Where Juan Valdez Meets Benjamin Franklinby
Art RoflmaoComment by Neil: Very good idea! Sharp wit and focus.
I think overall this is a very good image. I think you were penalized for having a woody ;)
Compositionally, however, I think this could have been a little stronger. I'm not fixated on the rule of thirds, but this image could be balanced better by using it. My first thought is that the paper goods on the left weren't needed and don't provide compositional balance, and you could have thus cropped on that side and tried to get woody in the sweet spot--right now he and the coffee maker are too close to center.
Second, I think the brown/dark background makes the beans on the left less effective. If I were to imagine arranging the scene, I might have done the following (but realize this is not easy to previsualize so I may be totally off base): ditch the paper cups on the right, put the beans there in a more prominent position, shifting the maker left, and balancing the maker on the left with the beans on the right. Put in a very nice expresso cup, either filled with steaming coffee or money. The latter idea has me thinking a little bit: to make a statement about coffee costs, the jar isn't really "unambiguous" because it is associated with tips, not the cost of coffee. So maybe the coffee cup idea filled with money, or some foreground with money and coffee somehow intermingled in either a natural or artistic statement way.
Alternate title: Hey buddy, can I have $5 for a cup of coffee? ;)
Photographer found comment helpful.
