A matter of sharpness

[BobDavid]

It's an arresting photo: Color, motion, composition, and a story. My wife doesn't always agree with me and I don't always agree with her. Trust your gut.

[spidermike]

On second thought, there is nothing wrong with the composition. No need for cropping. Just look at the intersection of thirds:

Technically, I agree with you. But the visual 'weight' and size of the square doorway and the vividiness of the dress make it a single unit which appears lmore central than it actually is so I think you need to 'overcompensate' by exaggerating the third as done in Perter's crop.
Both work well but I just think the weighting given by the crop adds a bit to it.

But I do like both.
It is a shame when modern obsession with technicalities (in this case 'the subject must always be sharp') is an immediate barrier to what otherwise is a good composition. But if her dress had been any other colour but red I doubt it would have worked as well.

[Cem]

Another one from the series "I couldn't resist". My wife says that I should drop it into the waste bin because it's not sharp enough. I wonder if the lack of sharpness is an issue here. What do you think?

I think that this is a good photo and the lack of sharpness is totally acceptable especially if it is presented as a part of a series showing similar images. In street photography one is primarily looking at the composition, the colours, the motion and the capturing of the moment, as Bob wrote before me. This photo delivers in those areas.