Raw Conversion - how'd I do?

Today I went to Hwaseong Fortress and took a ton of photos. Now despite overexposing this one somewhat i really liked it so i took some time in lightroom and fixed it up. I think there's a dramatic improvement from the original, but probably room for more improvement. Advice and criticism are very welcome.

First the original

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

HTTP response: NOT FOUND | MIME changed to 'image/gif' | Redirected to error image by FLICKR

You've done well to ressurect the lost detail from the over exposed highlights and bring some life to the sky.

As for possible improvements, I'd adjust the WB a little. It looks a bit too warm (this could be the crappy monitor I'm using, however) or perhaps just reduce the yellows a little. You could maybe try some localised sharpening on the grass in the foreground, as well.

Gary.

WB looks a little off, but thats an easy adjusment.

Good recovery Mav!

My main criticism (nothing to do with the recovery) is that it needs straightening about a degree or so clockwise. Everything has a slight left lean to it.

I also agree with the white balance suggestion, looks a little warm to me too.

You have clearly discovered the joys and uses of Raw, nice work. Some other fun things you can do with a picture like this.... play with the clarity and vibrance sliders, you can try the graduated filter to darken the sky a bit, you can play with the HSL tab to specifically increase the saturation of say, the red in the building on the wall.

Your second photo is a huge improvement already, nice work.

Great job! As Rick Sammon says, "RAW Rules!". I agree that it could be straightened just a bit. Also, based on the angle of the shadows I would say this wasn't taken super early or late, so it may be just a bit warm. I downloaded the second one and opened it in Adobe Camera RAW, clicked on the snow for white balance, and it cooled it off just a bit.

Thanks for the feedback - I'll get on straitening it out and working on the white balance a little later today.