RustyBug
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Nifty Fifty wrote:
I am anything but a fan of high sharpness, but when the focus in peoples photography is somewhere in the background instead of on the persons, I find that, let's say, unfortunate.
Unfortunate is a reasonable word  ... but, when zone focusing action, it is also a reasonable acceptance.
Given the DOF and the margin / rate of change in the focal acuity transition (i.e. small / slow) from the focal plane, human perception to the amount of contrast in hue and tone (large) between the man and the BG, as well as the man vs. woman (large) ... our focus (not acuity of focus plane, rather the command of our attention) can still be drawn to the people.
This matter of understanding how we process contrast (i.e. differences), is a key component to how (mono in particular, but even so with color hues) we can capture a powerful moment, even without nailing uber-critical (eye / body) focus. Thus, the zone shooter is liberated to "focus" attention on the action, sans critical concerns of perfect focal plane placement ... again, the slow departure from focal plane acuity transition isn't death to the image (even when askew) when there is more powerful "draw" in the scene to command the focus of our attention. "F/8 and be there" ... tolerates this more than when shooting (and missing) f/1.4, as the rate of change is different (sliding scale).
The viewer's "focus" (i.e. area of attention) can be achieved to command our attention by more than the focal plane acuity placement alone. Understanding this can be very powerful for a zone shooter, et al.
This (imo) is the essence of "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." as referenced by HCB. Even without uber-critical plane of optical focus placement, the image remains strong / powerful enough (through hue / tone contrasts) to command the draw of the viewers attention (focus) through the other elements that we still "look here" (i.e. at the people, in this instance), at the essence of the image's subject / story.
The plane of focus on the BG does tug us rearward (competing a bit), but the woman continues to pull us forward, too. If it were my image, I'd PP a slight amount of blur / NR / etc. to the BG to tame the sharpness of the BG, then the relative comparison of the BG's command is reduced, shifting the command more forward to the previously noted elemental draw (i.e. less competition from the BG). Alternatively (or both), some (mild) BG vignette or tonal reduction can also reduce the BG draw. More than one way to skin that cat, but the salient point being optical focal plane acuity isn't the "end all, be all" when working from the zone focusing approach to capture the essence of a scene that unfolds before us ... particularly when strong elements of "draw" to command the viewer's direction, are present to offset / override the "miss" of optical focal plane placement.
Short answer, capture the moment ... don't let the small stuff (inexact focal plane placement, etc.) deter you from doing so.
Steve didn't. 
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