Focus - need help with sharp pictures

[gifarkas]

I skimmed through the thread, decided to chime in as I'm shooting the exact same combo quite a lot (Nikon D5000 + 35 f/1.8). First of all, for closer portraits, f/1.8 is going to be too shallow, stop down to around f/2.8 and go from there. I prefer manual settings too, but full manual is rarely necessary I think, I usually shoot in A, and use spot metering. If I'm shotting a portrait, I do a metering for the skin, hold down AE lock, focus on the eyes (single point focusing), recompose, and shoot away. I don't know if it's "correct", but that's what I'm doing mostly.

[Eileen D]

If the eyes are on the same plane, that is the subject is squarely in front of you with both eyes the same distance from you, then you can focus on either one. It's when the eyes are not on the same plane, when the subject is turned even slightly to the side, that the DOF comes into play. If you have very shallow DOF and focus on the eye closest to you, then the other eye will look soft. That's when you need to increase DOF so both eyes remain sharp. As was indicated above, you have enough light in most of the shots you posted to narrow the aperture a bit (larger number, smaller aperture), thereby increasing your DOF to get sharp focus for both eyes.

Good luck -- and consider posting some other examples as you try them!