authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

OK, here is the JPG converted with Canon DPP

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Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

Nothing attached
Now its showing....

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

ok

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Thank you for converting and posting. Below is an example of the technical details this file provides. We see a zone AF group is used. Using the 'center' isn't wrong, but coupled with the f/5.6 aperture and the nearness to this 6-person group is where all the settings combined do not result in a pleasing recipe.

Experiment with the external dials on the camera that you'll need to use to move the zone quickly around the frame. See if the camera will make a better 'program auto' decision if told to AF using a group in the lower left on the woman in glasses and light blue. If the camera still 'thinks' f/5.6 is a good aperture, begin to learn and practice with the exposure modes that give you more control.

Finally, do not use AI Focus AF. Although the manual makes this seem ideal, it is actually the worst AF option from Canon EOS. This mode has even been removed from newer EOS-R models. Your best AF drive mode for sharp images is AI Servo, using either a BBF configuration or practicing to have your index finger always half-pressing the shutter and forcing the camera / lens to constantly focus.

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amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

If you uploaded your image(s) here, we might be able to give you an informed answer.

Without a photo, we'd just be guessing.

EDIT:

Whoops! Okay, now I see the example you posted.

Yep, it's a depth of field thing. Focus is on the folks in the back row, so the folks in front, closest to you, are out of focus. Partly it's from using f/5.6 and partly it's from using a short telephoto at a close distance. It's not a problem with the lens or the camera.... it's a "user error".

Depth of field is effected by lens focal length... longer focal lengths render shallower depth of field... shorter focal lengths render deeper depth of field.

Depth of field is also effected by lens aperture.... the larger the aperture (largest on your lens is f/2.8) the shallower the depth of field.... the smaller (such as f/11), the deeper the depth of field.

And, depth of field is effected by distance.... the closer you are to the subject, the shallower the depth of field.

If instead of f/5.6 you had used f/11, that would have helped (to still get a good exposure with 2 stop smaller aperture, and not have to use a too-slow shutter speed, you would need to increase ISO to 1600).

If you had somehow focused midway in between the people in the back row and the people in the front row, that would also have helped keep everyone more in focus. This is called "hyperfocal focusing". You can read about hyperfocal distance here https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/hyperfocal-distance.htm and elsewhere on the Internet.

Note: You might wonder why not use an even smaller lens aperture, to increase depth of field more. Well, there's also an optical effect called "diffraction" that occurs at too-small lens apertures. Diffraction "robs" fine detail from images. The smaller the aperture, the stronger the effect. It actually starts to occur with a camera like yours around f/5.6... but it's very slight at first so you can probably comfortably use f/8 and f/11.... maybe even f/16. But your macro lens probably also has f/22 and f/32. I would recommend *not* using those ultra-small apertures. In fact, I'd recommend you do some test shots of a highly detailed, flat subject or "target" (a weathered fence, brick wall, etc.) at various lens apertures and then look them over closely to see what's acceptable to you, in your images. You might not like f/16, either. (Set up on a tripod and be sure to have the flat test shot target parallel with the image sensor in your camera.... so that depth of field doesn't have any effect on the shots.)

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

He did. You just have to read all of the postings to see.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

I agree. AI Focus NO BUENO. Get rid of it. F/8 would probably be fine like I said previously. I'd also use fewer focus points. Why let that many focus points pic what to focus on when you could use 1 and only 1 to focus on the eye of the person YOU choose to have the best focus on.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

I'd have used F8 as well, but I would have stepped back and taken the shot from a bit farther back & cropped in post if needed...

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Stop down lens two to three stops, keep folks at the same distance from lens. Continue on grasshopper.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

Understand what depth of field is. While an aperture in your lens of lets say f16 will offer a great depth of field apertures like f4 or below offer a narrow depth of field.
Slight movement of a person while the picture is been taken will be blurred if the shutter speed is rather slow like 1/30 sec. or less.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

It's a depth of field problem as well as an aperture setting problem. Learning about DOF takes time and practice as does knowing what each aperture setting does. If you lined all of the people up exactly in the same plane across and took that shot at f/2.8, assuming no one moves and all people, even their noses!, are lined up the same than you could get a sharp shot of all of them. The minute someone moves out of that line your DOF has changed and how your lens sees that lineup changes. Shoot with a greater DOF and move around to get the best spot for sharpness. It's often difficult to get people in a group all sharp so be sure to get the people in the front the sharpest and, using an aperture of f/8 or so, the sharpness of the people not in the front will fall off a bit, which would be the way we actually see things in the world. Practice a lot and you'll get better. Wide angle lenses take the sharpest shots close up but may skew the shot if too wide so be careful with that. Maybe a 50mm lens would work good for you for groups of people, you can crop off a bit to bring the group closer in.

Shoeless_Photographer Loc: Lexington

Definitely depth of field issue. Notice how the little girl is a bit out of focus, and the woman closer to the camera is definitely out of focus. You used f/5.6. In the same scenario the next time, try at least f/8, or better yet f/11. Focus on someone in the middle of the group, too, like the little girl.

Of course, to pull that off, I'd aim for aperture priority and not let the camera decide everything like it does in P mode.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

At those settings (60mm f/5.6 and I am guessing around 5 or 6 feet away) you have a total DOF of around 5" with only about 2.5" in front of the primary subject. You seem to be focused on the woman in the center back so those in the front are out of focus.