First of all.. that picture is lovely. i agree with the previous posters about it looking a little washed out color wise, but that's easily fixed in some sort of editing program.
i do some sl photography as well..
i'm no where near expert level..
but i'll give you a few tips that i use that seem to work well..
- If you don't have an editing program, you can download gimp for free. i've been using it for some time now. i desperately want to upgrade to photoshop, but can't afford the software at this time.. gimp works well though.
- Adjust your windlight settings in world to help with the lighting. I have a great notecard which contains settings that make most avatars look picture perfect.. if you'd like a copy, IM me in world and i'll pass it to you.
- Set your snapshot dialogue in world to save the full sized image.. that gives you plenty of room to work and gives you tons of space for cropping. (that should also help with the aspect ratio.. although in this case, it may have just been your camera angle)
- Use alt + click to center your photo. This works really well for close up shots..