Help me improve this Pic!

These are untouched. Suggestions on Crop, color, sharpness

Oh and/or this one too.

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hows this? GOD I HATE COMPRESSION!

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Rule of thirds, they are smack in the middle of the frame

Right Cranium Imaging wrote in post #5442506
Rule of thirds, they are smack in the middle of the frame

But I can just crop it to follow that rule, right?

well i did crop the left side out and adjust some level and color balance. maybe a little too much.

Bill

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The only other issue is now you have an almost perfectly square image, Not a lot of frame choices for that

Here is an 8x10 crop with some PP and, most importantly for this image, some simulated DoF (maybe a little too much, but I went for it!) to tone down the distracting background. The mask made to separate the couple from the background was done pretty hastily, so a little more work could make the DoF blur more convincing, but you get the idea. This is a semi-formal portrait and the eyes of the couple are about a third from the top of the frame - it is perfectly fine to have them centered vertically. I added a little vignetting to the edge of the picture for some obligatory wedding picture cheese.

Good capture - even though you can't really see too much of the bride's face, the pose and the kiss make up for the lack of a full-face shot of the bride. Maybe add some slight retouching of the fold of skin on the left side of her neck that has developed from her neck twisting. That was a tough time of day to shoot, so, nice job.

The background may need some desaturation and lightening to further pop the couple.

Kirk

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Here is my go at one of them. Was her dress off white?

Her dress was a champagne color.

Thanks everyone! You've given me some great ideas! So much to learn!