I agree it is a good example of fill-in and you have captured Dec's mood well. However, I do feel the out-of focus water birds are a distraction.

In the mod I've uploaded for you I have cropped the image and, with the spot healing brush set to 'content aware', removed the remains of the birds. Hope that helps.

I rather like this - it has potential. The stark lines of the building contrast with the soft fluffy clouds and I feel this is an aspect which could be brought out more.

The image is near B/W anyway, and I think could benefit from being converted to B/W. I suggest the sky and the building then be treated separately (i.e. selectively). In the mod I have uploaded for you I have adjusted the sky using levels and then adjusted the building using the PS shadows/highlights tool.

Hope that helps.

I think this image has possibilities! The overall yellow cast however rather works against the "ghostly" theme as should perhaps be removed, e.g. by use of the hue/saturation control in the yellow channel.

Also the figure could be made a bit more ghostly by selectively converting to B/W and then blurring. Finally you could sharpen the rest of the scene so as to give more contrast with the figure.

I've uploaded a mod with some if these ideas. Hope you find it of interest and help.

Hi Paul. This was quite a find! Possibly the subject is a little central in the photo but other than that the composition is OK. There seems to be a vignetting effect but it is not unattractive.

However, there is a strong blue cast which needs to be removed and the photo could do with some brightening and increase in contrast via, e.g. levels and curves adjustments. I've uploaded a mod for you which reflects my comments which I hope help.

Quote: Just wanted to share this snap and am not looking for votes but comments welcome.

Well you won't get votes anyway, because this has been posted in the critique gallery!

This is a potentially very evocative photo and one which I appreciate is tricky to get - so well done for that. However the flags are almost incidental in the picture which is dominated by the vehicle in the foreground and, to a lesser extent, by the other one in the centre of the photo. A different shooting position may have helped you get more prominence.

As regards the image itself, it could perhaps do with a bit more contrast... it looks slightly flat. I have uploaded a mod for you in which I have used levels and curves adjustments to try and achieve this.

Hope that helps.

This is a decent enough impromptu photo of your child, and you have to work with whatever you have, in a sense. It is a moment I'm sure you will treasure for all sorts of reasons - not necessarily photographic!

However, the problem with the image as it stands is that your daughter is 'bisected' so to speak by the darker area of sea and rock. As you were shooting against the light it may have been better to shoot from a lower position so as to get more of the subject as a silhouette against the bright sky.

I the mod I've uploaded for you I have attempted to mitigate this issue with use of the PS shadows/highlights tool to differentiate the subject from the darker part of the background and also the rein in the highlights to increase richness of tone.

Hi Phil. Quite a nice effort here but I can't help feeling that the inclusion of a human figure - or even a boat! - would have helped give a sense of scale here. It has a somewhat deserted look.

As regards the crop, I don't think the area to the left of the photo adds a great deal and it could perhaps be usefully cropped out. I'm not too keen on the deeply cyan coloured clouds and these could be selectively desaturated. A contrast boost, via a curves adjustment, may help to increase impact. (Some areas of sky have bleached out but, other than cloning, there's not a great deal that can be done about that now).

I've uploaded a mod which reflects my comments, which I hope help.

A lot to like about this photo - you have captured the moment well.

However, an even better result might have been obtained by going down really low, rather than the 'bird's eye view' you have here. A couple of minor points: firstly you have clipped off part of one foot. Also the exposure has led to the whites in the photo to verge on blowing out. In the mod I have uploaded for you i have used the PS shadows/highlights tool to rein back these bright areas to give a bit more detail in them. Also I think we could live without the framing!

Hope that helps.

Quite like this effect, but I'm not sure about including the title of the photo in the image itself - that tends to draw the eye away from the rest of the picture.

Arguably, you could have been a little bolder in your toning - maybe even use toning selectively to make certain elements stand out. Not convinced the current frame works - you could try an 'internal' frame and desaturate it to make a more subtle distinction between the frame and the rest of the image.

I have had a go a revamping the picture and have uploaded the modification for you.

