Critique - Pet Portraits

This morning we had critique in Advanced Portraiture for our pet portraits.  It's amazing to see how far our class has come in just one year.  Ms. Finch seemed very pleased with the majority of the portraits.  Critiques are essential to learning, so that adjustments can be made in composition, exposure and the type of background that is used.  It's important to remember that the instructor is criticizing our work to help us for the future, not to hurt our feelings.  Here is my final pet portrait.  Ms. Finch felt that it still was a little too dark, though I did lighten it about 2 stops in Lightroom.