Snowy Mountain Sunrise - CC

Hi Folks, looking to get some CC on this sunrise photo I took this morning of a wintry Bennachie in Aberdeenshire. I was hoping to get some blue sky and nice red clouds but the weather had other ideas this morning. Believe it or not it was blue sky just to the left of the frame.

It was taken using a Cokin ND Grad 2 stop filter and processed in Lightroom. It is my first snowy shot and was wondering if there is any further editing that could be carried out to enhance the scene?

Editing is ok.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/AUrc​Ab

I'm not a "landscape guy", but when you re-shoot it, I'd take a ladder to get a higher angle from slightly more to the right. And the ND filter is not doing good things to the top edged of the image.

Im not a landscape guy either, but I really like the colors and I think the scene has potential. Maybe getting higher like PG said but I think I would have gotten wider and closer. Maybe make the hay appear larger then the mt.s with distortion. Do some experimenting.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #17792568
I'm not a "landscape guy", but when you re-shoot it, I'd take a ladder to get a higher angle from slightly more to the right. And the ND filter is not doing good things to the top edged of the image.

Thanks, I will try a different angle next time, however bringing a ladder is not really an option. I didn't have the tripod fully extended though so I could try making it higher.
I am not sure what you mean about the ND Grad comment. If you are referring to the colour change then that is how it was. The ND grad is just helping bring that out.

DThriller wrote in post #17792685
Im not a landscape guy either, but I really like the colors and I think the scene has potential. Maybe getting higher like PG said but I think I would have gotten wider and closer. Maybe make the hay appear larger then the mt.s with distortion. Do some experimenting.

Thanks, I will see what I can do next time I am out that way. I wasn't sure about getting too close. I had a 10-18mm lens on and it didn't seem to help much with the scene, but getting closer might work.

WildernessTracker wrote in post #17794942
If you are referring to the colour change then that is how it was. The ND grad is just helping bring that out.

That's what I was referring to. In this case, I wouldn't call bringing out the color change to be "helping" the image. It just doesn't look natural to me.

I am really digging it. Ya maybe a little higher would be nice but not necessary. I am not a landscape person at all either, so my input is prob not to relevant..but I like it!

I think the editing looks ok. You didn't ask for composition thoughts, but, I have one (keep in mind it's just my opinion) -

The hay bale is so prominent that it really seems to be a picture of a hay bale with a mountain as a backgroun. Better if possible to move back and have it smaller, or to move to one side and exclude it and just have those bales I can see behind it as the foreground.

patrick j wrote in post #17795268
I think the editing looks ok. You didn't ask for composition thoughts, but, I have one (keep in mind it's just my opinion) -

The hay bale is so prominent that it really seems to be a picture of a hay bale with a mountain as a backgroun. Better if possible to move back and have it smaller, or to move to one side and exclude it and just have those bales I can see behind it as the foreground.

wouldn't be surprised if the farmer has moved it by the time he gets back there.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #17794989
That's what I was referring to. In this case, I wouldn't call bringing out the color change to be "helping" the image. It just doesn't look natural to me.

That is how the colour changed in the sky. To the left of the image the sky was turning red, however over the right hand side of the mountain there were dark snow clouds that didn't change at the time I took this. I may have brought out the colour a bit too much in lightroom though.

mamaof2 wrote in post #17795041
I am really digging it. Ya maybe a little higher would be nice but not necessary. I am not a landscape person at all either, so my input is prob not to relevant..but I like it!

Thanks.

patrick j wrote in post #17795268
I think the editing looks ok. You didn't ask for composition thoughts, but, I have one (keep in mind it's just my opinion) -

The hay bale is so prominent that it really seems to be a picture of a hay bale with a mountain as a backgroun. Better if possible to move back and have it smaller, or to move to one side and exclude it and just have those bales I can see behind it as the foreground.

I did try a few shots like that with the hay bales less prominent however it didn't quite work for me. I will dig out a couple of the other shots and try and post them up to see what you think. It may just be that I didn't compose the other ones well.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #17796243
wouldn't be surprised if the farmer has moved it by the time he gets back there.

It probably will have been moved by the time we get the next lot of snow.