beautiful

any constructive comment most welcome

The direction of light is wonderful here and brings the subject to life.

The image is well balanced with the highlighted papers on the right although I would be tempted to burn in the lower piece of white as it is distracting.

A good portrait that says something about the person.

Why the digital grain though? High ISO? Oversharpening on the face?

A combination of high ISO and a flash I was expecting to fire, but didn't. I'm not sure why it didn't fire, but I was lucky to end up with a shot pretty free of shake.

 

Unfortunately, the lady is not keen to redo the shot, so it's the best I can make of it. But, I'll certainly take your tip about the envelopes at the bottom and burn or clone them out.

 

Thanks for the help!

I like this portrait. Great emphasis on the subject, but also (I suppose) the background making the context with the woman?s life. Its very well done and somewhat underrated.

But doesn't matter, excellent portrait. I especially like the background (slightly too dark) the crop you chose, and the pose and color of the lady.