Try:
<div class="imageElement">
<h3>[+maxigallery.picture.title:htmlent+]</h3>
<p></p>
<a href="[+maxigallery.picture_link_url+]" title="[+maxigallery.strings.click_to_zoom+]" class="open"></a>
<img src="[(base_url)][+maxigallery.path_to_gal+][+maxigallery.picture.filename+]" class="full" />
<img src="[(base_url)][+maxigallery.path_to_gal+]tn_[+maxigallery.picture.filename+]" class="thumbnail" />
</div>
"He can have a lollipop any time he wants to. That's what it means to be a programmer."
Yes, SmoothGallery js-script expects that all the tags are there.. you can also use <p> </p>
"He can have a lollipop any time he wants to. That's what it means to be a programmer."
so I will probably have to take a look at the smoothgallery css/js.. thanks for the tip, that got rid of the pesky validator warnings.