_MG_5777_8_9_tonemapped

More experimenting with tone mapping. Is this over the top? C & C's

appreciated. Karen

Karen,  First this is a great capture with excellent color and nice composition.  Nice reflection too.  To me, it is over the top because the artificial sky makes the image surreal.  This is just my view.  I'd go back to your original image and process it "normally."  Compare the two and you'll make your own judgment on your question.  Nice image.  Larry

Awesome image!   Maybe tone down the sky. 

Having just discovered this technique thanks to the recent beginners question and Lex and tried it in a few of my own photographs I think you have judged it well and it is one of the better examples I have seen.  I like the almost normal trees and mountain against the sky nd its reflection. Nicely presented too.

"Is this over the top?"

Yes. :)

At least for me. It's immediately obvious to me upon viewing that the lighting is not natural. Were I to actually see this scene in nature, I would be very worried that the rapture was indeed coming, albeit a few days late. ;)

Some people like this over the top manipulation, but I think this scene (it is an excellent composition) deserves a much more realistic interpretation.

Light smoothing higher would be more natural.

Karen: This might be  bit over the top in the gamma manipulation -- but that may also be a personal point of view. The effect seems to be greater in the clouds than elsewhere in the image and that might be worth another look. Overall I really do like where you are taking this and it is certainly worth spending some time exploring. You might also take a look at the magenta saturation which only seems to be present in the lower right foreground and takes my eye away from the rest of the image.