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Alicia,
I'm wanted in class, so I will have to make this succinct. Any one of those photographs would make a fine portrait. The color is good, the subject is photogenic, the light to shadow ratio is perfect, the distortion is manageable. When I saw the first photo you posted, I immediately contacted a few of my friends and told them I was dying to paint that photo. The key to the great portrait is not the "perfect" photograph to copy, it is using the photographs as reference material. The better the reference material the easier it is to paint, but it does not necessarily make the painting a better painting.
You have great stuff to work with. We are all Monday morning quarterbacking. Some like one sort of composition, some like another, like ice cream flavors. Do not question your eye. Those photo are wonderful. Maybe the most sage advice I could give you at this point in time is pick your favorite and paint it! I haven't seen a stinker in the bunch, just some photos I like better than others.
Peggy
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