Hi Katie,

Practice, combined with exposing yourself to thoughtful critique is the path to improvement. So first and foremost keep shooting and poting. Now onto the image.

This is one of those scenes where you would've actually been better off waiting on the sun to get higher in the sky (assuming shot in morning) so most if not all of the scene would've been lit. The other option might've been to shoot earlier... again looking for even lighting. Of course we don't live in a perfect world and arriving earlier or waiting til later isn't always an option.

I like how you're attempting to use the tree(s) on the upper right edge of the image to provide some framing. Nice idea. I also like the positioning on the river to lend depth to the image. Another good compositional application. The highlights don't look clipped and the dark areas aren't terribly blocked-up. All those are positives!

The downhill horizon is definately a distraction. It happens to all of us and is usually easily corrected. (The exception being a tight shot on a subject where you don't leave enough space to correct without cropping the subject uncomfortably).

I haven't done anything with Elements for years and I have no idea what tools are avialable to you in '9'. If it has a "shadow/highlight" tool you might be able to use that to lighten the shadow areas and/or tone down the highlights a bit.

You're on the right track. Keep shooting, experimenting, submiting images for critique and asking questions. You'll just keep finding yourself happier and happier with the results.