Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. My intention for this image from the get-go was B&W. I do most of my post processing except the very basics, in Ps using the TK7 panel. There is a very interesting function on that panel where you can make a colour mask, which renders the image in black and white but with access to the colour sliders for tonal adjustments in order to fine tune the mask. But it is then possible to simply convert the mask and keep it as a black and white conversion, which is I what I did with this image. And then I began working on it, adding clarity, contrast, dodging and burning and so on, until it was getting close to what I was aiming for. And then, by mistake, I turned off the black and white conversion layer and suddenly there was all of this colour. As I had been making all the changes to the black and white, I was, without realizing it, affecting the colour version that still existed beneath it. When I saw how gorgeous the colour was, I felt I just had to finish it. So, I kept going with it in colour and this is the result. I plan to finish up the B&W version as well. It is a very different picture, a more purely graphic focus on light and line. Sometimes, it seems, if the photography Gods are smiling on us, we can get two very different images for the price of one. I will post the B&W at some point when it’s finished but for now, I’d love to get some feedback on this one. What I am going for in this picture is a sense of awe and isolation. I feel like the colour adds to the “awe” part. How does it play for you?
What I like the most about this image is the lack of clarity (clarity in the PS sense of the word). I like how the tones transit from one to another without any sharp delineation. Incredible image. Wish I had been in the canoe as well to see this scene.
Incredibly soft atmospheric conditions you captured in this image. If you were going for isolation you nailed it! The warmth you attained with your unusual adjustments works in total harmony with the feel of this image. Wish I was there to see this. Incredible.
Kerry: I’ll be looking for the B&W but this is spectacular IMO. Marvelous color palette and the atmospherics and light is wonderful. Superbly crafted image, and for the most part luck comes to those who are prepared. 
>=))>
Gorgeous. The warm light coming in from above definitely lends to the “awe” reaction. The light of the goddess is coming down to earth. Wouldn’t change a thing.
Fabulous Kerry. The reflection, the subtle bg ridges (or clouds, but who cares) criss-crossing. The subdued and enticing tones. This is great!
What some luck can bring you in photography ! But i think in your case also skill. A beautiful , tranquil image. So well made !
Hi Kerry. Like Igor, I love the softness of this image. Add the simplicity and warmth, and this is just beautiful.
Hi @Kerry_Gordon , this is a beautifully serene image! With your intention being to convey a sense of awe and isolation, I think you have certainly accomplished that. The silo’d island of trees and its reflection, contrasted by the hazy backdrop of tree lines and warm light rays, feels very cinematic, in all the right ways. The feeling it elicits is certainly in line with your intention.
The only part of the image that draws my eye away from the focal point is the bright, upper sky. The unintended consequence of cropping some of that sky out might be that it would detract from your intention of creating a sense of isolation, as the island would inevitably feel less far away. So, I’m not even sure I would suggest cropping it. Perhaps, another idea might be to sample the warmer tones and paint in a low opacity overlay in the sky, to make it a more subtle transition.
I’ve attached a version of the image, which includes a subtle sky transition, to show you what I was thinking.
All in all, fantastic work!
That’s a unique way to reach this processed image! Having adjusted things for a black and white I can imagine your suprise when this popped up by accident! 
Nice warm glow that fits nicely here! I was going to say that the top of the frame was maybe a bit too bright, but @Jimmy_Arcade just mentioned this, and I like what he did there! It definitely keeps my eyes more on the island and the orange colors.
Hi @Kerry_Gordon, really nice shot. I love light and warm tones. I ally like fog formation and trees reflections. I think the upper part of the sky is too bright, i would reduce luminosity like the water, it’s also my opinion, the image works well as is. Thanks for sharing.
@Igor_Doncov, @David_Haynes, @Bill_Fach, @Bonnie_Lampley, @Marylynne_Diggs, @Ben_van_der_Sande, @Mark_Muller, @masdamb - I want to thank you all for your enthusiastic support. It’s nice to feel that I’m hitting the right notes and getting such feedback from such an august crowd. @Ron_Jansen and particularly @Jimmy_Arcade - your observation regarding the brightness of the upper layer and especially your going the extra yard, Jimmy, to show me what you meant, is really helpful in taking this image just a bit further. I’m not sure how you did your sky transition, Jimmy, but I have posted my version above done with the magic of frequency separation and I do feel that it improves the photograph for the reasons you and Ron suggested. Thanks to all of you.
Jimmy Arcade’s rework took it to another level.
Sweet image Kerry, definitely a keeper and a wall hanger. Arcade’s edit is spot on. Super shot and processing.
Kerry, I’m coming in late here, but the moment I saw this image, I knew it was yours. With this light and fog, It has such a mystical quality to it. And the thing that makes this image sing for me is that little leaning tree, I especially like how you spotlit a bit in the rework.
While I’m interested in eventually seeing the B&W version, I would also be curious to see the unprocessed raw, just to get an idea of what your unplanned but fortuitous use of TK B&W did to the original color.
Thank you, John, much appreciated.
@Ed_McGuirk Thank you Ed. Maybe, just maybe, I’m starting to find my own voice. Still too soon to tell but I think I’m heading in the right direction. I’m going to post a few images that will hopefully give you a better idea of how I stumbled my way towards this image. The first photograph is the RAW image out of the camera. The second one is the same image after basic post processing in Lr - colour balance, crop (from 2:3 to 16:9) and other basic stuff - blacks, whites, shadow - adjusted with the intention of converting to black and white. This is what I sent over to Ps. After I did pixel stuff - mostly getting rid of all of those water spots - and adding blur to the water, I used the colour mask/create control in the TK7 panel to create a colour mask, adjust the colours and convert it from a mask to a black and white layer. From there I worked on it as a black and white image fiddling with darks contrast and especially dodging and burning to really bring out the contrast in cloud/mist layers in the sky. And that’s when I clicked the colour back on by mistake. The third image is what I saw. The fourth image is where I took it from there mostly getting the colour right and few other things along the way. I think the colour emerged because of all the contrast I was adding, which, as you know, can often amplify saturation when applied. As you might have guessed, based on where I started, this colour palette was not on my mind until I caught a glimpse of it through my “mistake.”
Kerry,
I am not sure how you arrived at the final result, but this is one of those magical moments that we get to witness every know and then. I think you succeeded rather nicely with your goals of awe and isolation. The atmospherics are lovely with the fog and I can just imagine soaking in the cool air and taking in this scene. You had a couple of small tweaks and I think @Jimmy_Arcade pretty well nailed it. This had to be wonderful to witness this first hand.
Hi @Kerry_Gordon, I was happy to help offer some minor help, with an image that was already 99% there. And, now seeing your raw file and the steps you took, you really did a fantastic job on the post-processing!
As for my method, I simply created a blank layer above the original, sampled some of the warm tones, painted the sky with those warm colors, and lowered the opacity. Then, I masked the paint layer and did a 50% linear black gradient, on the mask, to make it a smoother transition.
Your final rendering of the image looks great! The TK frequency separation method seems to have given you similar results.
Cheers!
Kerry, thank you for taking the time to post the raw file and the series of images that illustrate the progression that your processing went through. It is interesting to me to see the evolution of this image from start to finish, especially since you successfully did some pretty aggressive things in post-processing.