It is a great shot. This lady may or may not be a professional model but even as a thumbnail she screams "presence and professionalism" and has real impact. No matter how good the photographer is, the subject is key in portraiture.
A compelling portrait. A not so small nit it that the brightest highlights (apart from her eye) are her hand, parts of her neck, and a completely irrelevant little triangle with her arm and the chair. These need to be suppressed so that her lovely face is paramount. The eye goes to the area of greatest contrast. I'm certain you did not intend the places I specified to be those.
Great capture of skin tone, but what am I seeing - a sort of veiling from the middle of her chest to her right shoulder? Looks like something diaphanous -- there's a sort of line running from the middle of her throat down toward the crook of her elbow.
A compelling portrait. A not so small nit it that the brightest highlights (apart from her eye) are her hand, parts of her neck, and a completely irrelevant little triangle with her arm and the chair. These need to be suppressed so that her lovely face is paramount. The eye goes to the area of greatest contrast. I'm certain you did not intend the places I specified to be those.
It's always wonderful to have new eyes see the things I didn't. For example, I've never noticed that triangle until you pointed it out. My goal for the highlights were her eye, cheekbone, and to bring out the hollows around the collarbone. Agreed that the hand is definitely too hot; I'll need to burn that in in the darkroom. Many thanks for your insight and critique; it is definitely appreciated.
Great capture of skin tone, but what am I seeing - a sort of veiling from the middle of her chest to her right shoulder? Looks like something diaphanous -- there's a sort of line running from the middle of her throat down toward the crook of her elbow.