It says that your photos are OK to edit, so I've had a go if you don't mind. I tried both, but couldn't get anything I liked out of the second one. This was only a quick 2 minute play.
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This is something I would do with the first pic. Because of all the shadow to the right of him, I've got rid of it by going in for a tighter crop. You'll also notice that his face is now roughly on the top right intersection in the
Rule of Thirds. I also chose black & white because the colours, once brightened, weren't great on the black background. I think a high key portrait would have been more successful, especially since his wearing bright clothes!
It's also a shame that I couldn't get any detail out of his eyes, but there's pretty much no information in there to draw out. The same goes for the shadows across his face, I couldn't get anything out from behind the shadow of his nose!
I do love his pose in the first one though, he is a handsome chap!! Hope this helps a little.
(Another minor pointer, kids
always have that blue vein across the bridge of their nose and I
always clone it out!)