Out of My Comfort Zone

Digital one challenged me a bit more  than normal with bringing me out of my comfort zone. One thing that I am not too comfortable with, but like doing, is portraits. I am not used to shooting portraits and I don't think that I am very good at them, however, it is something that I would like to work on and something that I would like to think I am good at. I find that I like to take candid portraits more than I do with the subject looking directly at the camera. I also think the reason that I do not think I am too good at the post processing of the image. I am not used to editing portraits so I am not really too sure on what to do. Most of mine come out looking soft, which I like but if I make them look too rigid or rough, I don't feel as if they look right. Below are a few examples of the portraits that I had shot for Digital one. There is a repeat in there from my other post and they are really the only ones that I have. They are from a day that I was following around my girlfriend while she does her project so I can complete my assignment.