Whats wrong?

[XVampire]

I really like this one but cannot figure out what is wrong with it. Perhaps a crop?

[Asylum Steve]

XV,

Fine shot. IMO, any critique of it would be over pickey things.

For one, the pic is a bit flat. This is simply a matter of the lighting from the time of day or the weather. More angular sunlight (earlier or later in the day) would give the shot more punch.

Because of the flatness, the reflection of the tree on the left in the water is muddy. Combine it with the tree itself and this makes the entire left third of the shot muddy. Again, brighter colors in the tree would mean an equally brighter reflection.

I think the overall composition is strong. The receding rocks on the right really make the shot and give it depth. I suppose the left could be cropped a bit tighter, eliminating that little piece of the very left tree.

Where was this shot?

-Steve

I really like this one but cannot figure out what is wrong with it. Perhaps a crop?

[XVampire]

This was taken about a week ago at belt creek at the Armington junction. About 30 miles east of Great Falls MT. I just love this pic but something was just missing and I think you hit the nail on the head. Its flat. Thanks for the reply. Kevin.

[Chunk]

I really like this one but cannot figure out what is wrong with it. Perhaps a crop?

I agree with Steve about the flatness and think your feeling that a crop may be needed is correct.
I tried a more sever crop to eliminate the bare trees on the extreeme right and left edges. One of the things the eye is attracted to strongly is contrast, which in this photo I think is those bare trees. Eliminating them lets me more comforably look at the rest of the shot. This does eliminate some interesting reflections in the lower left. I also shaved some foreground to bring the horizon down.
Another crop I think works is just the left part of the scene. This makes that bare tree and it's reflection more central to the composition and the stones under water seem more interesting and noticeable than in the wide shot.
I think the first crop results in a picture whose subject is the fall colors and surrounding hills while the second is a shot of the secluded pool of the river and the beautiful reflection. Maybe trying to have both in one shot makes it hard to appreciate either.
For the flatness I think something like this curves adjustment can help a bit, ending up with more detail in the sky, brighter yellows and a bit more contrast. I think the resulting more violet shadowed parts of the clouds work well complementing the yellow of the foliage,

[Elysian]

The light is too flat, mainly caused by the cloudy sky.

It is possible to improve the image in digital imaging software, although the copy you posted here is too small and has to many jpeg artifacts to give it a serious try.

Chunk, I don't mind you showing some examples of how to improve an image in a image editor all the time, but please at least take the time to learn how to use this kind of software or to learn about retouching in general.
You jump into things without thinking what you're actually doing and trust me; I have enough experience in this area to know what I'm talking about.

Take for example the sky; it's purple. Even a person who is color blind can use specific tools to figure out whether a sky is too purple or not; that's the beauty of photoshop, paintshop or any other imaging software.

See, helping members is one thing, that's a good attitude and I like that about you, but showing them the wrong way is not good.

Digital imaging should improve an image and not destruct it. I've seen so many people do more harm to an image than improving it.

Serious people; the tools might seem easy to use, but it takes a lot of experience and knowledge to retouch an image the right way. Keep that in mind before you destroy another shot.

Digital imaging is all about what NOT to do, be conservative in your approach. For example; don't sharpen the complete image if you only need to sharpen the eyes, don't color correct the complete image if it's only the sky you're after, don't make an image unnatural bright on a cloudy day or don't pump up the saturation way too high just because it looks so cool.

[XVampire]

After a bit of photoshopping, I came up with this.

[Nina]

Great improvement. Now the picture has that punch...

[gahspidy]

I agree with Nina here. Much improved and a nice shot to begin with. good composition

[Chunk]

After a bit of photoshopping, I came up with this.

You've done some good work here and made it a really good shot. Flat lighting doesn't mean no beauty and the resulting shot here is well worth your effort.
Do you have any others from that day?

[XVampire]

Yes I have some others, but they either didnt turn out well or they are just some snapshots of my other hobby (Geocaching).