nikon 35mm F1.8 experience so far/critique

[LionOfJudah]

So i'm relatively new to photography and got the nikon 35mm f1.8 lens a couple of weeks ago to go with my D90. I went out to the local cemetry to try out this lens yesterday. The first difference compared to my 18-105 was the Lack of Zoom - I had to move closer to the the subject, I had to get on my knees for a lot of the shots. There were some rabbits running around but of course with this lens I couldn't get close enough to photograph them, so I suppose I have to learn to be happy taking a fewer shots and not clicking everything as I would with the 18-105.

Below are some of the shots I took. I've only processed 3 of them - cropping one and converting 2 to black and white. The others are straight from the camera albeit a smaller version of the RAW image. so my questions are:
a) what can I do to improve on these?
b) what (if anything) is right about these?

1. http://flic.kr/p/cpRb2s
2. http://flic.kr/p/cpR8Ho
3. http://flic.kr/p/cpRb6S
4. http://flic.kr/p/cpR8N7
5. http://flic.kr/p/cpR8R3
6. http://flic.kr/p/cpR8Xh
7. http://flic.kr/p/cpR92h
8. http://flic.kr/p/cpR8UA


not sure how to get the above links to display an image.

 

[LionOfJudah]

For me the colours are wrong, too dull but that's just me (easily correct, but get your monitor calibrated if possible). The biggest issue for me is the focal points just seem wrong (read about rule of thirds) - for instance, in this photo (http://www.flickr.com/photos/81689056@N05/7489790566/) the heart grave is out of focus and the background of some benches is in focus (or more in focus) for me, this is the wrong way round.

Using a shallow DOF means you need to get the focal point spot on, or its just a rubbish photo. There's one lovely shot of some flowers on a grave however

I'm by no means a good photographer but I like to get angles of shots not usually taken. Most shots are taken at eye height, I like to mix it up a bit and take shots not often seen day in day out.

Just need to keep at it...

that photo with the heart - I took that on purpose trying to keep bench in focus. I've also taken another with the heart in focus but everything else a bit blurred. maybe I need to use a narrower aperture and keep heart as the main focal point.
colours-wise as I mentioned earlier I've done no pp on them.
shots are mainly taken at ground level as most of the items are only about a foot off the ground so I got down to that level to shoot.

 

[LionOfJudah]

thank you. this constructive critism is perfect. I'll take it on board as i go on my journey of learning photography.