First Shots with my new setup. need advice

ok peeps, so i shot these yesterday with my canon 7d and a tamron 17-50mm. let me know what you all think. my gf says i am too hard on myself cause i think these are mediocre at best. these were only slightly edited on ddp before converting to jpg. no skin retouching as you can tell. i just feel they are way to earthy...too many trees....maybe not such a great location to shoot?

any advice, tips, comments greatly appreciated.

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In pic one, it seems there may be too many shadows, causing any features in her coat to be blacked out. Light on the left side of her face seems blown out also. Pose and smile look nice.

In pic two, I would try a tigher crop, because, as you said, this location is mediocre. Her smile was better in pic one also.

When shooting during the harsh hours, make sure that your subject's back is to the sun. This will help with the blown out area on her cheek. Also, try not to crop out the right side of hr face.

I like the comp. on #1 for the most part.

And I agree with russ71satellite on #2, a tighter crop will get rid of the unwanted in the BG(fence, parking lot)

Agree with first 2 comments. In #2 pic, you could have changed the subject's angle to move towards her left. This would have given nivr highlight along her face

ok thanks guys. imma see if shes down to help me practice some more in more friendly locations. this was shot during sunset actually. right when sky is turning orangy hence all the yellows/oranges in the second pic. i supposed it was still too early to avoid the harsh lighting.

will make sure to post some more next time after taking the advice from you all. thanks