My first model shoot.

[JimMcClain]

You shot only one photo at f/2.8. You control sharpness more by focusing than by f-stop. Although changing f-stops does give you DOF (depth-of-field) control, which allows you to get more of your subject in focus, you still have to make sure the focus point(s) is in the right place.

Your D610 has 39 focus points, but you don't have to use all of them. When photographing a model, perhaps Single-point AF would serve you better and allow you to focus specifically on the dominant eye.

I use f-stop for artistic control, shutter speed for motion control, ISO for light and noise control and I use focusing for sharpness control. Of course, those are not the only uses for those, but for me, they are the primary uses. The thing that helped me the most for sharpness was to make fine adjustments to the diopter - turn the wheel so that the data characters displayed in the viewfinder are sharp. And I found my photos, especially those using wider apertures, were sharper using the viewfinder as opposed to Live View.

 

[acparsons59]

There is definitely a lot to learn, I can now see a need for photographers to specialize. Thanks for tips, I hope that my next shoot will be better.