A Break in the Clouds
by computerking

Comment by GeneralE:
I think the trees provide a needed context at the bottom so I wouldn't crop them any more. I might take a little off the right (maybe a teensy bit from the left too) to get it to a completely square crop.

Since the trees are already in silhouette, I would use a Curve adjustment to darken/increase the contrast in the clouds to bring out the rays even more.

A Break in the Clouds
by computerking

Comment by coolbrother84:
yours is a good pic

Riverside
by computerking

Comment by computerking:
Wow! Placed higher than I thought I would. Best I could do with a picture snapped from a moving bus. Thanks to all of you for voting, and to all the commenters. Thanks in advance to the Critique Club, and a special thanks to the person who gave me my first '10' vote!

Riverside
by computerking

Comment by photom:
The tree frames the scene well. Too bad the sky was so bald and the river so white.

Riverside
by computerking

Comment by garlic:
If I were you I would have tryed to expose the river and the background trees correctly and blackout the forground if necisary. The image is soft focused or at least very unsharp and I think you have to reach pretty far for the framing.

Riverside
by computerking

Comment by e301:
The sheer level of contrast prevents this from working for me - so much bright, so much dark, and I would imagine the interesting stuff - the texture of the bark of that tree, the patterning and tones of green in the far bank - happens in a very restricted middle ground. Besides that, htere doesn't seem to be much very striking about the scene anyway - no special moment of light, unusualness of location. There's a hint, in the very left of frame, that the grss beside the lake/riveer and the dappling of the sunlight through brances might make a good image, but whether you could have made that fit the challenge, I don't know. But for all those points, I think you're not far off here: wait for the light, try to control the exposure in the sky - perhaps some fill flash to give detail in the shadows? - and perhaps, compositionally, just allow a little more foreground, and i think you'd have a very restful photograph.

A Break in the Clouds
by computerking

Comment by computerking:
All I have to say is: I stayed above 4! That's a "Wow" moment for me, even if I did place 207th. Thanks for the suggestions, & thanks in advance to the Critique Club Reviewer.

Riverside
by computerking

Comment by smr78:
This image is blurry ... sorry

Riverside
by computerking

Comment by Bran-O-Rama:
I don't think I need to tell you that this image is out of focus and heavily overexposed.

Riverside
by computerking

Comment by emorgan49:
Beautiful! I love the way the background disappears into the washed out water and sky.