Pretty people pictures (critique me)

I'm always striving to get better at candid/portraits. As much as i'd love to take photos of birds and race cars, the fact is it's not going to be the only thing i see in my "career" nor will they be as apreciated by family/friends

So please critique

Postion of subject
DOF
Lighting
Angle of shot etc etc

As well as my B&W of the photo, i think i'm really getting a hang of that part of them.

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I'm not a big fan of profile shots, but if you are going to do it I'd make it full profile as I find the little bit of the right eye & glasses distracting. Generally I'd prefer a 3/4 shot. The background blur is very effective, but I'd rotate it a bit to clockwise to straighten up the fire surround.

I also think there is a tiny bit too much open space on the left of the image - you could crop off a slither I think.

I like the B&W conversion, but if you look in Levels you'll see that you could bring up the highlights quite a bit without blowing them. For me this improves it a bit

It's nice, but it doesn't really fit my definition of "candid." She looks
like she is aware that she's being photographed. I'm a big fan of candid
shots, too, and I hope to get take some this summer if I can just get off
my lazy butt and get out. Of course, the problem with some candid
takes is that once that flash goes off, then your shot is no longer candid and the subject can be a mite unpleasant with you and your camra.

Can't be good, be careful, I always say.

Pretty good, except that I have the feeling that she's looking at me! Weird!
I'd try using a softer light source just to cut the shadows a bit. Maybe lower the light or bounce some up with a white card to soften the under-shadows like the one under her lip.
Bring up levels a bit, too.

Black spot above her head is distracting. Clone it out?

Completely out of topic: that girl looks so much like my ex-girlfriend, it's disturbing. Where is she from? I know I can't judge by one picture, but damn... if it's not her, then...