Why don't I like Grampa?

[roostabunny]

I want to like this shot of my wife's grandfather, but I don't. I'm not sure why.

I know part of the reason - the focus is off. So, the picture's sharp, it's just sharp in the wrong place. But there's something else, too. Any ideas?

50mm
f/2.5
1/125
800 ISO

Thanks!

PS Trying to embed AND attach a photo via Google+ (since I can't access Picasaweb directly) and not sure if it'll work. Apologies if it doesn't work or if I end up with two pics.

[MrJones]

it's the soft focus as you mentioned but the main thing for me is the lightning.
you've got one eye lit nicely and visible and his left eye is dark and kind of hiding from the viewer.
a reflector on camera right will solve it and give you a more balanced lightning.

as for focus, when working with such a narrow DOF, learn to use your focal points and move between them to always get the one closest to the eye.

[Rentham]

Tough to say. May some eye contact would have helped. Have him look proud and dignified, showing hard-won wisdom and all that. Featuring the texture of his skin may also have worked well. Check this out: Flickr: Discussing Portraits of my grandfather (and how I shot them) in Strobist.com

[Doug Sundseth]

I don't have a particular problem with the short split lighting you used here. You might consider Rembrandt lighting for a bit more classic look, but your shadow side is quite open already. (I'd actually think about using less rather than more fill light, at least as a second option.)

The problem I have is that the subject has a red shirt and a desaturated orange face (that's pretty much what Caucasian flesh tones are) and you've shot him against a strong red and gray background.

Further, there's a fairly strong highlight on the bottom of the background picture on the left, which tends to draw my eye away from the subject.

Finally, there's a strong specular highlight on the glasses obscuring the subject's right eye (camera left) and a weak specular (from the table?) obscuring the subjects left eye.

Recommendations:

Shoot with a less saturated and complex background.

Control the light position to get the subject lighting you want without bouncing light directly into the camera. Reflections are like playing billiards with photons -- don't put your lens at the point where the photons will bounce.

HTH