DT 4.3
I tried to bring out shadow details to match my expectations.
IMG_5605.CR3.xmp (13.8 KB)
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I was torn between offsetting the visual weight of the “layers” but ended up opting for a more literal Rule of Thirds composition. But generally I like more vertically asymmetrical layouts like this. Ideally I would have liked to made the foreground the bulk of the visual “interest” but it just wasn’t that interesting… 
Aw man… you’re tough! LOL 
I’m not sure if any of my photos are up to large / close examination!!
Seriously , thanks.
I shot several focus stack series… Shoot one, then remember I forgot to rotate the polarizer. Shoot another one, then decide I like a different viewpoint. Shoot another series, then notice the plastic trash in the shot. Shoot yet another and then decide to shoot a single-frame version just in case.
Drat!!
Then I get home and look at them on my 27" monitor and I was glad I had the single frame version. All the focus stack versions had moving tree limbs, clouds, water, grass…
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Yes, a bit asymmetrical and also cutting off the negative space that is just grass.
This way the stones and boughs are coming from the edge towards the lake. I think the foreground is interesting enough in terms of calmness of the whole scene. I like it.
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Looks fine to me! 
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Thanks for sharing this image.
I have done all sorts of silly things in GIMP! Cropped off some of the foreground which I darkened somewhat. Tried to get a little more detail in the darkest areas. Increased the contrast in the water and an increase of contrast and saturation in the sky. All in all I have probably ruined your photograph!
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Not ruined at all - That’s why I posted it.
I think this crop could work but would benefit from some green grass, etc. Of course that holds true for all the others, too – Winter time is dead grass time. I’d be tempted to drop the top crop just a tad to remove the little line of sky peeking through, but that’s just me. I actually ‘cloned’ out two small sky spots in ART.
Thanks.
Time disguises Man and his graves, and the extreme forms and relics of earth and sky.
IMG_5605.CR3.xmp (23.6 KB)
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Nice variation with the top and bottom gradients.
I am not posting this to say I’ve made a good edit, only to show that I just made a personal editing breaktrhough. I studied and studied a couple of weeks ago, trying to figure out how to mask a particular color and change it in a way I wanted to. Based on a recent comment by Boris in another thread, I finally got the epiphany I needed.
In this edit, I focused on changing the green trees and the blue sky. Because of my sloppy masks, other parts were affected, too, but this is just a personal proof of concept.
IMG_5605_01.CR3.xmp (8.6 KB)
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Care to explain?
In my version, IIRC I used a combination of Color Similarity masks to select the colors I wanted and then a Brush mask to refine it. Looks like you got pretty close with darktable, too.
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I had been able to set the mask, but could not tell what I was supposed to do to actually affect the color change. In a recent post, Boris said something to the effect of, “What I do is not so technical, I just move the hue slider until I get what I want.” That is a very loose quote.
And that led me to understand that I should go to the 4 Ways tab in the ColorBalanceRGB module. Previously, I had been trying to move the sliders in the Mask tab.
I am an old man, and I learn more by reading than by watching videos. When I had been trying to study Boris’s videos, I just never made the connection to exactly what I was supposed to do.
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IMG_5605-2.jpg.out.pp3 (17.1 KB)
An elongated locality enhancing the forest zone with dehaze and exposure. RT-5.9
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Thanks!
Actually I tried to raise saturation of the foreground, given the dead nature of the pine needles and grass. LOL It’s interesting how different people see things differently.
