Learning...

Took some shots tonight, tried to get some nice lighting using a deflector, then the sun went away. Made a small attempt at lightroom again.

Thanks for the critique in advance.

Looks really nice. I think you have done a good job. It doesn't look sharp though full sized... not sure if that is your export settings or slightly missed focus...

I think its a bit out of focus. It didnt seem like it was, but Im learning that autofocus, dont necessarily mean focused.. Or Im not paying attention.

The focus looks to be just a wee skosh in front of her, according to the straw pile. The dang exif box is outta sight when hovering the image.

f/1.8 takes some practice... also might be worth checking your camera is focusing properly. I am pretty sure D7100 allows for camera/lens focus calibration.

do all d7100's need to have to have the af tune on? or calibrated?

It is wise to check the lens calibration and adjust if need be. The Nikon 50mm prime mated to my D700 required a minus 19 adjustment, pretty extreme. If your images are looking a bit soft, it could be due to a lens needing fine tuned.

As the others said; it's a nice image but slightly out of focus.

I don't know which focus method you used but if you use d9 or more, you run the risk the cam picks an area you rather have not. I had it happen quite a lot when practicing with wide open and find that using a single focal point targeted directly on the eye tends to give better results.