Soft focus with new camera?

[ARWildflower]

I would love some critique of this photo. I have a new Nikon D3100 and although I was pleased with the results, I found the focus just a little soft. I tweaked this photos only slighly in photoshop to remove some acne off my daughter's face. The rest is as shot. There are a couple of other shots from this session in my flickr photostream here Flickr: ARWildflower's Photostream if you'd like to review them. Thoughts?



Exif data
Camera Nikon D3100
Exposure 0.006 sec (1/160)
Aperture f/9.0
Focal Length 55 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Exposure Bias 0 EV

[commongrackle]

Not liking the pose here, I would have had her turn her body slightly to her left and lean against the doorway on her right. Then I would have cropped tighter and removed some of the excess surrounding area, leaving her more to the left of the photo. The stone wall is more distracting than interesting.

[ARWildflower]

Originally Posted by commongrackle

The stone wall is more distracting than interesting.

Hmm, ok, fair comment. I liked the contrast of the stone to the dark wood, but I see your point of it being a distraction. I did have a few with her posing more as you describe, but my slight focus issues made them not to my satisfaction. Thank you for looking, critiquing and commenting. I appreciate your time.

[RLucas]

I'm not seeing much of a focus issue here. The main thing I see is that it is a little hazy. I would do a curves adjustment to get a little more contrast. It seems to have a slightly blue color cast as well. Might want to tweak the white balance. Getting a little more contrast will definitely help with the perceived softness.

[ARWildflower]

Thanks, Luke. I'm new enough to PS to not be too good with curves yet, but am learning. Hazy is a good word, and I'll play with contrast some to see if I can resolve that. The slightly blue cast is also noted. Thanks for your comments.

[veritasimagery]

I'm not really seeing any focus issues either. Heck, I've seen hazier looking pictures from a professional family portrait studio (though they always seem to go for that "romantic" look.).