Wildfire (+ revision)

Hi Kah Kit,
It's always really frustrating to wait out the conditions.  Sometimes I just give up and go back to macro and indoor setups ;-).  They have their own challenges, of course, but none that I can't control to some degree. 

That said, this is a fine image.  It's not your most engaging (much of your work blows me away!!), so I'm wondering what you were hoping for: reflections of pink/purple in the larger pool? More water and reflection on the rocks?  Let us know what your vision was so we can all learn from it. 
ML

This is a beautiful sunrise, and so are you implying that it was all in the post-processing when the reality isn't that great? If so, could you please share what you did in post-processing to make such a fine image under dull circumstances?

The image could go lighter for me, other than that, what was the problem?

This is very nice. Lots of drama. Without losing the moodiness I agree with Dan that the image could be a brightened up a bit.

Guys thanks for the feedback. I'll play around with lightening the foreground. Regarding the caption, I just meant that in 10
years of photography these were the most atrocious conditions I've made a shot in. I'm not a great fan of talking about the 'hero' stories behind landscape photos, it's just part and parcel of Landscape photography. The processing was pretty straight forward.

I mean.  I would have given up after light like that too ;)

The twilight mood of this scene really works well. Even if you pulled in colors with post processing, it's very tastefully done! The image could go a bit more brighter 

So true!  I wouldn't have imagined that things were so nasty.  The image gives a sense of calm during a beautiful pre-dawn light show.  I guess you caught the best of the light, or somehow processed it to give that impression.  Maybe you didn't need to stay for the full sunrise  Winds could have been pretty rough, which often can't be depicted with the rocky shore, and white caps smoothed out with a longer exposure.

Yes, it is often amazing what post processing can do for an image.  The colors and shapes work very well, as presented here, Kah Kit, making it hard to appreciate that this was a "bad time" .  This must be viewed large to appreciate the details in the foreground.

The large version looks great. Really nice light, color, detail and I love the darker mood. I also like this comp very much.

Nick Bristol
Lone Rock, WI

This is pretty awesome, Kah Kit, especially since it was "throwing in the towel" conditions.  Wind has to be the worst, but the results are very much worthy of weathering the conditions.  I agree with adding some light to the foreground.  Such a cool spot.

I think the foreground appears too dark because of the white light surrounding the image. The eye adjusts to the whiteness and the fg goes dark on you. The large version is a must see to appreciate this better. The texture in those hexagonal rocks comes out and the image really shines. I really didn't appreciate this image until I blew it up.

Here's a lighter version as per the feedback. Just to be clear, while the conditions were atrocious, the light was not and this was pretty much what the landscape looked like. I gave up midway because it was the start of my trip and the risk of damage to my equipment (and myself) was to high to chance at the time.

I think I prefer the original version. The rocks are too dark, and the real show is in the sky and reflections. To my eye, the original darker version works better in this respect. But then, I like dark pictures....

I like the re-post but the original is fine I think, especially viewed large.