From the first picture you can totally tell you are using a soft focus created by using a low f-stop number. This is nice when taking face shots, but as you can see trying to get a long object all in focus is harder.
I also don't know first hand the camera you are using, but here is what I would try.
1) Turn the camera to aperature priority setting and set the aperature to about 8 or so. (higher will give you better focus over total depth, lower will cause non-focused areas to be blurry)
2) Turn the ISO to 400
3) Shoot again. In aperature priority you set 2/3 settings (aperature and ISO) and the camera automatically sets the timing. It might set a really slow shutter speed, depending on light. If so, either get a tripod and set the timer, or increase the ISO setting to 800.
NOTE: Increasing the ISO setting will cause "grainier" photos. Hope this helps.