>>4170256Effort, mostly. The backdrop succeeds at being busy and boring at the same time, the light is terribly flat, the framing is dull, the pose is soulless. Just about any change you make would bring *something* to the picture.
Off the top of my head, I'd probably move them in front of either an unbroken expanse of wall or a chalkboard or a wider window or a bookshelf or *something* that isn't "Here's an in-focus 1/3 of a window and some beige.
I'd probably step them out from the backdrop a good few feat, throw the apertures out wide, get two-directional light going even if I have to resort to volunteers barely out of frame holding cellphones, have them shaking hands and/or handing the *folded* flag over, and shoot it from a slight angle. I doubt it would be award-winning, but at least it wouldn't resemble Mrs. Haversham's Class 2nd Grade Graduation (Most Likely to Moderately Succeed: 2nd and 3rd place) shot on a Kodak Disc 4000 with a completely unneeded on-camera flash.
