CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

Nice job, glad to help.

jliane Loc: Washington state

I would have liked to see her in purple with the yellow, or better yet, a golden yellow in the background. The yellow is too bright for her skin tone and blonde hair--I speak from a blonde's experience.

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

Fine shot. (BTW, it's "complementary," not "complimentary," because the colors in the subtractive spectrum (different from monitor and camera additive spectrum or RGB) "complete" each other, i.e. THEORETICALLY combine for black. However in reality, they (the three complementary pairs) mostly make browns when mixed.
I wonder if you might use Camera Raw to automatically adjust the exposure. This separates the lighter face tones from the mask quite well. Then, select the whites of the eyes, desaturate and lighten a bit, and I think you have the photo you wanted. (I could show you if you want, since I did these things to make sure my eyes were right.)

rdrechsler Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA

i would love to see how you do that. Please

artBob Loc: Near Chicago

If any of my steps, which I forgot to mention were done in Photoshop, were not clearly explained, let me know. Here is the photo.

(Download)

rdrechsler Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA

That really makes a nice difference. Thank you!

IBM

Yes it did ,the first looked like some one in the. Gay pride parade. Mind you I never seen one live ,only on tv

rdrechsler Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA

LOL. Thanks again.

Rick36203 Loc: Northeast Alabama

I am far from a portraiture expert. I do follow and enjoy most of the people related sub forums on UHH. For a first attempt, you obtained nice results. The pose, camera angle and crop are fine. The eyes are cut to the right almost to the point of exposing too much white and too little iris.

You shot at f/2.8 with your 24-70, but you were at 44mm. I would suggest shooting at 70mm (with the lens you chose), get as close as possible to your model (frame/crop with your feet – not the zoom), and move the model away from the background.

I am confused a bit by the lighting. I initially thought almost all light was from on-axis flash, but from the eye highlights and what appears to be a little shadowing originating from camera left, there must be another source.

I think a little less on-axis fill and a large, close (soft) key light on the high side of camera left might add to the image (short light).

Personally, I prefer the original image to the 2nd and 3rd edits. I find the halo effect from extensive blurring without adequate masking more distracting than the wrinkles in the background. Also, the eyes became an unnatural yellow tint on my screen in the subsequent edits. I would either submit the original to the club or re-edit to avoid the halo and jaundiced eyes. I do have a more complete re-touch of your image, but will not impose on your thread. Would be happy to send it by PM if desired.

rdrechsler Loc: Channel Islands Harbor, CA

Thanks Rick. Yes, I'd love to see your re-edit work. This is all about the learning process. I'll look for it in a PM.