That was a great critique Peter. It certainly helped me as its very difficult to know where you are going wrong when you have no one to ask, its just hit and miss. Thanks Jamzky for posting the pics for critique it helps us all.
Thanks for all your comments and advice.The shot was taken with an aperture of f/3.0 but I did soften it a little in Picasa which is what Im using at the moment. Howevet the consensus is it needs a little sharpening so Ill play around with that and the contrast.
Thanks for your comments. Its great to get some feedback. the Canon 400D was recommended to me a while ago so Ill look into that. In the meantime Ill keep practicing.