set about and inch apart front to back. So, if you had seven batteries and the center one was 48" from the lens you would have batteries at 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50 and 51 inches from the lens with slight spacing between them. Focus on the center battery and take a picture. Now focus on the 45" battery and take a picture and do the same with the 51" battery. Now look at the pictures at 100% and see which battery is the sharpest. Was it always the one you focused on? If not you have a backfocus problem with your camera-lens combo.