Retouched Photo

Here is a scan of an original family photo that I have.
And now after retouching in PSE8. Any feedback? I've just begun to try my hand at this so any hints you can add are welcomed!
In looking at them again I wonder if I should have left the architectural feature to his left? And I think I may have blended too much between the table and the wall. What do you think?

Need to do...

Lest you think I have abandoned my little blog, fear not! I am busy in my studio working through some art classes/workshops. I am not working on my regular ongoing art projects though and have let scanning go by the wayside for a bit as well but still have some new journal pages and a few sketches in my moleskine to share. I will get to it and post some new pieces soon.

And in other news....I just unpacked and installed my new Wacom Bamboo tablet that my sweet husband bought for me! He is awesome...its a larger version than my last one and it even came bundled with PSE8. I wish it was PSE9 but this is good too. I have missed having a tablet and am excited to get this one setup and begin using it! In the meantime here is a layout I did last year using my old Bamboo tablet while taking a class at JessicaSprague.com