Guitar Playing Self Portrait

[shocellist]

I was playing around with my guitar today, trying out some self-portraiture. I used a tripod, 2 second timer, and manual focus to pull this off.
I ended up using an external light because I didn't want to bump my ISO too high, and I was getting motion blur even though I was trying to sit as still as possible. The original looked terrible because of the exposure on my hand, so I bumped the contrast pretty high.

My main question is regarding aperture. Is there enough stuff in focus? Do you guys think that I went too shallow for this shot? And if so, how can I prevent the external light source (which is just a flexible floor lamp) from messing up my hand?
Another area for critiquing is composition. The head of my guitar got cut off here; does that detract from the image?
Thanks!


EXIF data:
Shot in RAW
Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF 50mm f/1.8 II
ISO: 200
Aperture: f/1.8
Exposure Speed: 1/25s

[Matthew_Scullion]

I like the photo.

re: too shallow a depth of field, I certainly think this photo works, so no, not in my opinion.
re: composition cutting of head of guitar, personally I think this works well
re: "how can I prevent the external light source (which is just a flexible floor lamp) from messing up my hand?", not sure I understand this question

[shocellist]

Thanks for your feedback!

As for the lighting, what I am concerned about is how my left hand has that "exposed by flash" look.

[bphilleo]

As far as the DOF I personally feel that a bit more in focus would be better, but it really depends on what message you're trying to convey. Same applies for the head of the guitar being cut off. I would have recomposed and left made sure to get it in there. I like it otherwise!

[Matthew_Scullion]

Your fingers just looks like they are in a shard of light to me i.e. creatively lit. The white balance is OK so it doesn't look like a massive splash of flash. Maybe the specular highlight on your right knuckle is a bit unpleasant, maybe - you could diffuse the light - but that's a creative decision, it's not "wrong" in my opinion.

[PixSixSix]

Originally Posted by bphilleo

As far as the DOF I personally feel that a bit more in focus would be better, but it really depends on what message you're trying to convey. Same applies for the head of the guitar being cut off. I would have recomposed and left made sure to get it in there. I like it otherwise!

I'm going to +1 this.

I think having the head of the guitar in the frame and having a wee bit more focus will bring more context to the photo.

[shocellist]

Thanks guys for all the feedback!

@bphilleo: Perhaps f/4 or f/3.5 would allow another fret to be in focus?
@bphilleo and PixSixSix: As for the composition, my only concern about adding the whole thing would be that the focal would shift closer toward the middle of the image since I'm adding more on the right. What do you guys think about getting the entire head of the guitar and my left hand in focus while leaving everything else blurred?