[natek313]

To me, it looks like the focus in the first photo fell on his shoulders and the neck line of his shirt. This was either due to the photographer not focusing properly if he/she was using manual focus, or it was due to the auto-focus, if used, being fooled. The focus in the second picture looks good to me.

The aperture, as it relates to focus, is only going to influence the depth of field. Now, there are other factors that influence the depth of field, but that's another story. The size of the aperture is virtually arbitrary if you do not focus properly.