WTF?!?by
rob_smithComment by BeeCee: Hmm, I thought I'd left a comment on this before...
Your expression made me laugh, and your lighting is good on your face (or whoever's face it is). Overall, it's definitely not a bad picture, but may I offer a few comments (nitpicks) that might help next time? :) (Keep in mind I don't know any more than you, it's just things that caught my eye.)
Yes, the background... even if you can't change it moving the seating away from it so it can blur would help :)
The shirt... plain and darker would probably work better... more contrast for your face and no distraction of logo :)
Since it was advanced editing (and presuming you have the software) it may have helped to burn the lettering on the book a bit, to make it jump out more. As is, the shirt logo caught my eye first when I looked to see what was causing the expression, then moved on to the swear box :)
Hands held a little higher so they didn't need to be cropped, and would be in front of the smoother shoulder area of the shirt (in other words, think about their "backdrop" too) :)
You could have gotten even pickier and cloned out the seam in the couch, too.
One of the biggest things I've learned here (though still forget to implement) is attention to detail. Believe me, there's always someone out there who will notice that speck of fuzz or stray hair or SOMEthing, no matter how carefully you think you've looked! lol
Hope you don't mind me picking apart your shot, but it's because I think it's worth it :)