BrittaneyRodriguez

@Brian @Damien Symonds thank you guys so much for all the advice. I'll send it in to have it assessed and depending on the outcome, possibly look at buying a back up.

@Brian @Damien Symonds I am even more frustrated now than when I originally asked my question. My Focus Priority mode isn't working at all. All of my settings are correct. I quadruple checked. I just got off the phone with Nikon after speaking to 2 different techs to try to figure out why the shutter is releasing without acquiring focus despite being in FP mode. Both of them can't seem to comprehend that the problem isn't that my camera isn't focusing, it's that the camera is allowing me to take a picture without focus being achieved FIRST. Back to my original question, in your opinion, did I miss focus on my recent session (photos above), was I just too far away, or are my expectations of how sharp they should be unreasonable? My goal is to learn something and improve going forward. I appreciate all the information that you take the time to share with me. NO FILTERS!

@Brian Settings: AF-C (I have tried single per suggestions, but it doesn't work well with active children/lifestyle family portraits) A1 and A2 both set to "Focus", however, I just did a test and for some reason my camera is still releasing the shutter without even attempting to focus....) I have searched and searched for anything on maximum focus distance, but only come up with information on minimum focusing distance. Thank you for finally answering that! No specific reason why I shot that far away perhaps I was trying to get some of the sun or that just may have been where I happened to be standing when I took the photo. Back-button-focus.... I tried it and didn't like it so I turned it off, then I gave it a try again las night because whenever I ask for insight on this issue, the main responses that I get besides aperture related ones is that back-button-focus is a must to get sharp images. The only that that really appeals to me is the ease of recomposing vs having to toggle my focus point around. It gets challenging having to move that thing around when photographing moving kids. Suggestions on this are appreciated. Max focusing distance: This makes perfect sense to me and I have suspected this but haven't found any information to support this, and everyone that I have suggested this to has told me there isn't a max focusing distance... @Damien Symonds I included the 100% crops as well as new images at your request taken at 2ft and 10 ft.

I have used higher F-stops than 4. The bottom image is a single person that I know I locked focus on because my camera won't activate the shutter until focus is acquired. The only thing I can imagine is that I am too far away from her, maybe 15 ft.

I shoot with a Nikon D750 and my images are almost never sharp when shooting more than 1 person or when shooting more than about 10 feet away. I have tried so many things to correct this, but nothing has improved it. I have included images from a shoot I did last night. I usd my Nikkor AF-S 50mm 1.8 lens, F Stop 4+, SS 400-800, and ISO 100. This is the same situation even with my 85mm 1.8; never sharp. The only time I seem to get a sharp image is if I'm no more than 5 feet away from my subject. I was about 10-15 feet away in these images. All firmware for my camera and lenses are up to date. I did a manual calib. on my lenses and they seem to be just fine. I don't know what to do from here.