Focus issues

[AggieHunter]

I'm hoping there is an easy solution for this but we'll see.

Lately I've been having some issues with getting images in sharp focus... And sometimes focus at all. The camera is telling me it is focused and is indicating the points its focusing on, but the entire picture will be fuzzy. It doesn't really look like motion blur but more like it focused way too close when there is nothing there to focus on. I do know that my sensor is pretty dirty and was thinking maybe that had something to do with it Any thoughts on what might be happening?

[Hillary]

Cleaning your camera is never a bad thing, your sensor might just be dirty, but I would guess that you need a new way to pick your focus.

Change your focus settings to have a center weight (not your metering)
It might be that you have an auto focus on, and it is grabbing light in front of your subject.

So practice this, take your camera, sit down somewhere, use a single point focus and focus on your subject. When you get the focus lock it with your AE Lock (should be a button on your camera)
Once you do that, you can move the frame side to side without letting go of that button and keep the same focus.

Anyways, if you are confused call me because I tried to type it the best I could, but I don't know how a canon rolls....