Garrett | Family and Kids Photos | Photo Forum

This is how it is with portraits. People will always like the image where they look better, does’t matter of composition, interesting elements and technique. 

Second image in generals is much more interesting in terms of light (rembrandt), composition, background, all the lines, etc. The problem I see here is that he squint his eyes too much because of the sun. Also in black and white image, I would make his face lighter. I don’t know which program do you use. I usually use Lightroom for B&W conversion and play with Black and White Mix sliders. 

In the first image, his face is lit evenly and his eye are open. Great connection with a viewer. I might brighten him up just a bit and ton the background down.