i think the photos are not too bad at all. sure doesn't look like "lousy trash" to me. it's good to experiment with your own creative concepts, and it's instructive to note that one man's meat is another man's poison. for example, henri cartier-bresson's photos were dismissed as "snapshots" in his day, but now they are regarded as masterpieces in street photography. similarly, william egglestone had his own share of brickbats who were dismissive of his ordinary colour "snapshots" that have now established him as the father of colour photography. i think you can be even more experimental in posing and in facial expressions, no need to have eye contact with the photog in most frames. would also be interesting to see a less tight framing in the composition for some of the images. as someone has mentioned earlier, i do like the lighting for the last two pics. keep shooting, and don't be put off by worrying too much about equipment (or the lack thereof).