A few happy accidents

[Nyreth]

Okay, here are a few of the pictures I have taken with my little Nikon Coolpix L6. (I really have to say, that camera has taken quite a beating and still works great.) Please keep in mind that I knew absolutely nothing when I took these. I just randomly fiddled with the settings until it seemed to look a little better in the LCD. Please keep in mind that I was and still am the epitome of a rank beginner, so don't judge them too harshly. ;)

The two cats are mine. The siamese is my constant companion, while tabby is a constant source of entertainment (and has a bit of backpack fetish). I have thought about cropping the lamp on the far left out, but I want the edge of the platform to show. If I just crop it to the end of the platform I am left with an unexplained shadow from the lamp pole, and I don't know how to remove that.

The first Mayan ruin pic was taken in Tulumn, Mexico and the second is from Xuantunich in Belize. It rained most of the time we were at Xuantunich and it's a shame the clouds didn't come out better because there were some neat shapes and shades in them.

Most of all I would love to know what could have made the 4th picture better. The softeness of the leaves overall really bothers me, but especially the ones in the upper left corner. Is this something that can be cleaned up after the fact? I have Photoshop 7 and am slowly learning what is can do. Do I need a different program?