Couple from Birmingham, Tony Hancock and the Bullring

I'm trying to move towards more 'serious' photography as well as the customary holiday snaps I usually take. Note by serious I mean taking thought about composition and looking around the whole frame, something I missed with the first as there's a woman there which really bugs me.

Instead of sitting around yesterday I decided to go into town to see if anything inspired me, the results are below and I'd appreciate your thoughts. Personally I don't think they're wonderful, but I hope they're a start.

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IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …s/kristanwebb/8​603902474/

The second one is pretty interesting, especially as I scroll up and down.

Thanks, I'm not sure if I like the colour of it or not, the original is pretty boring colour wise, so I was hoping this is an improvement!

Can anyone please give me a quick critique on these? I'd really appreciate some feedback on the concepts / post processing.
Thanks

First one doesn't do much for me. The second one is great. It seems to have a bit of a halo around the thing on the right though and for me the bird is actually distracting.

Don't know how much of a purist you are.... but you could either ps the bird out or reposition him somewhere a little less distracting?? But overall I like the second one. First one seems like too much of just a snapshot.

Thank you for your comments, I agree about the first one being a snapshot. I think what I was aiming for was something more like this:

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Nice