Sunset and dockside photos pls critique

[gng11]

I'd very much appreciate some feedback on the photos in the below Flickr stream of mine:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28508149@N08/

Thanks!

[plantphoto]

Hi,
Your boardwalk images utilize the light really well.
One piece of advise I have is to work on your compositions more.
Cheers,
Simon

[gng11]

Thanks Simon! I appreciated it. More feedback is welcome!

[aartist]

The pier with the 3 women chatting is composed well. All the lines/shadows brings the eye back to the focal point.

[AFrazier]

None of them are "bad" photographs. However, something that I would suggest is to be a little more definitive on your subject. Most of these pictures are very busy. It's hard for me to determine what you are trying to photograph.
There is one shot, for example, where there are two flags near the center of the image, but the building to the right draws my eye more, even though it's very mundane. Which thing are you intending me to see? Perhaps a wider aperture and some selective focus could help define what you are trying to capture.
In another, the women gathered together to chat is clearly the point of the photograph. I can even understand some of the scenery in order to give the viewer a point of reference. But there is a bit too much background scenery. If there were any more, the shot would be what's in the background, with a couple of women as part of the scenery, rather than the other way around.

Try to remember your first three rules/questions. What is the subject? How are you drawing the viewer's eye to the subject? Is there anything in the image that distracts the viewer's eye from the subject?

Be deliberate, be specific, and be simple. That's my advice.

They were still nice images, though, so take my critique with a grain of salt.