Ok the images are really small so its hard to tell.. so take this for what its worth.. But I will give my point of view from a photographers perspective. (having a lot of experience with SLR cameras and PS)

I think what makes the photo look so plastic is that the shades and colours are so unreal. There is no real consistency with where the shadows fall.. A lot can be done with lighting.. My guess is that they used a flash for the photo. The flash can be very helpful if its done right (in this case I would not of pointed it directly at the subject) But I think they probably had good lighting to begin with and the flash acted as a filler removing all the natural shadows making the image look flat and removing the dimension. The contrast of the image also looks very off... This could also have been a result of the flash or photoshop. Flash images look very fake to begin with (its a very rude lighting and hard to work with) so it takes very little to make the image look plastic and overworked. + I don't know if they used reflectors to bounce the lighting back at her. I would need to see a higher resolution, It could of also contributed to the lack of shadows.

I don't think photoshop is a crime.. Its very helpful and can be an amazing creative tool! And maybe this is the image she was going for.. And I don't think anyone has the right to say what is art and what is not..

Having said that... The balance and cropping is way off.. The image is just not in harmony. I would not want this image in my portfolio and I know for a fact that very few photographers would. It goes against everything they teach you in art school..

But again I don't think you can teach art.

I want to be fair... You can disagree.. Its simply my point of view! ^ ^


edit:
I think she had her back to the sun so everything behind her would of been bright and ayumi facing the camera would of been a shadow... But with the flash coming straight at her.. and the natural light coming from behind her just gives the light no real source...

Again I'm french its hard to explain in english.. haha I hope you guys understand.. ^ ^