I think it looks good.

Not a lighting specialist by any stretch but her forehead looks flat. Not sure if that was postwork, but normally there is a shine somewhere there to give it roundnesss (ie a light from camera right/above which you have - i know because it is there in her eyes). You may also want to see if you can defringe the highlights in her eyes, they have gone purple on the edges :) A bit soft for me - missed focus? i dont know as the exif isnt there to show me what you used. I tend to find a large radius (2-3px as the limit in lightroom) and strong sharpening works on portraits as it picks out the key areas like eyes and mouth well without going crazy on detail like pores. Hope that helps. But as above - this is good, and the model is clearly relaxed and posed well.

*on the flat point, it is not just the absence of tonal difference it is almost as if her hair is flat to her face when i can tell it isnt... there are no shadows (possibly because of your light from below the camera?)

Thanks for being honest "inshaala", every little bit helps! I did try to use flat lighting to help hide some dry skin areas and also used Lightroom's soft skin preset in post. I may have gone too far with it!? So for focus, I was shooting with Canon 550D and Sigma 70-200mm at 70mm with a f-stop of 2.8. Do to low ambient light, I was using manual focus. So... may a higher f-stop may have also made a difference. Well practice makes perfect, so I'll keep trying! :)

I had the 70-200 sigma before, it is somewhat hit and miss at 2.8 for sharpness and a bit higher (f4+) would have helped with the CA but still maintained some of that short DOF. And for focussing with anything in the telephoto range, i would recommend using the live preview mode to ensure you nail it - its difficult (especially in low light) to nail a small DOF focus just looking through the viewfinder. That said it might be the processing: If you send me what came out of the camera i'd be happy to give the shot some postwork in lightroom to show you what i would have done and share it back with you as the lightroom file if you want? Message me - sendspace.com is good for this sort of thing.

For your first try at a studio portrait, is it super!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful young lady and very nice portrait!

I like your portrait but am not qualified to offer any help.

Not bad for a first go! How did you have your lights set up? I'd say that looking at the shadows of her nose, it was about level with her face? If that's the case, get it up in the air a bit, 45 deg to the model and pointing down - you may be surprised :)

Marvelous modela nd fantastic expression !

For a first portrait shot is this just excellent done my friend.

I´m up to start with photography myself too. I think it´s a nice shot.

Looks good to me! Keep 'm coming!