I wonder if it's more of a misfocus problem. It's hard to tell here, but it looks like the freckles on his nose are sharper than his eyes.
I like the photo and agree it has an "antique" feeling. I think there's a number of factors contributing to that - the haircut, the shirt with the big buttons and the shallow DOF that you often see in older photos taken with large format cameras.
One of the problems with really shallow DOF is that something else in the frame is also the same distance from the lens as the eyes (in this case)and becomes an in-focus distraction.
The buttons are almost in focus, for example here.
i like the shallow DOF here....but feel like you missed focus. the eyes feel just out....and that makes it feel a like a bit of a miss. also...I don't like the selective colour. try it just as a b&w and sharpening the eyes....also like Jim said, the buttons kind of become a distraction so try blurring them out a bit?
Jon
