Looking for helpful feedback on current work. 2nd year in doing this so any help is appreciated!

Overall it's pretty darned good for second year.

Let me throw in some tips for future improvements...

Miss Miller with chain necklace -

This kind of begs for more depth of field as the eye wants to see the detail in the tattoos and hair.  Also, one of the "rules" of portrait photography is that once the eye follows a limb for enough distance, it wants to see the entire limb, not a truncated version.  (I'd be inclined to drop this one).

Kimberly Jay with striped top -

I'm not sure the hazy effect was appropriate for this.  I'd rather see the crisp detail in the clothing and tattoo.

Melissa in alley -

This is the kind of shot that sells to young portrait clients.  But let's see how to squeeze more out of it next time.  First, there is the matter of cropping.  If you are doing a clothing ad, this crop might be OK.  But for a personal portrait, give it more headroom at the top.  Think Rule of Thirds and put the head about a third down, but still in the horizontal center.  This is going to give the face more importance than having it shoved to the top. 

And thinking of giving a face importance, the eye tends to be drawn to the lighter areas of the image and we have that bright white top competing with the face for attention.  Whites also tend to get blown out, as you see.  Have a clothing consultation with the client in advance and try to avoid tones that are radically different from the skin.

The lighting is flattening her out, leaving no curvature to face or bust.  An off-camera flash or a reflector held high would have remedied this.

A K model by the books -

I'd crop off more of the left.

Natalie flat on the bed -

Too straight.  Maybe have her bring her right knee over and down to the bed, which would bring out a hip curve.  And when you want to bring out curves, flat lighting isn't the way.

A K model standing in library -

Beware the "tangential" in your cropping.  That's when a key item just touches or almost touches the edge of the frame.  There is something unsettling about it.

Amanda headshot -

If your lens is below the nose line on a close shot, make sure the light isn't shining up the nose.  It's not attractive.


Much of photography is a matter of watching for hundreds of little details.

Thank you Guss for the feedback and better yet the recommendations to get these better. Much appreciated!

You're competent in a lot of areas so I'll concentrate on the points to improve -


TONALITY
Your skin tones are somewhat inconsistent - and often just unattractive. I don't know if that's deliberate, but shots like this make me think you need more control

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/40341840

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/36772994

..You're getting weird tinges in highlights or shadows as well as glare. Maybe shoot with a safer exposure and use a tool with separate colour balance for highlights, mid-tones and shadows. Or even a camera that's less prone to skin tone problems. (People often claim Nikons are more problematic than Canons. And otoh Fujis seem almost invincible, especially shooting Astia. Or consider switching to using Capture One for post - but mostly get your exposures right, I think.)


HANDS
You have a big problem with hands. You're showing the backs very prominently and letting them fill with blood so the veins stand out. Try to keep hands side on and if you need to show the backs, get the subject to hold her hands up for a few moments to let the excess blood flow out. If hands have been dangling and you shoot the back, they look bad.


PERSPECTIVE
You need to work on perspective. Eg

https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/43536503

..Her hands are much bigger than her head. If you want to shoot that low, turn the model to 45 degrees and put her weight on her rear leg and get her to push her hips back. With her hands in a safer position. (Also the weird light on her arms distorts them.)