With all the talk about lighting, distance from model, where to put the camera, distance from background when indoors, I thought this pic would be a good example of the opposite, where the shadows created by a bright light source and a model close to the background really works.
I'm not sure who shot this or who the model is, but I think it's a fantastic image (and a super-hot redhead!).
EDIT
Well I found where the image came from.. hair products company in the UK..
http://www.art-hair.co.uk/NewFiles/fr-options.html ...click the text on the left, bunch more pics of that gorgeous woman and her amazing hair.
And the guy who took the shots
http://www.bobcarlosclarke.com/shop2/pages/homepage.asp