LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

I met the Sun today! She has gorgeous blue eyes and the most incredible smile in the world!
Using two new lenses. 85mm L, f/1.2 and the 70-200L, f/2.8 was a really great experience! Again setting up the lights didn't take me more than 20 minutes.
One of the main drawbacks is that my monitor is not properly calibrated. That is why I think my pictures are a bit insufficient and scanty.

Anyway...

For those who are just starting out, many times poor focus is the result of an inappropriate aperture/shutter speed for your situation. Generally, in order to get consistently sharp shots, you need to have a shutter speed of at least 1/100. And that’s for someone who has a steady hand shooting. If you’re a shaky shooter, then 1/200 should be your lowest shutter speed. Low shutter speeds result in camera shake and/or subject movement affecting your focus. The best camera and lens in the world can’t compensate for poor metering.

Also, be sure you completely understand aperture and depth of field. You can have a nice high shutter speed, but if you’re shooting a group of 8 people at f2.8, chances are your focus won’t be what you want it to be. Even shooting with your camera on automatic won’t get these parameters right for each situation. Most cameras aren’t too smart when it comes to figuring out metering on their own. You need to be able to understand the situation you’re photographing and meter it appropriately.

So, for the photo above, I was obviously shooting in studio. So I set my shutter to 1/200 and aperture to f/22 and then metered my lights to be the same reading. That gave me great depth of field and a shutter speed that was appropriately fast for a moving baby.

Additionally, practice holding your camera as steady as possible. The steadier you are, the less likely camera shake will affect the focus of your images. Use two hands when shooting, and oftentimes, I will stabilize the camera by resting an elbow on my knees (or anything else that's nearby).