Better female portraits/photos

[nomore]

I've been testing my Speedlight on my girlfriend again. I know the background it kind of distracting, but I can't do much about that at the moment. I think the quality of the images when bouncing the flash off the wall/celing is excellent though. I think my girlfriend is more relaxed in front of the camera now too... so overall the most recent pictures are better than my previous attempts. Here are two:

 

[mentos_007]

oooo do I see the Pope on the second one? Ok I noticed Him on the first glance
I like those much better than your previous ones. I also like the background, for me it is not distracting, it's very romantic I'd say

 

[nomore]

 

[Big Mike]

Nice work with the lighting...looks very good.