Finally upgraded to Photoshop

I finally made the jump from PS Elements to CS3 this week and also invested in Lightroom. This is an image I asked for help on earlier in the year, and I've re-worked it in CS3. This is my first time to really do a manual composite image, and I'm looking for any tips or hints you guys might be able to give me.

I exposed the RAW image twice in an attempt to bring out some detail on the right and left sides of the image where my GND filter blacked out the trees. I then combined the images and used a mask to essentially just use the tree areas in my final image. After the composite was completed, I used several different layers and masks, including a tip on using the "screen" function from the November issue of Outdoor Photographer to bring up the overall light level in the shadow portion of the image.

Outside of improving on my beginner's skill level in the blend, what would you do to improve the image?

Here is the original image.

Looks great Chad. The only recommendation I have is to burn the reflection of the trees where it is a bit brighter than its source.

Looks good to me. For this particular image, I'm guessing there was enough detail in the original RAW on the second shot to where you could have used the Fill Light slider in Lightroom or Bridge to bring out the detail in the shadows. It could save time over masking, and it has the advantage of bringing out detail in all of the shadows. As it is, some of the shadows are still very dark, while the trees are pretty light, but this is something few people would ever notice.

Thanks guys. Mel, you're absolutely correct. Grant, since I had already worked on this image before owning Lightroom, I didn't initially use it on this image at all. Went back and opened the RAW file in Lightroom, used the fill light slider, and accomplished in 3 seconds what I spent an hour doing in Photoshop. I guess it was good practice...

I think you did a great job. If we analyze all the details, we can find some faults, but few people would do that (I guess).

These look really nice. I really like the rich color.

What things were you not able to do with the Elements version? I haven't purchased either and would appreciate the input. Great landscape!

Laurie

Looks good Chad! Much better than the original. I think I'd sharpen the rock face just a little. Now that you have CS3, get the Pixel Genius Photokit Sharpener demo. Apply the Super Sharpener 1 and mask the areas that don't need the sharpening. I think you'll see a big difference. Have fun!

Thanks for all the comments!

Laurie, Kalin's comment is just one illustration of why I made the move (thanks for the tip, by the way, Kalin). PS is the industry standard when it come to post processing, and it was getting frustrating reading articles about PS, reading good tips about PS, and seeing all of the plugins and addons for PS when I didn't have PS.

I used the beta version of Lightroom, and it's a fantastic platform for the initial post processing. It's geared solely toward photography, where PS has tons of features and components that photographers will never use. If I had to choose, I'd get Lightroom first and add PS later (especially if you already have Elements). I'm looking forward to learning as much as I can about both.

I used the beta version of Lightroom, and it's a fantastic platform for the initial post processing.

True, but the RAW conversion abilities in CS3 are exactly the same as in Lightroom, effectively negating the need to own both (unless you need the DAM aspects of LR).
I would recommend CS3 first because of the ability to edit locally as opposed to globally, layer masking and adjustment layers.

BTW, I think you did an outstanding job processing that image.

The only suggestion I have is noise reduction on the water. I use the Noiseware Pro plugin for PS CS3. Neat Image is also very good.

If you have PhotoKit Sharpener it includes some "smoothing" routines but generally I prefer Noiseware.

Nice image!