First Time Landscape C&C wanted

Looking for some C&C on some landscapes I did a couple of weeks ago. First time doing landscapes so I wasn't sure what type of PP to do on them?

I think the main problem was that a lot of the grass was a yellow colour, and I was trying to get it to look green. Anyways,here's some of the photos. Each one is done twice, one with my own PP and adjustments, the others are using a lightroom preset.

Try both give very different vibes,but in the end when uploading to Flickr i went with the preset ones... Now that i'm looking back over them i'm kinda liking my own ones now.

So any C&C on the photos would be great! Mine Vs the preset etc. Now,onto the photos.

MINE

I like yours better in all four.

Yup, the heavy vignette of the preset is a major distractor and I don't much like the colours the preset gives.

I love the first shot but was wandering if you could boost the contrast in the trees a bit and darken the shadows there without affecting the sunbeams shining through?

Get a UV filter on your lense. I like your versions better than the presets. Color correcting is an important part of making the images look "right" keep up the good work.

great set! presets should be used as a starting point and not the end all and be all of images.
yours are better. #1 is my favorite. love the light rays!

Are you shooting in Raw or Jpeg. If shooting in RAw use LR3 and use Histogram as a guide
some areas of the photo's are over expossed. Or try using some filters UV or Polarizer

Thanks for all the advice people. Lens had a UV filter on it. It was pretty misty so lost some contrast in the trees. Shot in RAW and edited in Lightroom. Sky was overexposed a lot,brought back some cloud detail in them but anymore and it looked a bit fake. There was pretty much no cloud in the first one so that was just left as is.

Think i'll have to invest in a tripod if i'm to do this again,maybe two exposures? one for the sky? Or maybe even a graduated ND filter. I've never done landscapes before so have none of these.

Here's my favorite from the day.

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MobyDick wrote in post #12036829
,,,

Here's my favorite from the day.

Wow!

I like your versions much better. Not bad for the time of day you were shooting, that can be tough. Try using some filters though...it will help. Either a UV for the haze or a polarizer for better depth of color

I like the first, but I'd re-crop the top out eliminating the blown sky.

Paul, watch that horizon, you have a few of them including the panorama almost dead center. crop the panorama just above the clouds and see how you like it. You could also try a High Pass filter in photoshop, you could start with a low setting around 2. Good Job Mate.

Your versions are much more pleasing. Lovely panorama. Do try a graduated ND filter next time. It helps tremendously with skies.

What's the deal with people recommending a UV filter? If anything, a filter would make the glare worse in the first shot (the one with the sun rays). Digital sensors do not respond to UV light. So that's not causing the low contrast in the scenic shots. In my opinion a lens hood would have shown a dramatic reduction in the glare in the first. A polarizing filter properly used is a good suggestion for brightening the colors a bit. Otherwise, isolate everything else from the sky and adjust contrast or levels in post processing.

Regarding the first shot:
I like the original better but it has a fair amount of chromatic abberation and it's over exposed in the sky.

Thanks for all the advice people. Lens was a Canon 24-105L,with the lens hood on, and a UV filter which is always on. Messing about with the original raw file, I don't think there's anything to get back some contrast in the trees. Next time hopefully I will have a tripod by then, take multiple exposures. Maybe even a Grad ND if I can can afford it. Any recommendations?