Catching up...

[Cropduster]

I see the top of the hat is blown out. Other comments more than welcome.

http://w3hi.com/catching_up.jpg

[Radtech1]

OK, depending on how pickey you want here goes:

1) The colors are just a little bit flat. You could go one of 2 ways with this. Either punch them up a bit, which I think is the wrong way, but might work. OR, desat to the point of monochrome. This is a sort of reflective shot, and I think that monochrome would enhance the feel of the shot.

2) It seems just a bit out of balance, like it is falling away. I would take it to the Skew tool in PS (or PSE2) and pull the upper left corner till the post is parallel to the edge of the frame. Not a big thing, but would help.

3) The biggest problem is the composition. While it is true that he is looking at the newspaper, he is ALSO looking OUT of the frame. It is natural for the viewer of a photo to look in the direction that the subject is looking. The viewers eyes go from his face to the paper and then continue out of the shot. This effectively deadens the entire right half of the photo.

Unless there is a compelling secondary point of interest, you never want the subject to be looking or walking towards the border of the photo that they are closest to. Always from the side they are on, through the middle of the shot, then out. This will involve the viewer into the entire photograph. With this shot, there is no reason to look elsewhere.

IF YOU CAN CONVINCE your model to reshoot the shot, then move him to his left, to the side of the bench closest to the viewer (and in so doing, closest to the right side of the frame). This would invite the rest of the area into the composition, rather than him literally "turning his back" on half of the frame.

Rad

[LightHunter]

Is this a self portrait? Just a tought compared with your avatar.
To my opinion the red of the T-shirt and ribbon around the hat are too red.

[Cropduster]

Is this a self portrait?

Almost! My daughter snapped the picture while I was taking a break from yard work.

3) The biggest problem is the composition. While it is true that he is looking at the newspaper, he is ALSO looking OUT of the frame. It is natural for the viewer of a photo to look in the direction that the subject is looking. The viewers eyes go from his face to the paper and then continue out of the shot. This effectively deadens the entire right half of the photo.

That's why it ended up in a square crop. It was originally landscape with the whole right side nothing but fence and I didn't think a vertical crop would work.

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Anyway, I thought I'd try to salvage it but I think not. It's less than flattering to me, but I may try cropping it tighter yet and go sepia.

Thanks for the comments!