Help me get better

Could you guys put an eye on this and explain to me what to do in my photo taking and editing that I could improve on? I know its not an exciting photo. If you have something mean and degrading to say at least tell how to fix the problem.

Background is distracting....maybe shooting from a different angle?

Actually, as a single shot that puts this in context I don't think it's bad at all. Sure you can possibly argue that the background is a little distracting, and if EVERY photo was like this I would agree, but this is their environment. It shows their roots.........it's where they come from. It puts things in context.

I also find a little social humor in it which makes it a more of a conceptual image. You have the juxtaposition of formally dressed (sort of) wedding folk contrasted against the John Deere tractors. It actually gives me a little bit of a chuckle which makes it a more memorable photograph.

Agreed, its not bad and of course we dont know the exact conditions uou were facing when you took it. But I would have tried to shoot them from a lower angle. This would raise them in relation to the horizon and you wouldnt see so much clutter at head height.

Considering this was shot at f/8, I'm going to assume you added the vignetting. I would get rid of that. Also, I can't think of a legitimate reason why you needed to or should have set the aperture to f/8. Not only does that provide little to no separation between your subject and background, but it also forced you to use a higher ISO.

The man is caught at an awkward instant in his stride.

OhLook wrote in post #17739608
The man is caught at an awkward instant in his stride.

Is he really awkward in his stride or has he just realized what he has done

As was said, it's an OK grab shot. His face looks way too red to me & I think I'd crop a lot of the top off, too, & reduce the vignette on the bottom.

What did you see, either in your head or through the viewfinder, that led you to shoot when you did? If it were me I'd have wanted to catch them moving in the context of the tractors but you may have had a different intent so my "improvements" may not work for you.

The couple is moving from left to right so -- pixels available -- I'd give them some room to move by showing more area on the right than on the left. You might consider going horizonal rather than vertical. The sky and background trees don't seem interesting to me so I would crop them away. Along the way I'd lose the vignette.

Even though this is not a portrait, I'd try to make sure the skin tones approximately match their real ones. If the couple were good friends I might remove the male vest/belt gap and take a shot at slightly reducing the size of the female right upper arm. I'd also check my files for a similar shot in which they are either looking at each other or at least in the same direction.

This young mans face was actually that red. If I am remembering right I think right before they walked out I was shooting them with all the audience and that is the reason I was at F8. I should have went back to f2.8 and re-framed the shot.