A few photos for you to critique

[sarasphotos]

very new to photography...any tips on the following photos?

[jetrim]

Very nice stuff, tough to critique a whole slew of shots but 1,2 & 5 are the ones I like best, and I'd suggest you sharpen your shots after resizing them, they'll look even better.

[n8]

#1: Very nice. Seems a bit soft at the eyes, and I think his face could be a bit brighter, but a great composition and shot overall.
#2 Good idea, but the lens flare becomes more of a focal point then an accentuation of the photo. If if was added in pp, I'd tone it down in size or opacity.
#3 I'd add a little saturation. Good posing for the kids. I'd also be aware of the rail/pillar running through the middle of the two girls' heads.
#4 I bet they're enjoying that water, it'd be nice to see their expressions.
# it, and #4 could use a bit more black.

Looks like you have a lot of willing subjects, keep at it and welcome to the forums!

[sarasphotos]

Thanks so much for the replies and tips! I am VERY new to photography! I absolutley love it though!

thecounsel: On the first photo, should I make it brighter in photoshop or do it with the settings on my camera when taking the photo? How do I make it more black on the last photo? I have photoshop elements 8. Is that something I would do in photoshop?

jetrim: I shoot in RAW so after resizing them would I just sharpen them in photoshop and how? I know this is probably a silly question, but i'm a beginner

Thanks so much for the help!!

[n8]

Ideally we want to get the best images straight out of the camera (sooc), but since we usually don't, that's were photoshop comes in. I would play with the brightness and exposure adjustments to see what works best. The same goes for the b&w's. I've only played with elements a little bit, but I'm pretty sure you can adjust it in the b&w adjustments

[jetrim]

For more black try increasing the contrast. For more sharpness, in photoshop CS it's under "filter>sharpen" never used eleents but it should be in the same place. RAW images ALWAYS need sharpening, as none is applied in camera. If you have "Unsharp mask" available under sharpen try settings around 70/5/2 to start with and tweek it from there. If not, hit "sharpen" (maybe twice) after resize.

Here's the first photo with contrast set to 50
Sharpen x 2 clicks
resized to meet forum restraints (800px)
and no other adjustments:

[sarasphotos]

wow that looks great! thanks for the tips!