My neice

I see that there are two light sources - one to each side, and that explains why the lighting is so flat.
Lighting for portraits should not be like lighting for copying documents.

The lighting should be designed so as to create the best possible illusion of 3-dimensionality. You cannot go to the store and buy 3-dimensionality - you have to create it with lighting.

I will make this concession - the light at the left seems to be stronger than the one at the right and the one at the right was possibly on the camera rather than off camera at the right. That is heading in the right direction, but is it getting the most out of your lighting?

Please take a look at this article so see where I'm coming from:

*************Studio Portrait Lighting**************​*
Tutorial on Studio Portrait Lighting Using Two Lights, with Emphasis on Rembrandt Lighting:
http://www.zaffora.com​/W9DMK/PortraitLightin​g.htm
or the downloadable PDF version at:
http://www.zaffora.com​/W9DMK/PortraitLightin​g.pdf

Also see this helpful reference:
http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Rembrandt_light​ing

I had an off camera shoot through on the left and a constant daylight balance umbrella on the right. the on camera flash was just the commander (catchlight) from my camera for the speedlight. Thanks for your imput robert, i really want to get my lighting down. it seems like everytime i try something more extreme the shadows are way to harsh and not flattering what so ever across the face. this shot appealed to me because i was able to create a soft shadow across the face and neck, and even had a hair light to create seperation on the jet black hair. i need more practice and a larger room to work in. 3 ab and a few pcket wizards wouldnt hurt either. heck while im at it, an octobox, and a couple softboxes to!! lol - maybe that would make things a bit easier.

Maybe she could be barefoot ?