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Dear Leslie:
Someone like you hungrily learning the art of portraiture should stay clear of "FFSF" photos. (Translated that means flash, frontal, smiley-faced) In fact everyone should. Even a master would be hard pressed to do something with this photo and there's very little to be learned by such an exercise.
Looking at your painting what first strikes me is the lower part of the face; its the weakest in terms of drawing and values. The shadows under the cheeks are not as pronounced as you have rendered them. Squint at the photo and you'll see what I mean. The mouth appears flat, the lip color is rather intense and the shadows surrounding the corners of the mouth are too dark.
If this is a commission and taking the photos yourself is not an option my suggestion would then be to print off a black and white version of the photo. Get the drawing and values correct. One way to do this is to work with the photo and the painting upside down. This way you cease to see a face but rather a tonal structure. Try to avoid copying the photo verbatim; for example how many old master paintings have you seen with catch lights in the middle of the eye? This is a flash phenomenon.
Leslie, I don't mean to be overly critical. What you might consider doing is having a look at the reference photo section to get an idea of what is a good reference photo. I have it on good authority that some of the artists who have posted excellent photo examples there, are generous enough to allow enterprising artists to make portraits from them.
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