The secret to these sorts of shots is to get the exposure correct in the camera and then it makes it a lot easier once one gets to photoshop. I still think even in the #2 image, which is much better, that the face is too dark. In other words, the lighting is uneven. I am also never a fan of chopping off a small bit of the top of the head when it does not offer anything to the composition.
By the way, there is a much better way to correct this sort of exposure problem rather than auto levels. Just create a duplicate layer and use a blend mode of "screen" and then adjust the opacity of that layer to get the exact exposure correction desired. Works like a champ and doesn't damage the photo.
Cheers,
rfs