Thank you Wulf and sorry for posting it in the wrong place.
In the photo of the man, if I went in closer to him, thereby cutting out some of the background on the left (as we look at the photo), would it have made a difference? I mean if I exposed more for his face, and opened up the aperture more to blur out the background further, would that have worked or would it have made everything dull?
I also appreciate your comment that sometimes you simply can't get a shot. Beginners like me look at what pros shoot and think that everything always can be made to work
, that there is some technique that I don't know on how to make it work! And yes, looking at a photo differently helps too!
Thanks again!