Robs Friend | Whats wrong here?

[robbyniceone]

Wow, thanks for all the comments. It was my photo by the way. Remind me to never travel on a domestic flight in the States. Is that what your planes look like? Jesus. In fact that is a Sri Lankan train and is dangerous enough on the ground attached to rails. Trying to make it fly would definately be problematic. Cockroaches are the only thing that hold it together.
I prefer this kind of candid shot to those that I posed. I know that some people like to see the model engage with the camera, but I often find that sort of shot a little too staged and I feel that this captures something for me that posed shots don't.
Incidentally I don't even really care about the blown out areas etc. The subject is exposed correctly (I think) and the blown out area is a result of the dynamic range of the camera compared to the human eye. It doesn't bother me enough to fiddle with it.
The orange sign behind her is a bomb warning! Something that had I known before I boarded I may have thought twice about alternative means of transport (especially after the recent bomb blast in Colombo)...

ANYWAY, MY QUESTION WAS ACTUALLY THIS:

Does anyone know why her face is so soft? I used centre spot autofocus on a 350D and it locked, so I'm guessing it thought it was focused. Lens is a tamron 28-300 which has not given me any grief in the past, but I have noticed it playing up a little of late so maybe it's that?

Thanks for your comments and help....and for all that I can't be bothered too much with photoshop, I like what you've done with it and the layers. Laters..

[Sime]

...thought i'd get a bit of general feedback, and now with that out of the way, a bit of specific thought on the focus / softness of the shot, so anyone?..

[Rob, your post made me laugh enough to spill my coffee... nice one]

[robbyniceone]

oh and more shots of sri lanka here if you're interested.

www.flickr.com/photos/robsteele