I made an image something like this about 4 years ago. I had some time late yesterday afternoon so I thought I would give it another try. This was take from The John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge. I was on the much less crowded west side of the refuge in Tinicum Township, PA. The skyline is center city Philadelphia about 8 miles away.
What technical feedback would you like if any? Any
What artistic feedback would you like if any? Any
Pertinent technical details or techniques: Nikon D3300, 85mm, ISO 100, f/10, 1/200 sec, 2 stop Grad ND
(If this is a composite, etc. please be honest with your techniques to help others learn)
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Nick,
This is a great scene and Iām really liking the juxtaposition of the nature preserve with the glimpse of the city skyline as a back drop. This works beautifully.
My question/feedback has to do with the unevenness of the light. You mentioned the use of a grad, but not where/how it was applied. Itās almost like it was applied at an angle? Now, I can see with the clouds than the landscape - trees and reeds on the left, could be under the shade of a cloud and naturally be darker. But I think the sky is quite a bit darker on the left and āgraduatesā to lighter values as you go across the sky. Now I get that depending on where the sun is, time of day, etc., there will be a natural change in lightness across any given sky, but this seems more like too much of a grad than anything naturally occurring. Hope Iām making sense.
Iām enjoying just about everything with this image including the terrific clouds. Itās just the light imbalance thatās throwing me off a little bit.
Lon
Thanks Lon. I used a screw on type grad nd. I noticed the uneven light but never thought of the filter being the issue. The sun was to the left and there were darker clouds back there. I was having auto focus issues and switched to manual focus. The focus ring is at the front of the lens. I must have spun the filter accidentally. Iāll probably never figure it out. I was thinking about cropping it out.
No problem Nick, thatās probably what happened.
I took a stab at a quick fix. I simply added a Levels layer, increased the luminosity a bit then used a graduated mask to show only the changes on the darker left. Then also manually painted on the mask to get the vegetation to look decent. Lastly, added a burn layer and dropped the brightness at the bottom; the water and long line of lilies? or whatever on the water.
I think there may be numerous ways to address this. I think worth pursuing. Oh, and I wouldnāt crop.
Looks great Lon. Thanks. I have never worked in photoshop. Itās on my learning list.
Funny, Iāve never opened Lightroomā¦ itās on my list. 
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Did the grad filter also add that pink color to the upper clouds? Somehow their coloration seems a bit unnatural compared to the distant clouds. Also, the water plants look a bit overexposed but that may be due to the harsh lighting conditions.
The best thing I like here is the story it tells - the threat of development to our natural planet. Itās distant but itās coming. I donāt see harmony between the two.
Igor, the color might be caused by the filter. It is not of the best quality. The cloud cover was broken at about 4000 ft. There were dark and light clouds. The time of day was about 4:00 Eastern. This wildlife refuge is just across I-95 from Philadelphia International Airport.
