Now pose!

[harmon1]

[Shadowman]

Nice capture.

[selig1656]

tones and contrast are well done , good exposure , the left arm seems a little too light, where was your source of light?

[harmon1]

Just a test, I had the speed lights moving around.

[Manfred M]

It's always easy to be a critic, so let me get started.

Overall, I really like the image, nicely posed (that classic "S" curve), eyes centred, lighting works and B&W seems to always work on portraits. Great expression from your model too!

I always have problems with highlights when I shoot darker skinned people. You have certainly mastered that!

Now for some niggly points; you are certainly free to agree or disagree.

1. I'm not sure I like your choice of focal length. A full-frame camera at 55mm focal length is going introduce some distortion, and we see that in the arms. The one at the front looks decidedly larger than the one behind her. A longer focal length (100mm or longer) would fix that.

2. I'm not a great fan of two catchlights in the eye. I would retouch one of them (the lower one) out of each eye. One catchlight adds sparkle and life, the second one, looks a bit weird. Easy enough to clone out. I'm also not sure of your focus; the eyes look a tiny bit soft.

On the other hand, the position you posed her in nicely evens out eye size. It looks like her right eye is larger than her left, but positioning it further back masks that nicely.

3. Dark shadows around the eyes - especially the one camera left. Either push a bit more light in (I suspect your fill light is a bit too low) or try to lighten it in post. The "black eye" look detracts. If you are working in post, I might light the shadow under her lip a touch as well as the one on her collarbone (camera left side).

4. I like the fact that we see a hint of her teeth. If it were my shot, I might cut back the specular highlight on her lower lip a touch, in post.

[harmon1]

Really like your observation. Advice well taken. Thanks.