On the first photo: I like the exposure; good work keeping nice detail in the clouds.
The blue bucket to the lower right, however, is a bit distracting (you can probably photoshop it out). Same for the nail in the fencepost on the upper right of the second picture.
First one needs horizon levelled - plus if you shot at a larger aperture you would get a better effect with the background more out of focus - you used f/16 - which is also too small as you are likely to get poorer results due to diffraction as well.
1st I would crop some above his head and play with the levels to get more contrast. Agree with Paul on depth.
2nd is nice and I would crop some off on the right so she is more to the right.
2 is better for me as photograph because very good background and good exposure and appropriate depth.
1 is a bit distracting in the background pail that could easily be cloned out.
Did you use your flash - flash might have improved 1st
To add to the comments above, I think the second would benefit from a bit of PS or LS work to increase contrast and recover a bit more detail in highlights.
Scott
