retow, my reactions are that your second has much more punch - depth of color, richness and the lighting is much better and hence, to me, the picture has more power. As for guessing about cameras or lenses - I wouldn't have a clue! Your first photo has a more pensive quality but to my eyes, on my computer monitor, it seems a bit washed out. Though the second is more of a snapshot and is pretty humorous - it "looks" better to me...whereas your first seems a more thoughtful portrait, but seems to need a little "tweaking" - all is just my opinion. Not sure if this is what you were after or not, retow.