Bliss

I bet you have 20-30 more shots like this, where you waited to get the light right on the statue of liberty but weren't able to.  This is difficult to critique because I love parts of it and I hate parts of it. I love the treasure of the statue of liberty, which isn't obvious at first but then you spot it and it makes the whole photo take on new meaning.  How nice it would have been to have the sunbeams on the statue but we can't control mother nature, can we?  I also love the layers of color, the gray clouds, the yellow sky below the clouds and the steely black water are wonderful contrasts. The part I hate is the blown out sections of the clouds which command my attention and make me look at them too much. I would tone them down and maybe lighten the sky near the statue of liberty.   Overall, I like it but it needs some work to make it stunning.

Christine thank you so much for the helpful comment. I've been working on some of the changes you mentioned and have been having some difficulty pulling off what you've said. Particularly, lightening up the area around the statue of liberty. Here's what I came up with.