Crimson Cloud

[Judy Howle]

This is the same sunset as yesterday's image. It's not a stellar sunset image but I love the reflection on the cloud. Not sure of how to crop it so I thought I'd see what you all think.
5D Mk II, f4, 1/250s, ISO 400.

[Dave Mills]

Hi Judy, Actually I wouldn't crop the image. The interaction between the light rays and beautifully lit cloud work well together(also the dark cloud) creating a compelling image. All the technicals are handled well.
Another beautiful image to add to your large collection of sunsets...

[Roman Kurywczak]

Hi Judy,
I'm with Dave on the no crop. I do think you can try pulling out a bit more drama and depth in the sky.....further enhancing the rays and cloud. Try doing some tweaking in selective color....pulling back on the black slider in the different color channels and see what that does. Another nice susnet for the collection indeed!

[Nick Palmieri]

Nice sunset and colors. I agree regarding no crop. TFS

[Jay Sheinfield]

Love the God rays.............excellent scene. Beautifully handled.

[dankearl]

Surreal and lovely, very nice. I would not change a thing.

[Judy Howle]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the nice comments! I wasn't sure if I needed to take some off the top. Roman, I'll see about tweaking it. I don't think I've used selective color before. I usually just use Topaz Adjust which I did on this one but not too heavy.

[Robert Amoruso]

Judy,

I think you balanced the image well and would not suggest a crop. The dark clouds L balance the red clouds R and the god ray's stream nicely towards both.

I see Roman beat me to the Selective Color. I tried it and liked adding black and red to the red color.

Also try a Shadow/Highlight adjustment to open up the darker parts of the sky and water.

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Robert. I worked on the image but I used Nik Viveza on it instead of Selective Color. I'm not sure if this is what you and Roman had in mind so let me know.

[Roman Kurywczak]

Maybe a bit hot on the cloud tip (just pull back a bit of red there).....but teh rays really stand out as do the clouds! Nice job following the tweak suggestions!

[Judy Howle]

Thanks Roman. Part of the problem is that it looks different here than in Ps, a lot more saturated for one thing. I toned down the red just using a layer mask to the original and then a little airbrushing of red. It doesn't look perfect in the preview but better anyway.