too dark?

I've visited this location a handful of times hoping to get a twilight photo with a colorful sky, with the idea being to keep the foreground relatively muted and let the sky and river hold the image. The colors didn't pan out the way I hoped in this case, but I wanted to post this to see if you guys felt the darker tones work overall, or if it is just plain dark and ineffective. The levels are pretty accurate based on the light during capture. Thanks for any feedback.

The pastel colors bring a tranquil feeling to the viewer Anish. There are just a few portions in shadow that could use a lift and that might remove the feelings you have that it's too dark. Just the shadow parts along the south side of the river. The middle ground is kind of shallow but there is still enough of it. That S curve is a nice find. There are plenty of those along the OR.

For me the FG/MG is a bit too dark. The sky is very nice though. However, I'm just not connecting emotionally with this image relative to a lot of your other work, Anish. Sorry

I echo Mat's points, a bit more light would help, but in the end it doesn't quite have the emotional impact I'd like. Personally I like that spot more in the winter

are those burnt bushes ? those dark bushes seems to attract the eyes often than needed..i have the same problem everytime I have shot at this place..the curve is nice but I think there are more vantage places shooting either towards the white mountains or Mt Tom (like Mark A's shot or others I have seen so far) but I have yet to find it out myself. I echo on fall/winter season too.

are those burnt bushes ? those dark bushes seems to attract the eyes often than needed..i have the same problem everytime I have shot at this place..the curve is nice but I think there are more vantage places shooting either towards the white mountains or Mt Tom (like Mark A's shot or others I have seen so far) but I have yet to find it out myself. I echo on fall/winter season too.

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I pretty much have the same feelings about it, but I wanted to see if others saw it the same way. Thanks again.

I like the horizontal horseshoe shape created between the river bend and cloud formation. Personally I might favor a slight burn to the immediate fg and a bit dodging to the middle ground. Other than that it works for me. Not your best stuff... but still nice enough.

There does seem to be a disconnect between the lower and upper half of the image. I think the comp could be improved upon, but a little more work in ps would improve this. I would try some selective dodge and burning in the lower half, and some masking to darken the sky a tad.