I am not asking for more votes, or whining (well, maybe a little). But, I would like some people to look at the recent stuff that I have posted and tell me what I can do to make it look better. I understand that not everyone likes my still (while I am still trying to perfect it), but some ideas to make them look better. My man has not interest in this stuff so I really don't have anyone to bounce my ideas off of. Help me someone. It sucks not having anyone as excited about my work as I am or someone to say "hey, I don't think that was a good idea, maybe try this instead". I guess really I am also looking for a "support buddy" (yes, I am a girl.. laugh all you want). Anyone interested?

Snap out of it! You are on the right track, we all feel this way to some extent, the fact that you think you can improve says it all, it's when you think that you can't learn anything is when you're lost, the best thing you can do is stay the course, it's called paying your dues, we all have to do it, I like the work you've done, too bad your other half does not help you with what you like to do, maybe he doesn't want to because he does not know how to help but keep your chin up, you have what it takes

Agree wih Paul...

I see nothing in your portfolio that makes me turn my head and barf.
How long have you been chopping?

The entry today I really like...fluid...almost mercurial...

I think people will give you feedback on your entries to tell you how to make them better. The style is something you have to come up with on your own. Right now, I don't think you have found your style. You are still on the road to discovery. One of my instructors in college used to say. "I can teach you how to paint but I can't teach you what to paint. I can't teach taste."
So, Fine tune your skills, (everyone will help you with that) Then fine tune your creative thinking. (with that, you are on your own) Work on coming up with out of the box thoughts. (not one's that only you understand) This is the hardest part.
Keep on doing what your doing and just keep fine tuning it as you go. One day, it will all come together and you will say. "Damn! I'm Good!" and so will everyone else.
Good Luck.

True True!

Well-put, RR.

Meg, I think people respond more to entries that have a creative idea behind them. A not-as-well-executed entry that has a funny/unexpected/powerful idea behind it is going to be more memorable than a beautiful image that's just pretty for pretty's sake.

I like what you did with this one, the change in perspective/scale:
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/103864/at-the-beach.html

It's great to experiment with different techniques and fine-tune your skills but there needs to be a point to the image if you want a big response. A lot of your stuff looks a bit heavy on filters & bright colors, which makes it seem a little juvenile.

There's a balance, it just takes practice to find it.

For example, I think this is pretty cool:
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/104794/fire-hearts.html

...whereas this one looks like a grade school art project on crack:
http://photoshopcontest.com/view-entry/103589/can-you-taste-it.html

No offense intended... just my critique.
Keep at it... you'll get there

If I see your entries then I'll try and ellaborate on why I voted

it looks like your into the drawing site rather than the photomanip side, so why dont you become a illustrator/vector person come to my side !

Both Armo, she works both .

Well I'm not really into critiquing other people's work. I agree with DP and Paul that there's nothing wrong with your stuff....but I think (as Rey and EJH suggested) that you have to look for that 'killer' idea....and this is particularly hard. Thinking outside the box and posting something with 'impact' can often be the key to scoring votes here. Post something where people just 'have to' open that thumbnail and view your pic....after all, a high number of views will (usually) equate to votes.
There's really no recipe for what makes a great post, but coming up with that great, unique, or funny idea is half the battle. I suppose you could say that half the chop happens in your head, before you even sit down at the computer....
Cheers,
Brad.

I'm too tired and sore (find that reason in another post) to read through all the other responses after Rey's so I'm just gonna give you mine.

I'll be happy to give critiques. I've gone through (and still am going through) exactly what you described so I can relate. My wife doesn't get my hobby at all.

From now on I'll try to either leave a comment or PM for you whenever I see something that I can identify.

Thank you everyone. Tofu I appreciate it. And for Paul, rey rey, digitalpharaoh, EJH, and armogeden I also appreciate it. I do like both. I've been told that illustrator is where I should be but all the work I do is in Photoshop, it works better for me. I do just like making things look pretty (I am a girl), I have a daughter who is 4 who loves the color pink and dresses, thinking outside the box I do try (sometimes my brain says that it can't that day). I do understand that Art is really something that is suppose to look good to you (the maker)and if everyone else likes it then great... probably why famous artist's are dead when they become famous... I have only been doing this maybe 2 months. I use everything from filters, styles, shapes, brushes (stamps), blending of different layers. I just started using more layers then I use to (up to about 10 or so and saving my PSD files after I make major changes and labeling them so I can go back and make different corrections. Anywho, very much appreciated, I was afraid that everyone was going to think that I was a whiner, I really try not to be, but I get frusterated. My man just isn't interested in design, he's a computer tech... he doesn't have a very big imagination...oh well, right? You love who you love

And you are right Paul on the above. He knows he has no interest and I told him about this thread last night and he thought that it was a good idea. I told him that it was nothing against him, I just need better feed back then what I am getting. I do appreciate it. I talk and I think probably way more then I need to sometimes, but it is who I am. I get frusterated when he looks at the screen and says "yeah, it looks good" then he goes back to the tv or something else. He tries sometimes to actually look at them and talk to me about them, but he doesn't understand what i am trying to do. He thinks that things look cool if you make something look different in size or funny. I'm in to abstract.... so I lost his attention from the start. Men, go figure, lol.

lol, ok. I agree with your thought on my photos. My skittles one was something I think I'll look back on and go "no, my daughter did that". But at the time I was proud of it because it was something i did.

I do like color. I like shiny things. I like curves and sharp objects (not in the same picture). I love abstract. Im learning. Practice makes perfect, but now I have a better idea for what I need to do and what othrs view my stuff as. Thank you EJH

In your user comments beg for feedback, ask how you can make it better.
That's what I did, It helps a lot.

Also sounds to me like you need to stop seeing what Photoshop can do and focus more on what you can do. Limit yourself to a couple tools and make something wonderful.