morning mist

I think your HDR work is fine -- the foreground looks great, and it would have been black without HDR.  The patch between the two trees on the right looks a little bright, and that might be an artifact of the HDR work.

While it's a nice example of good application of HDR, personally I think the composition is not all it could be.  HDR made the foreground visible, but it's a lot of empty space that, IMO, doesn't contribute much to the photo.  There is much more interest in the sky, and I'd suggest raising the camera somewhat to eliminate much of the foreground and give it to the sky instead.  Your left-right composition is fine, IMO; the two trees on the right work well to establish the left side of the frame, and you've found a natural edge on the left just to the left of the small island.

Thanks for that, Stephen. I truly appreciate the comments.

I disagree with Stephen. For me, it takes the empty space to give this image a feeling of dimension and width.

Beautiful light - you were there at the right time and moment. Congrats.

Hi Kelly, a very pleasing and tranquil image. I like the low sun angle and orange hues in the sky.

Kelly,  The mood and dawn colors are superb in this image.  Nice reflections too among the mist.  You might crop the front of the mage so that the pink straight line stays in - this might accomplish a little of what Stephen is saying.   Nice image.  Larry

How do you like this?