Daylight Shot of Mountain

[Curtis Cunningham]

Here's a shot I took of a local mountain. I shot it in RAW +JPG, and am attaching the unprocessed JPG for your consideration. I don't have much experience working with RAW converters, but do have the trial version of Lightroom I could use.

Anyways I'd like your suggestions as to what I could do to improve the image.

Thanks.

[MathewLodge]

Hi,

I think you can improve the composition:

1) The horizon doesn't seem to be level. While you could rotate clockwise in LR or PS, it's always better to get the camera level at the time of the shot.
2) There's a lot of symmetry in the image, when you probably want to emphasize the symmetry of the reflection only. You have the horizon in the center of the image, and there's symmetry in the three mountain peaks, which are also centered in the image. I'd propose tilting the camera back a little so that the horizon is about 2/3 of the way down the image, such that the reflection of the peaks still shows in the water, and the area of cloudy sky is increased. The sky looks quite dramatic and it should emphasize the scale of the scene. I'd also rotate the camera to the left or the right to break up the symmetry of the peaks -- so they're not centered. Try a few different shots to see what works. You could also try tilting the camera down so the horizon is up at the top third of the image, making more of the water reflection. However, it seems like there's shore clutter just inside the frame at the bottom left so that might not be an option.

In terms of image processing:
1) It looks like the white clouds are a little over-exposed -- use the highlight slider to bring them down and recover detail.
2) Contrast can be improved with the Clarity slider
3) You can probably boost the Vibrance in LR too, though this is a matter of taste.
4) This image might also work really well in B&W. There's not much range or contrast in the colors, but there's a lot of texture in the scene, which is great for B&W.

Hope this was helpful,

Mathew