Need advice - portrait

Hey all......I need some constructive advice.......this is one of my first tries at portraiture......

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Actually the lighting isn't too bad, but if you are going to do a head shot, then I think I would leave the hand out of it, otherwise including her torso might make it a better looking shot. If possible try to pose women so that wrinkles don't appear, because that is usually the first thing they see when they look at pictures of themselves and then they go ooooooohhh I look ooooollllldddd. Keep practicing, your're doing well.

some subtle, source light from her right side would help tremendously.
I like the pose although I agree with cactus that if her hand is there for a purpose, the shot needs a little more vertically (is that a word LOL)

Tell the model she's quite beautiful !
oh, and nice work

It's usually worth making a black and white version - the skin tones often lend a 'movie star' look that people usually find appealing.

Not sure why, but I have seen it in other photos too - the background has cast a green hue on parts of her hair... In B&W this probably would not have been evident. On the other hand , I like how the background color matches her eyes...

This is what I would have done. Keeping the same pose.

Take the hand out, or move back for a upper 1/4 shot. Move the camera angle to upper left and shoot on a down angle. This way you won't get her neck's curled up skin.

From look at the picture, looks like natural light source. I would have put in a reflector to drown out the women's eye-bag.

Shoot women from slightly above them - it stretches the skin and helps remove wrinkles and double chins. Not that this woman really needs that.

For post processing Iwould try and soften Jodi's skin tones. This is what I came up with.

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For full faces, the key light should be on the cheek turned away from the camera with some fill or bounce on the other side. Gives a narrower look to the face. Drop the hand. Raise the camera slightly. Frame the shot vertically. Either crop the sides or include shoulders and chest.

All of the above are rules that can be broken at will. She has a pretty face and there are lots of ways to capture her beauty. Experiment a lot.

Jim

Thanks everyone.........I appreciate the constructive input...