hi I'm looking to improve my banner images possibly make some softer and more friendly looking; still looking to keep the theme for the relevant areas but possibly just softer looking, hope I'm making sense.

anyway take a look and any ideas welcome; happy to pay for service.

http://www.liferecorded.com

The artist who painted the top image tried to make it look soft with his brush but someone over-sharpened it in Photoshop.
I really like the dreamy look of the bottom image ( the one with the gates and "enter" in it) although I think this image is a tad over-saturated colour wise. I say sow because this dreamy cloudy look you have given it does not go well with the very vivid colours.


Concerning the top image, maybe a bit of sofening like a slight blurr would improve it.

I'll copy this image from your site and experiment on it in Photoshop and tell you what I found.

OK I'm back. I have a few options, you try them out and see which you like best:

Gaussian blurr
1 or 2 pixels

Smart blurr
Radius 3, Threshold 25. Quality high, Mode normal

I would have liked to show you the effect of each but I don't have much time.