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So my argument would be that the bottom left most interesting dead shrub carries enough weight to make the foreground interesting, since it gives you a little preview of what the other ones farther away might look like up close. Also I think just the green shrubs vs. dead shrubs kind of comes down to personal taste/subjectivity. I rotated the images upside down, and ended up liking the grass in my photo more... so maybe I'm moving backwards lol I definitely appreciate your comments though, hope I'm not putting off too argumentative of a tone!

So my thinking would be that the shrubs in the reference image carry the same weight (and approximate size) as the dead branches in my shot as far as foreground objects, so I guess I'm having compositional trouble understanding why mine is not as good in that specific aspect. I definitely could do more editing on the photo, I didn't spend all that much time editing it, but I thankfully am good in that regard, just needing some work on the photography side of things!

Really appreciate your input! I've gotten mixed reception on pic 05, but yeah I probably put the most effort into taking that one if I remember correctly! I did an edit on pic 04 (see attached), where I tried to give more attention to the bottom left bush as an object of interest in the foreground and brightened the colors and all that. Let me know your thoughts!

I appreciate all the info! I think composition is where I'm struggling the most though, I'm good with editing in Photoshop and all that, I actually re-edited that same photo and it came out similar-ish to yours. (Though I accidentally deleted the RAW file, much to my dismay). And I would agree that the one on the right is slightly too over-edited.

Additional question based on this image I found. So I'd say the right image in the attached picture is very similar to the shot I took. Why is it better (if it is)? Cause they look very similar to me as far as what the shot is of.

Kinda of just want to answer these for myself right now, and maybe that will give you a better idea of where my head is at, or reveal places I need to be thinking differently in! 1. The mountains were the main subject of most all the photos. 2. I kind of didn't want to "fill the frame" with the mountains, and have them be more distant, to represent what they looked like if you were standing in the same spot I was. 3. So this is where I'd say that I kind of wish the grasses were just empty in some of the shots, but with the shots still framed the same way they are. I don't mind that the mountains would be small with a empty field in front. Maybe it's wrong of me, but I kind of want to rebel against the advice that there needs to be something interesting in the foreground. I think that takes away from the mountains in the background. 4. Probably could have spent more time on angle and focal length. 5. With landscapes, I tend to want everything in focus, and that's why I stuck with the kit 18-55mm lens. 6. So I tried to do that in some of the photos, but probably not as effectively as I could have! 7. Perhaps, I might have gone too center-happy with some of the photos. 8. Not really, I tend to hate most HDR photography I see. I definitely could probably have spent more time editing the photos in Photoshop, I tend to maybe be too conservative in saturating photos, cause I don't want it to start looking to unrealistic, or different than what it looked like in real life. And yes I definitely agree on taking lots of shots, I have two 256GB cards that I bought back when they cost $300 each!

Is there something I could have done to make the photo better, or is it just the fact of it being a more overcast day in the photos not giving me the greatest light?

I've gotten such mixed results on that grass in front one, though I generally really like those types of shots, so I tried to pull it off the best I could! I weirdly don't like that gnarled downed tree, and kind of wish it wasn't in the shot and the grass was more empty, but I've had multiple people say the same thing as you, and it makes sense. My personal preference is tending to dislike a lot of DOF shots, unless they're of a person or animal, or maybe a flower or something.

Looking for some general photography advice based on a few photos from a recent trip to the Rocky Mountains in Colorado! Thank you!