Originally posted by jgredline Troyz.
I think the only thing that could have made it better imo is to have had a prop in the forefront. . .
Please post up some more images and in particular those you are not happy with.
Awww shucks!
I'll try to post a few more.
re levels adjustment and scan quality: The (noritsu minilab) scanner definitely didn't have the exposure/gain set optimally; as I recall, "black" was about 20 and "white" was about 210. I did the linear adjustment (titrisol's steps (1) and (2)) in the picture above and it certainly helped; I might try being more aggressive in manipulating the tone curve.
There were a few images where I was trying to isolate a subject that differed in hue from the background, but not much in brightness; there's not much I can do about that in retrospect.
Next time I think I'll use XP2 and re-scan the good ones myself. I have access to a Nikon 4000 scanner that I'm pretty sure would do better than the minilab.