Reply To: Beginner here. Please let me know what you think

[JLiu]

No, unfortunately.  The focus appears to be sharpest on the nose…and even that seems a smidge soft.

I took a look at the EXIF data on the photo, and it looks like o a handheld shot using the 50/1.8 lens at a shutter speed of 1/60 + flash and an aperture of 1.8.

So, already the depth of field (AKA DOF) is quite small (I’d imagine you weren’t more than 2 feet away…which gives equates to about about 0.36 inches DOF).  Tack on that this is handheld at an “inappropriate” shutter speed, the chances are high a soft image will be the result.

I put inappropriate in quotes because, although the general rule of using a faster shutter speed than the focal length of the lens is being obeyed, there is a higher risk of soft images with a shutter speed that close to the focal length – especially considering the crop factor.  It would be safer having a shutter speed of about 1/100.  That’s not to say it’s impossible to get sharp images at 1/60…but the results are almost always better with more keepers at a more appropriate shutter speed…..am I making sense?