she's pretty, no wonder she caught your eyes. =)
btw, I prefer if there are less elements in the foreground. somehow it's too distracting. Btw, it bokeh photoshopped?
Can you post a picture and its EXIF? It could be that you're in AV mode and using large aperture. Unless you set your flash to high speed sync, you're fastest shutter speed is 1/250. Using large aperture might require faster shutter speed, hence the overexpose. It may also explain why ISO...
As mentioned earlier, it could be better if you shoot it at an angle with lines of the backgrounds leading towards the model. I find it underexposed and the white balance is off the mark.
I wish the line of the road is parallel to the edge of the picture. Are you shooting it with the sun behind you? Since your subject (according to you) is the shadow, I think it's better if shadow is in the foreground (the currently empty road).
.... and the mud gaurd draws too much...
without reading your explanation, I will not know what is the subject of this picture. Sure enough the van is the largest element on the picture, but it doesn't feel that you want to focus on that.