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Andrew,

I'm not sure I would call this a high key portrait, but she certainly is a pretty girl. You have focused well on her eyes. She has very good eye contact with the camera (viewer). Her warm skin tone looks very nice. I love the way you have placed part of her hair in front of her shoulder. It frames her face, well. The background is nicely neutral and she is well separated from it. Her expression is pleasant. Her lips seem more widely parted than normally done, but on her it looks very nice and natural. I like the specular highlights on her lips.

Her make-Up looks quite good, but watch the bottom eyelash on her left eye. The mascara isn't smooth. A little eyeliner under her eyes would help to make her eyes stand out better.

I would give her a little less head room to better balance the top and bottom of the photograph.

Your subject should have more room in front of her than behind. This allows her to be facing into the picture, not out of it. You want to compositionally balance the left and right sides of the photograph. The compositional "rule" for this suggests that you position the tip of the subject's nose in the vertical center of the photograph.

She needs to sit up straight with her shoulders back. They are slumped forward which makes her posture look poor.

You need to adjust your contrast and brightness. Maybe just making this lighter will correct the problem. She lacks detail in her dark hair and the whites of her eyes are not white. They are grey.

You usually do not want to have your subject turned 90 degrees to the camera. This can make the head look unsupported. It usually looks best to angle your subject somewhere around 45 degrees.

I'm not sure what is in front of her her left arm, at the bottom of the photograph, but it should be removed. There is not enough of it in the photograph to make it look like it belongs there.

One catch light per eye is preferred. The ideal location for the catch lights would be at about the 10 or 2 o'clock position on her irises. To achieve this you want the main light to come from above, in front and to her side. Her lighting is quite flat. Judicious use of shadows on her face can help create interest and the illusion of depth within your photograph.

Nice shot,

Mark

Mark,

Thanks again for your detailed critique.

Regards from New York,

Andrew