A tricky subject to photograph - although the subject itself is not complex. This is because you have had to tilt your camera upwards and this has caused distortion - most readily visible in the 'converging verticals' of the buildings.

It is possible to correct this distortion, although you do lose a bit of the photo (which in this case doesn't really matter), using the transform tool in PS... which is what I've done in the mod I've uploaded for you, as well as reducing the slight blue cast and increasing contrast via a curves adjustment.

Hope that is helpful.

Really like this - your observation and timing are spot on.

Only thing working against the photo,a bit, is the distracting elements. One solution might be to isolate the two young men by cropping and then blurring the remaining background - which is what I have done in the mod I've uploaded for you (using 3 pixels of gaussian blur).

Hope that helps.

Hi Emma. This is quite an appealing photo with many things to like - background is nicely blurred and the exposure seems OK.

The only thing I would say is that the flowers don't quite jump out at you. To this end, in the mod I've uploaded, I've increased contrast via a curves adjustment, applied a slight positive gamma correction and sharpened slightly. See what you think - hope it helps.

As John indicates, this is a well captured image.

However there is a blue cast to the photo which makes the dog look dark blue rather than black and also affects the other colours in the photo. In the mod I've uploaded for you I've removed this blue cast and also used the shadows/highlight tool to try and rein in the overexposed parts of the image slightly. Hope this is helpful.

A good effort, especially with a non-DSLR camera.

In the mod I have uploaded for you I have applied a bit of colour correction using the buildings as a (white reference point. I've also used the shadows/highlights tool in PS to rein in the bright areas to try and mitigate the "bleached" look to the fireworks. In addition I've cropped slightly from the bottom of the photo.

Hope that helps.

Quote: I've done a little tweaking, desaturated the background elements / crowd but I can't decide what to do with this one, the post is in just the wrong place but everything else seems to work out ok.

The post does intrude but I would be inclined to make a feature of it!

In the mode I've uploaded for you, I've rotated the image slightly - so as to straighten the post - a nd then cropped from the right. I've also added a little more contrast via a curves adjustment and sharpening just a bit. See what you think.

Quote: I would like to know how I could improve them if I go back

I think you have actually captured this rather well. I guess it may have been better if you had got the parachutist facing towards the camera - but that is a relatively minor detail.

In the mod I've uploaded for you I have tweaked the lighting , separately, on the sky and land areas, using levels and curves, to being out a bit more detail in the sky and give more contrast on the land.

It's certainly different! Makes a reasonable semi-abstract, perhaps.

Slight issue here is that the sun shining through the thin curtains slightly overwhelms the rest of the photo. In the mod I've uploaded for you, I've toned this down a bit using the shadows/highlights tool in PS. I've also altered the colour temperature somewhat using the mid-grey dropper in the curves function.

See what you think.

You've captured this well - and even got a good catchlight in the bird's eye. However there is a slight danger of the subject being slightly overwhelmed by the bright green background.

On possibility might be to do some serious cropping! Also a curves adjustment to enhance contrast and a bit of sharpening might assist.

I've uploaded a mod for you which reflects my comments which I hope help.

Hi Ryan! This was well spotted and captured and the sky features contrasting colours - warm and cool.

However, to be frank, the tiny reflection on the car's bonnet could easily be missed or even thought to be a 'hot pixel' fault if one wasn't told what it was. The shape of the car looming in the foreground does rather distract from the main subject, i.e. the flare.

My inclination would be to forget about the car and concentrate on the flare. I've uploaded a mod for you in which I have done some cropping - and also brightenedthings up a bit, with a levels adjustment.

Hope that helps.

I agree with Jeff - she look a bit unhappy on the 'happiest day of her life'! But, hey this reflects reality... and is therefore a realistic portrayal.

Photo look a touch flat. I have increased definition a bit with a levels adjustment and use of the shadows/highlights tool in the mod I've uploaded for you. I've also sued the spot healing brush to get rid of minor skin blemishes. Hope that helps.