First one is ok... I wonder if you color balanced the orange out of it or something? The object may be a bit too centered, as well. There's that line that leads to the object. I bet if you tossed the object off-center and angled that visual line was at an angle, that would be really neat... anyway...
The second one is AMAZING. Fantastic colors, moods, textures... so much good stuff. I might crop it a bit differently here and there as just a matter of taste, but it's an absolutely stunning shot that I would instantly print and hang on the wall. REALLY nice shot.
Thank you all for the great comments, I purchased my camera at Christmas time (Nikon D-60) but very quickly found that this was going to be something that I love. Saturday I picked up a new D90 and a Tamron 17-50mm 2.8 Lens and I am having a blast.