[r00t_b33r]

hello all,
today is the first day of critique for my photography class. this tiny lady who's about 5'2" and is as skinny as a twig was BRUTAL!!!! (i'm glad she is though because that's how we learn obviously) i submitted the bottom picture for critique and she said that the photo was either somewhat out of focus or that i was shooting at a low resolution. there was no post processing, other than converting the camera from raw to jpeg. so, i'm here to ask what you guys think. any and all constructive criticism is definitely welcome. brutality is acceptable. because my photo wouldn't upload here's a link to my flickr:
winter sun | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[LucyGoosey]

I'm no expert, but I have taken a photography class but for film. How does it work, do critique on screen or from prints? The exif shows you shot at the widest at 18mm on the sigma. Could be that lens just isn't that sharp at the wide end. Also, with the composition and subject matter, I'm not sure where you can actually measure sharpness.

I just downloaded the file from Flickr and it does look like resolution is low.

[r00t_b33r]

we do critique from the computer screen, which is proected from a projector onto a screen in front of the classroom. the monitor is the truest way to look at a photo, the projector is too dark and washes the colors out. i saved the photos in cs5, maybe some information was lost? as for the lens, you may be right as well. i just don't know how to measure sharpness when it comes to different focal lengths.

[SpecialK]

Well, that is indeed the sun, but there is either not enough trees or not enough foreground shadows. I would have composed for one or the other. I don't know if you were on a hill but it looks like the horizon is leaning.

[juu]

Use imgwide tags to embed pictures from Flickr. Use "Copy image location" in Flickr "All sizes -> Original" view to grab the link to use.

I think 640x1024 is not enough to judge sharpness, the original was probably a lot more MPix.

I hate the fence in the picture, and I think the proportion between foreground snow and background trees isn't right, either in one or other direction.

[r00t_b33r]

this was shot in my backyard and the fence separates my property from church property, if you go near it they call the cops lol. i don't like the fence as well....
as for proportionality, i didn't think of it at all...
i never knew taking pictures was so hard! lol

[Ash]

Not much you could have done about the fence, which does disrupt the purity and pristineness of the scene, and the horizon gives the impression of a hilly contour. There may have been a need to stop down to increase DoF. It's a pleasant scene to capture nonetheless.