I was trying to photograph sunset at Conway Summit this fall but the leaves and sky weren’t very good (expectations again!), so I took this close up, shot at 400mm. I applied a small Orton effect to the background and masked out the white trees with a luminosity mask. I then sharpened the trees a bit to emphasize them. I find my editing lately is pushing the limits of “natural looking” and wonder if this is too extreme.
Tony, you’ve got a really neat layering of that fine Owens Valley look here. The combination of layers is wonderful. I especially like the barren trees among the fairly lush other vegetation.
I will say once strong tweaking is applied to any image they can be seen unnatural or unreal. With that said they tend to lean toward more of a Photo Art image. Although I really like this as is, to me it is a strong contender for more of artful look in the end then a visual duplication of the scene.
Tony, this is a striking image. It seems a bit on the dark side but that tends to be appealing for me. The artistic aspect looks really good. Only thing I’d consider would be to attempt cloning at the top left to fill in the dark wedge - should be pretty easy to sample from other areas.
Tony, I really like the layers and colors that you have here. The varied layers have a nice visual flow to them. I agree with @Bill_Leggett, the image feels a bit too dark, especially at the top, if this has a vignette, it may be a bit too strong there. I also would like to see this a tad cooler in color balance, the white trees look fine, but the yellow layer below and the orange layer above look a bit too warm for my taste.
Real nice scene and great layering. The foreground and bare trees look nice and natural to my eye, but the background looks a tad dark and too saturated to me. I don’t mind pushing things with the processing, but personally I like to keep it looking fairly natural. But, those are personal decisions and whatever works for you works! Nice image, I like it.
Tony,
I think you’ve got a wonderful photograph here. Its rich and well detailed. I think you processed it perfectly. I would not change a thing.
Tony,
A wonderful autumn image. Great job isolating the light and emphasizing the bare trees with masking and extra sharpening. I think the back line of orange aspens and even the bg hill are a tad beyond reality - but not much. I think with modern technology and given the 400mm, that there wouldn’t have been such a distinct change in focus. I would expect all to be pretty much in focus. Of course the average viewer wouldn’t notice or care… 
I’m much like you in that I tend to push the bounds of reality with the processing. This pushes right to the border. But seriously, the only thing that matters is what you think about it and knowing your own vision in creating works like this. It’s a wonderful image.
The only irrelevant thing one could argue about here, is what critique gallery to post in… 
Lon
Thanks for all the comments and suggestions. I appreciate the advice!
Very nice mix Tony. I especially like the light falling on the bare trees. While the background helps to set them apart, it does seem a little dark to me; a bit more light back there would be worth playing with . One other thought would be to sharpen a bit more. (The foreground seems a bit oof nearer the bottom?)
I enjoyed the image, Tony, very nice isolation and presentation of the bare Aspen and color layers. My first thought was that the fourth background layer was overkill and not needed and that image may be stronger without it. The “muddier” tones in the sage brush don’t work as well or compliment the other colors. Igor’s crop looks pretty fine.
Outstanding layering, color, textures, and light. I might drop the orange saturation a very small amount.