Walking about

I've been trying more and more to put out more pictures, and I believe that practice is the only way to improve. I've been using Lightroom to adjust the levels on my photos. I have started to use GIMP for removing spots, and random items I don't feel should be in the picture (i.e. Random tree branches, I feel they will distract the eye).

Well here are the images I took on Sunday when Katie and I took Harry for a walk.

Some of the things I was working on in the above photos:

• The main thing is shooting Wide Open with our (Katie and I) 50mm F/1.8 lens.
• I like the look of Bokeh (making the background blurry). 
• Practicing the Rule of 3rds. 
• Trying to fill the whole picture when taking portrait shots, this was my goal with the fire hydrant.
• Pull the Eye around in the photo (trying to make it more interesting). 
• This was the goal with the photo of Katie and Harry walking, putting the moon above the tree to have the end user really look all over the photo. 
• Working with Lightroom in post production.
• Not cropping the photos at all, getting it right the first time. 
• I am not against cropping, it just reduces the clarity of the picture (bringing on more noise).

Please let me know what you like, or dislike.. How can I improve the above images.