other then watermark, how does photo look?

I went up to ramapo reservation today to try and get some shots of the small creek that runs from upper lake down to the ramapo river. After huffing and puffing and sweating like a dog the photo's were ok there. But on the way down i saw the wind had died down and the lower lake had a beautifull reflection. Snapped off several shots metering at different exposures. Then decided to try 3 at different shutter speeds in hopes to make an HDR image. Well I used photomatix but didn't go the HDR route, instead used the highlights and shadow's part. Was pretty happy with the result, saved it and tweaked it a bit in ps7.

Like the title says, other then the watermark and the odd part in the dead center sky(polarizer might need cleaning) how is the pic?

I don't like the way Photomatix produces a halo when sky meets ground, which is evident in the reflection. Colour in the trees and bushes looks great.

This is much too symmetrical around the waterline and horizon. To be off-center is usually preferred. In this case the reflection is too much like the original, which detracts.
Since your filename suggests that this was an HDR rendition, I'm surprised that you didn't set the white point lower than you did. None of your highlights hit Zone X.

I have provided a different crop and the aforementioned white point adjustment - just to see if it comes across any better.

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You obviously lightened the shadow or darkened the highlights too much since you got that halo effect. And I prefer Lay's composition. The wide view you chose had no strength and no foreground - it just hung out there. This is why a telephoto lens or a zoom are also very good for landscapes not just wide angle lenses.

You have a really odd color shift going on in the middle.... but other then that if looks nice. I am not a fan of horizon lines right in the middle, but I know why you did what did. I think Robert's crop while technically correct looses some of the panorama of the scene, so I wouldn't necessarily go that direction.

I prefer the drama of the colour which is very much evident with the first shot. The crop has a huge dark blob in the middle which holds no interest at all. You lose all the impact of what this shot is really about. Central compositions with reflections do work. But, you don't need that much of the water I guess.

Crop the bottom bit a little and see if you can remove that halo effect.

thanks guys for the feedback. I didn't notice the halo at first but thanks for pointing it out for me. As for the crop and what not, i just did a quick PP and did not crop the image at all just resized. Im going to play with it a lil more today or tomorrow since im off from work.

And for the shot itself. I like the wide angle shot like this with the reflection, althought I do agree that i should crop some water out and maybe some sky. That dark blob in the middle i dont know what happened. I didn't notice it when i rotated the CPL to get a dark sky and more color with the folliage.

oh and what is zone x, i dont get it?

2005GLI wrote in post #4223909
thanks guys for the feedback. I didn't notice the halo at first but thanks for pointing it out for me. As for the crop and what not, i just did a quick PP and did not crop the image at all just resized. Im going to play with it a lil more today or tomorrow since im off from work.

And for the shot itself. I like the wide angle shot like this with the reflection, althought I do agree that i should crop some water out and maybe some sky. That dark blob in the middle i dont know what happened. I didn't notice it when i rotated the CPL to get a dark sky and more color with the folliage.

oh and what is zone x, i dont get it?

Zone X (the X representing 10) is to come out as white with no detail.

I think all you need to do is maybe a tighter crop and a little color balance in the sky

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